Story summary
Краткое содержание: Мартин Чезлвит
- Чтение: 8 мин.
- 7 parts
- Аудио скоро
A smiling architect schemes for a rich old relative's fortune while his proud pupil sails to America.
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Мартин Чезлвит — кратко о книге
Краткое содержание: 8 min на чтение
- Время чтения
- Около 21 h 55 min17 h 25 min fast, 26 h 5 min slow
- Длительность
- Слов: 312 900
- Уровень в библиотеке
- Сложное чтение long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- Первая публикация
- 1844by Чарльз Диккенс
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Сколько времени нужно на чтение классики · Обновлено
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Мартин Чезлвит in short
Martin Chuzzlewit is the story of a family that has learned to love money more than people. It moves through a Wiltshire village and London boardinghouses, then crosses the sea to an America of boasting speeches and bogus land. A rich old man tests the people around him, and a proud young man learns what he is made of.
What Мартин Чезлвит is about
What happens when a whole family circles one old man's money? A rich, suspicious grandfather lies ill at a country inn, and every relative with a hopeful smile begins to gather. He trusts no one, and he meets each warm greeting with a sharp word. Beside his bed sits a quiet young woman named Mary Graham, who nurses him and keeps her own counsel.
Charles Dickens wrote Martin Chuzzlewit in monthly parts in the early 1840s, and it follows the clan from a Wiltshire village to London and then across the Atlantic. He wants readers to look at the causes of vice and not only at its results. You get comic schemers, a proud young hero with much to learn, and a few plain, good people who never ask for credit.
Для кого. This suits readers who love comic characters, sharp social satire and big sprawling plots. It also suits anyone curious about Dickens's views on greed, hypocrisy and kindness.
The story in 7 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
Pecksniff wears virtue like a good coat
The novel begins with a joke. Dickens opens with a mock history that proves the Chuzzlewit family is ancient and grand. The proofs are absurd. This is a family that boasts about its pedigree and says nothing about its character.
Then the story settles in a Wiltshire village on a windy autumn night. The wind blows Mr Pecksniff off his own front steps. His two daughters, Charity and Mercy, fuss over him with a candle and a plate of ham and eggs. Their names are a joke, since Charity is sharp and calculating, while Mercy is giddy and fond of mischief.
Pecksniff is an architect who has never built anything. His real trade is taking fees from the parents of young men who come to learn drawing, then leaving them to copy Salisbury Cathedral in a front room. He fills every sentence with moral advice.
His assistant Tom Pinch is awkward and kindly, plays the church organ without payment, and worships his master. A leaving pupil, John Westlock, tries to open his eyes and lists all that Pecksniff has taken from Tom. Tom hears only an unfair attack on a good man. When Westlock offers a handshake, Pecksniff refuses it and says he has embraced the young man in spirit. The reader sees through the show at once, and the comedy comes from watching good people fail to. The loud talker of virtue is often the one to watch.
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A sick old man draws his relatives near
One night a rusty carriage stops at the Blue Dragon, the village inn run by the warm widow Mrs Lupin.
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Selfishness is taught in the family home
On a night coach to London, Pecksniff and his daughters share the seats with Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Jonas.
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Young Martin is cast out and sails away
Young Martin Chuzzlewit, the old man's grandson, comes to Pecksniff's house as a pupil.
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America promises freedom and sells land
The ship lands Martin and Mark in New York.
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Eden is a swamp, and Martin starts to change
Eden consists of a few decaying huts beside a river rife with fever.
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Good hearts and rogues, told as a comic parade
Against all this stand the book's plain good people.
Read all 7 key ideas now
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Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Seth Pecksniff A smooth architect who preaches virtue and collects fees, and who is eager to place himself first in a rich cousin's will.
- Martin Chuzzlewit the younger A proud, clever young man who defies his grandfather for love and has to learn how much he depends on others.
- Old Martin Chuzzlewit A wealthy, suspicious old man who distrusts every relative and tests the people who gather around him.
- Tom Pinch Pecksniff's gentle, short-sighted assistant, who plays the church organ for nothing and trusts his employer without question.
- Mark Tapley A cheerful innkeeper's man who wants to find a hard place to prove his good spirits real, and follows Martin abroad.
- Mary Graham A young woman who nurses the old man and loves young Martin, and who keeps her dignity under pressure.
- Jonas Chuzzlewit A coarse, calculating young man raised to put gain first, who looks for ways to cheat everyone he meets.
- Sarah Gamp A talkative, tippling nurse who speaks often of her friend Mrs Harris and is always ready with advice.
How it ends (spoiler)
Jonas is caught for a murder and kills himself, while Tigg Montague's fraud collapses. Old Martin has only pretended to be weak, and he exposes Pecksniff before everyone and throws him out. Young Martin is forgiven and marries Mary. Tom Pinch is rewarded, Ruth marries John Westlock, and Mark Tapley marries Mrs Lupin. Pecksniff is left poor and scorned.
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Вопросы о книге Мартин Чезлвит
What is Martin Chuzzlewit about?
It follows a greedy family waiting for a rich old man's money. Young Martin, the old man's grandson, defies him, travels to America, and has to learn humility, while the hypocrite Pecksniff schemes at home.
Who is Mr Pecksniff?
He is an architect who preaches goodness while cheating his pupils and chasing a rich relative's fortune. His name has become a word for a smooth hypocrite who hides selfishness behind moral speeches.
Is Martin Chuzzlewit based on real events?
It is fiction, published in monthly parts in the 1840s. The Watertoast proceedings paraphrase real newspaper reports, as Dickens says in his preface, and the American scenes also reflect his impressions as a traveler.
Why does Martin go to America?
After Pecksniff throws him out and his grandfather turns away, Martin has no money or hope at home. He sails to make a fortune, and the voyage becomes a hard lesson in character.
What is the main message of the book?
Dickens argues that selfishness is taught and spreads from families to whole societies. The book contrasts greed and hypocrisy with plain kindness, and shows how a proud person can learn to see others.
Как сослаться на это издание
Dickens, Charles. Martin Chuzzlewit. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/martin-chuzzlewit.
Dickens, C. (2026). Martin Chuzzlewit. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/martin-chuzzlewit (Original work published 1844)
Dickens, Charles. Martin Chuzzlewit. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/martin-chuzzlewit.
@book{dickens2026martin,
author = {Dickens, Charles},
title = {Martin Chuzzlewit},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/martin-chuzzlewit},
note = {First published 1844}
}
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