Out of Time: Malfunctioning and Neglected Clocks and Watches in Dickens's Fiction

Abstract: Clocks and watches abound in Dickens's fiction and, oddly, a substantial number either malfunction or are abandoned. What is the significance of these ailing or discarded timepieces? Against a background of the increasing importance of objectively measured time in Victorian lives and business, this paper considers their symbolic roles in relation to the characters with which they are connected. Dickens's malfunctioning or disregarded clocks and watches are usually indicative of mental, physical or financial breakdown and often reveal the psychological state of their owners. Overwhelmingly, they are associated with impending ill fate and frequently with death. Invariably, they represent a challenge to or a disruption of the regular progress of life, whatever that might be. The paper explores in detail how Dickens uses the symbolic potential of these objects through textual analysis of a wide range of instances from the novels.