Renowned English author Charles Dickens has been painted in a new light following the release of 98 previously unseen letters that document his estranged wife’s rarely heard perspective.
The letters, hidden for around 160 years, were written by close family friend and neighbour Edward Dutton Cook with whom the estranged wife shared details of her marriage and subsequent separation.
A separation in Victorian England was unheard of and in a bid to avoid judgement, and therefore tarnish his image and legacy (something Dickens fiercely protected), the newly discovered letters suggest he not only tried to banish his wife and the mother of their 10 children, but have her declared mentally insane.
Cook wrote: “Dickens had discovered at last that she had outgrown his liking. She had borne 10 children and had lost many of her good looks, was growing old in fact.
“He even tried to shut her up in an insane asylum, poor thing! But bad as the law is in regard to proof of insanity he could not quite wrest it to his purpose”.
John Bowen, professor of 19th century literature at the University of York, described in The Times Literary Supplement, a weekly review published in London by News UK, how he found the letters that had previously been overlooked.
“It was wonderful. The thing that I had speculated was there in black and white in front of me,” he told The Times.
“On the other hand it was a terrible discovery. Here’s a different dimension to his character that has been hidden for 160 years.”
Around 14,000 letters are known to exist penned by Dickens, ranging in date from 1821, giving literary fanatics and historians alike a glimpse into his life, so the unsettled marriage was already a known-fact.
Equally known was that the marriage took a downturn after Dickens found himself a young beautiful actress called Ellen Ternan and began an affair.
It is now believed that he tried to have his wife committed in a bid to be able to be with his 18-year-old lover without going through with a separation.
Despite his efforts, the doctor refused to declare Catherine Dickens insane and so the couple separated in 1858, and she was given an allowance by the author who remained with his mistress until he died in 1870.