Cranford

Dr Johnson versus Mr Boz

The dispute frames itself as a comparison between Dr Johnson and “Mr Boz” (Dickens). Miss Jenkyns finds Pickwick vulgar and unsuitable as a model for young writers, while Captain Brown defends its natural, lively style against her preferred “pompous writing.”

The Reading Contest

Captain Brown reads aloud Sam Weller’s account of the “swarry” at Bath. Some of the company laugh heartily, but the narrator dares not join in as a guest in the house, and Miss Jenkyns maintains a patient, grave silence throughout the reading.

Rasselas vs Pickwick

Miss Jenkyns responds by requesting Rasselas from the book-room. She reads a lofty conversation between Rasselas and Imlac in a high-pitched, majestic voice, then declares herself justified in her preference for Dr Johnson as a writer of fiction. Captain Brown, silenced, drums on the table.

A Personal Affront

Miss Jenkyns delivers a “finishing blow” by asserting that publishing in numbers is beneath the dignity of literature. Captain Brown quietly asks how the Rambler was published. When he further suggests that epistolary writing is Miss Jenkyns’s forte and that her model has produced a pompous style, she takes it as a direct personal affront, for she prided herself on her letter-writing.

Miss Jenkyns is Inexorable

Miss Jenkyns draws herself up and delivers her final verdict with marked emphasis: “I prefer Dr Johnson to Mr Boz.” Though Captain Brown is said to have muttered an oath, he later repents by standing near her arm-chair and trying to draw her into gentler conversation. Miss Jenkyns remains inexorable, and the following day she makes her pointed remark about Miss Jessie’s dimples.

KAPITEL II.

Chapter II of Cranford centers on the Brown family—Captain Brown, his invalid elder daughter Miss Brown, and his devoted younger daughter Miss Jessie—and on the small Cranford community that surrounds them. The chapter traces the Captain’s unassuming kindness, his family’s quiet suffering, the social stir caused by Lord Mauleverer’s visit, a literary quarrel with Miss Jenkyns, and ends with the Captain’s sudden, heroic death on the railway. Throughout, the narrator moves between her own observations while staying in Cranford and the news received by letter after her departure for Drumble, weaving together anecdote, correspondence, and communal memory to portray a town whose small economies of affection are its true wealth.

The Captain’s Kindness

The narrator, settled in Cranford for a month, has come to know the daily habits of the Brown trio intimately. Though their poverty was openly acknowledged from the start, the real discovery is the Captain’s “infinite kindness of heart,” shown in unconscious and varied ways. Because Cranford residents do not read much and are well-served, conversation turns on small events, and the Captain’s acts become the town’s chief topics of talk.

The Old Woman’s Dinner

A characteristic anecdote circulates after a slippery Sunday on which the Captain, returning from church, met a poor old woman struggling home from the bakehouse. With grave dignity, he relieved her of her baked mutton and potatoes and steered her safely along the street. The Cranford ladies at first expected him to apologise by paying a round of calls; when he did not, they decided he was ashamed. Upon his next appearance, however, he arrived jauntily, with his wig curled and his loud bass voice untouched by shame, and they concluded he had simply forgotten the incident altogether.

Miss Brown’s Illness

Through visits to Miss Pole, the narrator sees more of the Browns and learns that Miss Brown is seriously ill with a lingering, incurable complaint whose pain gives her face its uneasy, seemingly cross expression. At times the nervous irritability of her disease makes her sharp; afterward she bitterly reproaches herself, accusing her temper of being the cause of her father’s and sister’s pinched circumstances. The narrator comes to understand that her acerbity springs from a generous wish to sacrifice for them.

Jessie’s Devotion

Miss Jessie bears with her sister’s pain and self-reproaches with absolute tenderness, and the Captain matches her with placid devotion. The narrator forgives Miss Jessie her tuneless singing and youthful dress on seeing her at home, and perceives that the Captain’s Brutus wig and padded, threadbare coat are unconscious survivals of his military youth. A man of infinite barrack-acquired resources, he blackens his own boots and saves the little maid-servant every labour he can, knowing his daughter’s illness makes the household hard.