Hopeless Cases? Dickens, Mendacity and Medical Earnestness: A Reading of "Mr. Nightingale's Diary" (1851)

A peculiarity of Charles Dickens's narrative style is the use of lengthy entertaining and thought-provoking descriptions. Among them, a significant number are dedicated to meticulous accounts of accidents and illnesses which are noteworthy also because they disclose this writer's remarkable interest in and knowledge of medical matters. Dickens was a regular reader of The Lancet and a keen observer of symptoms and cures, so much so that according to an article published in the British Medical Journal in 1924 he possessed 'powers of medical observation far in advance of the clinicians of his day'. Dickens had first-hand experience of clinical cases, and there is no doubt as to his actual contribution to furthering medical knowledge. However, the full scale of his impact upon modern medicine is best appreciated when considered in the light of the medical debate of 1850s England and with regards to Dickens's place in the cultural critique of mid-Victorian England. In spite and because of his medical knowledge, Dickens was skeptical of the unquestioned authority of science and scientists, and he equally disapproved of the traditional doctor-patient relationship. This paper aims to explore these aspects from a literary perspective through a reading of a lesser-known work entitled Mr. Nightingale's Diary, a play which Dickens wrote with Mark Lemon in 1851.