John Lucas 
Melancholy Man 
A Study of Dickens’s Novels

First published in 1980, this book surveys Dickens’ growing power to drive deep into the causes of his contemporary conditions. It reveals the importance of nature to Dickens as a rich metaphor of human freedom and potentiality, and emphasises his concern with time and the problems of freedom. The author considers the peculiarity of Dickens being unanimously acclaimed as a great writer considering the difficulty in placing him definitively within the literary tradition. The author argues Dickens was an isolated figure, indifferent to changing fashions and with a strong sense of the dignity of human nature and that this formed the basis of his character and writings.