Purposeful Narration: Fiction and Autobiography of Charles Dickens, John Stuart Mill and Thomas Carlyle

In Victorian England, the line between fiction and autobiography had little to do with the truthful representation of fact. For the Victorians, the autobiography (a term they themselves coined during the 19th century) was first and foremost, a purposeful narration. It would become a highly popular genre that would not only prompt a plethora of autobiographical publications, but also inspire numerous essays on the topic. These essays in turn shaped future autobiographies, and how they would be interpreted by eager audiences. Three writers in particular utilized this Victorian tradition to sift through experience and extract meaning. John Stuart Mill, Thomas Carlyle and Charles Dickens all crafted autobiographical material into works that shaped the Victorian Age.

In his article "The Victorian Approach to Autobiography", Keith Rinehart notes that Victorians had two expectations from the genre: "to instruct and to delight". These expectations mirror the early Victorian emphasis of "autobiography as a moral influence" and the late Victorian emphasis of "autobiography as art" (178). Although early nineteenth century critics recognized "the problem of moral and aesthetic values" in autobiographical material and the difficulty "of narrative form imposed upon stubborn fact" (Rinehart 180), these concerns did not override the inherent value of this unique form of literature.

John Stuart Mill recognized the power of one's personal story. Although Mill's Autobiography was published in 1873, his manuscript went through three revisions over the course of twenty years. Mill obviously viewed his work as a mode of instruction as he enumerates his threefold purpose in the opening paragraph: