Little Dorrit grows up in Marshalsea prison, where her father is confined for his debts, and she helps to feed the family with her needlework until her father receives an inheritance when she is in her teens, and more problems ensue.
The sensational bestselling story of Little Nell, the beautiful child thrown into a shadowy, terrifying world, seems to belong less to the history of the Victorian novel than to folklore, fairy tale, or myth.
Martin Chuzzlewit's wealthy grandfather forces him to emigrate to America after the selfish Martin falls in love with the wrong girl; upon his return, Martin seems to prove his worth.
Hester Prynne, condemned by Puritan law to wear the scarlet letter "A" for adultress, endures her ostracism with dignity, while her lover is tormented by the burden of an unexposed sin.
