The Lamplighter by Charles Dickens

"The Lamplighter" by Charles Dickens is a humorous novella written during the Victorian era. The story centers on the character Tom Grig, a jovial lamplighter whose life takes an unexpected turn involving celestial predictions and improbable romantic entanglements. With Dickens' characteristic wit and social commentary, the book explores themes of class, fate, ambition, and the balance of good-natured folly with the harsh realities of life. The narrative unfolds as Tom Grig is mistaken for a man of noble lineage by an eccentric old gentleman, who insists that Tom is fated to marry his niece due to a celestial prediction. As the story progresses, humorous misunderstandings and chaos ensue, particularly involving the old gentleman's other niece and a dismal boy named Galileo. The plot thickens with the introduction of a philosopher's stone that promises wealth but ultimately leads to a comically disastrous explosion and an unexpected twist in the tale of love and marriage. In a final twist of fate, Tom discovers that he is not just a lamplighter but a central figure in a web of entangled relationships, making it a delightful exploration of destiny intermingled with humor and absurdity. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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About this eBook

Author Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870
Title The Lamplighter
Credits Transcribed from the 1905 Chapman & Hall edition (_The Works of Charles Dickens_, volume 28) by David Price
Reading Level Reading ease score: 77.8 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.
Language English
LoC Class PR: Language and Literatures: English literature
Subject England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction
Subject Humorous stories
Category Text
eBook-No. 927
Release Date
Last Update Jan 11, 2015
Copyright Public domain in the USA.
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