Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Pedagogies

As with several of his novels, education and the educational system is a large sub-topic in Charles Dickens' Dombey and Son. To wit:

Of the school Paul Dombey is sent to, Dickens says, "Under the forcing system, a young gentleman usually took leave of his spirits in three weeks. He had all the cares of the world on his head in three months. He conceived bitter sentiments against his parents or guardians in four; he was an old misanthrope, in five; envied Curtius that blessed refuge in the earth, in six; and at the end of the first twelvemonth had arrived at the conclusion, from which he never afterwards departed, that all the fancies of the poets, and lessons of the sages, were a mere collection of words and grammar, and had no other meaning in the world.Under the forcing system, a young gentleman usually took leave of his spirits in three months." 😗

Florence, on the other hand, finds out that Paul is struggling with his studies, and purchases her own copies of her textbooks so that she can help him when she visits on the weekends. Of this, Dickens tells us, "being possessed of a naturally quick and sound capacity, and taught by the most wonderful of masters, love, it was not long before she gained upon Paul's heels, and caught and passed him." 😃