Secrets and Serialization: Foreshadowing the Recognition of Rudge Sr. Through the Secrets Held by Mary Rudge in 'Barnaby Rudge' Anonymous College

Charles Dickens’ 1841 serialized novel Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of ‘80 is filled with complicated webs of characters and confusing plot lines that can be difficult to follow even for the most talented of literature experts. Since the first section of the novel focuses mostly on other characters, at first glance the implied reader could easily mistake Barnaby Rudge’s quiet mother, Mary Rudge, as an unimportant character with very little impact is actually one of the most influential characters in the entire novel. Twenty-two years prior to the novel’s beginning, there was a double murder-homicide that killed Reuben Haredale and his steward, Barnaby Rudge. In actuality, Rudge was the guilty murderer, yet it was presumed by the local community surrounding the Warren house that the gardener was the one whose hands were responsible for the blood of Reuben Haredale and his steward. This fact is unbeknownst to both the implied readers and the characters until nearly the end of the novel. However, Mary is the only character other than Rudge Sr. himself who knows that her husband was actually the murderer who killed Haredale that fateful night decades prior. Dickens intentionally created Mary Rudge’s character to lean on the...