Walter Besant
This chapter discusses the extent of Walter Besant’s indebtedness to Charles Dickens’s oeuvre. It advances the thesis that of all Victorian novelists Dickens exerted a major influence not only on Besant’s literary development, but also on his social ideas and literary technique. In a way, Besant shared Dickens’s belief that benevolence and good-heartedness may help overcome social ills and contribute to cross-class co-operation and solidarity. The mark of Dickens’s style can be seen in many novels written by Besant in collaboration with James Rice or alone, particularly in his slum novels. Besant, now almost forgotten and neglected, was a literary giant of his day, who, like a latter-day Dickens, rendered a harsh indictment of his compatriot’s treatment of the poor.