Charles Lamb

Charles Lamb was an English poet, essayist, antiquarian. He is famous

for his essays Elia and books tales of children from Shakespeare. He co-
authored Tales of Shakespeare with his sister, Mary Lamb.
Lamb was a prominent figure of major literary circles in England. He
was a friend with notable literary celebrities such as Robert Southey,
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Hazlitt, and William Wordsworth. His
principal biographer E. V. Lucas referred to him as “the most lovable
figure in English literature.”

CHARLES LAMB BIOGRAPHY

Charles Lamb was born on 10th February 1775, in London. In 1782, he
attended Christ’s Hospital at the age of seven. It was a free boarding
school to educate poor children. He befriended his school mate Samuel
Taylor Coleridge. In 1789, he left school. He was appointed as a clerk in
the East India Company, and he worked there for the next thirty-three
years of his life.

Lamb’s sister Mary Lamb stabbed their mother who died in a moment
of fretful anger on 22nd September 1796. Mary was temporarily insane
and put her in the custody of Charles. In 1799, their father died, and
Mary Lamb started living with Charles Lamb for the rest of her life. The
only time when Mary was not living with Charles was when she was put
in the asylum for the treatment whenever her illness recurred. Lamb
was a lifelong guardian of Mary and did not marry because of her. In
1795, he also spent six weeks in an asylum during the winter. His life
was badly shattered, and he became an alcoholic. It was his
guardianship and responsibility to his sister that he could get a hold on
his own sanity.

In 1796, Lamb started his literary career with the publication of his four
sonnets by Coleridge in his first volume,

Poem on Various Subjects. Lamb published A Tale of Rosamund Gray, a

sentimental romance, in 1798 with Charles Lloyd in a volume Blank
Verse. Lamb started contributing short articles to newspapers in
London by 1901. He had also started writing plays in an attempt to
overcome his poverty. He published a blank verse play John Woodville
in 1802, which was not successful. In December 1806, Lamb’s two-act
circus play, Mr. H., met great admiration at the Drury Lane Theatre.

Charles and Mary together published a collection Tale from

Shakespeare in 1807. The collection was a prose adaptation of the plays
of Shakespeare for children. The collection was admired by both young
and old readers. With the success of this collection, Charles published a
children’s version of Homer’s Odyssey and The Adventures of Ulysses in
1808. Another collection in collaboration with Mary was published in
1809 titled Mrs. Leicester’s School, and Poetry for Children.

In 1808, Charles Lamb started a new career by editing the collection

Specimens of the English Dramatic Poets Who Lived About the Time of
Shakespeare. His comments on this work established his reputation as a
critic, and revival in the study of Shakespeare’s contemporaries was
started. In 1881, he published other critical books such as “The
Tragedies of Shakespeare,” and “On the Genius and Character of
Hogarth” in the journal of Leigh Hunt. He published a two-volume
collection, The Works of Charles Lamb, in 1818. It is ironic that his
literary career has not begun yet.

Lamb has not yet achieved his literary fame; he and Mary were much
happy with life. They would invite their friends at their place at Inner
Temple Lane to late Wednesday night gatherings. The gatherings would
include the Romantic authors William Wordsworth, Coleridge, William
Hazlitt, Robert Southey, and Hunt. Lamb also wrote the best letters to
these friends in the same year that later got published. These letters
were filled with critical comments and revealed the humoristic
personality of Lamb.

It was these letters that prepare him for the forthcoming fame as an
essayist. He wrote a series of immensely popular essays from 1820 to
1825 in London Magazine. The essays were written under a pseudonym
Elia. These essays, like his letters, reveal his humorist personality,
emotions, thoughts, and his experiences of life and literature. He also
writes on disturbing subjects. His writing deals with past memories to
create a sense of stability, calmness, and changelessness in his
personality. His essays are implicitly nostalgic and melancholic, along
with explicit humor, wit, and humanity. He has a bittersweet tone and
remains the hallmark of his literary style. The famous essays he wrote
in this time were “Witches and Other Night-Fears,” “A Dissertation
upon Roast Pig,” and “Dream Children.”
Mary and Lamb adopted an orphan girl Emma Isola in 1823. Lamb
shifted to London for the first time in August 1823. His health was
continuously deteriorating, and his prolonged illness during 1824
caused him to retire from the East India Company. He spent his time
with Emma Isola on walking trips around Hertfordshire.

In 1833, Lamb shifted to Edmonton to take care of his sister Mary who
had been receiving frequent mental attacks. In the same year, Lamb
also ended his literary career by writing the last Essay of Elia. Emma
Isola married Edward Moxon, a friend of Charles, in the same year,
leaving him lonely and depressed. The depression and loneliness got
intense with the death of his friend Coleridge in 1834. After five weeks
of Coleridge’s death, Lamb also died on 27th December 1834.

CHARLES LAMB’S WRITING STYLE:

The French writer, Montaigne, was the father of the essay, and in the
English language, essay writing was introduced by Francis Bacon. The
essays of Bacon are very different from that of his model Montaigne.
The essays of Montaigne are self-revelatory, tolerant, and humoristic.
Whereas, Bacon’s essays are didactic with serious and objective style.

With Bacon, the essay writing in England took the wrong direction, and
for almost two centuries, it was slowly moving towards the original
pattern set by Montaigne. However, with the essays of Romantic
essayists, the essay writing became highly personal, lyrical in nature,
and humoristic. And there has been no significant change in essay
writing from then onwards.

Charles Lamb is one of the eminent romantic essayists. He has been

referred to as the “prince of all essayists” of England. He is called
essayist par excellence by Hugh Walker, whose essays must be taken as
a model for writing essays. The existing definition of an essay is derived
from the essays of Lamb, and his essay is put into criteria for judging
the excellence and merit of any essayist. Though he is not as genius as
Bacon, brilliant as Thomas Browne, clear as Addison, and energetic as
Dr. Johnson, he is most charming of the essayists and excelled from all
the essayist’s inability to catch the attention of readers.

A well-known literary figure of the 19th century Romanticism, Charles

Lamb is primarily known for his essays of “Elia.” His essays are well-
known for irony and wit of common subjects. His works were
noticeably known throughout the 19th century and the 20th century for
his humorous peculiarities and nostalgia. With his essays, he brought
unique warmth in prose of the English Language, which was previously
considered to be dull and boring. He uses intense, screaming, and
sneering sentences with rounded glow, which makes it melancholic and
welcoming at the same time. Lamb uses the genre of prose for his
“personal essays.” He wrote about those things which tormented him
most and extracted literary delightfulness from it. He talked about his
drunkenness and resentment in beautiful sentences.

Charles’s land has a “quaint” or old fashioned style because of its

strangeness. He imitated the style of 16th and 17th writers like Milton,
Fuller, Burton, Sir Thomas, and Isaac Walton. He also uses the diction
and rhythm of these writing according to the subject he is dealing with,
due to which, the style of every essay of Lamb is changed. He makes his
style charming and prevents it from becoming tiresome and boring.
Due to the continuously varying mood, his style is surprising. The
following are the distinctive characteristics of Charles Lamb.

• CHARLES LAMB AS A REMARKABLE BORROWER

Another peculiarity of Lamb’s style, which belongs to him but is not his
own. He remarkably borrowed his style from his predecessors. Lambs
were greatly influenced by the writers of the “old world.” These writers
include Sir Thomas Browne and Fuller. Though his style is archaic, it is
natural. He used elongated and rambling sentences like the writers of
the 17th century. He, most of the time, uses old words if not out-dated.
Charles has borrowed style, but his borrowed style belongs to him. A
critic comments about his style as: “The blossoms are culled from other
men’s gardens, but their blending is all Lamb’s own.”

• THE CHEMISTRY OF LAMB’S LITERARY STYLE

Ideas that passed through the imaginations of Lamb turned out to be
fresh and unique. The style of Lamb is a mixture of many styles, and this
mixture is not a mechanical mixture but a chemical mixture. His writing
style extracts romantic colors from the inspiration of old writers, which
is then intensified by strong imagination.
Like Wordsworth, he chooses his ordinary subject and with fanciful
imagination makes it interesting and romantic. It is the process of
“romanticizing” his subject that makes his essays interesting.
Otherwise, the subject of everyday life would make his essays boring.
He is not only a romantic essayist but also a romantic poet.

• THE FAMILIARITY OF TONE IN CHARLES LAMB’S WRITINGS

Charles Lamb started a trend of using Familiar tone in English essays
than a formal tone. This trend was then followed by almost all of the
essayists. Campton-Rickett says that there was not any other man
famous in print media that Lamb and he turned the ordinary
conversation into fine art.

The button holding familiarity with Charles Lamb greatly charms the
readers. He writes as if he is playing with his readers in a naughty
manner, always takes his readers into confidence, and shares his
feelings with them. Before Charles Lamb, there is an obvious distance
between the writer and readers in the essays. Addison and Francis
Bacon wrote his essays as if they were delivering the sermon to the
readers standing below them. In the essays of Cowley, the distance
between the readers and writer was significantly reduced; Charles
Lamb completely eliminated the distance. Charles Lamb addresses his
readers as “dear readers.” It appears as if he is addressing his friends. It
mocks the familiar English narrow-mindedness and talks to his readers,
treating them as men and his friends. His tone of familiarity makes his
essay pleasant and Lamb best of associates.

• Mixture of many Styles

Passing through Lamb’s imagination they become something fresh and
individual. His style is a mixture certainly of many styles, but a chemical
not a mechanical mixture.” His inspiration from old writers gives his
style a romantic colouring which is certainly intensified by his vigorous
imagination. Very like Wordsworth he throws a fanciful veil on the
common objects of life and converts them into interesting and
“romantic” shapes. His peculiar style is thus an asset in the process of
“romanticising” everyday affairs and objects which otherwise would
strike one with a strong feeling of ennui. He is certainly a romantic
essayist. What is more, he is a poet

• NO DIDACTICISM IN ESSAYS OF CHARLES LAMB

Charles Lamb does not use his essays for teaching didactic purposes.
Essayist before Lamb would use prose mainly for didactic purposes;
however, Lamb completely shed this approach in his essays. Because of
the didactic nature, Bacon calls his essays counsel civil and moral. The
didacticism of Bacon is intense and needs explanations. However, Lamb
does not offer nor pretend to offer moral and civil counsels. Lamb’s
essays do not carry any “philosophy of life.” He gives personal opinions
and views, but they are not on purpose to be examined but just to give
an insight into his mind.
Camnian, in his views about Charles Lamb, says that Lamb is neither a
psychologist nor a moralist; his purpose of writing not analysis,
research or confess. He is nothing but an artist. By his writing, he does
not aim to save the pleasure of his readers but himself.

• Sometimes behave like a Fool

Lamb is not an absolute educator or didactic. However, he does have
sound wisdom that he concealed under the good tolerant nature. He
appears to be a fool in the play King Lear and Twelfth Night, whose
apparently funny and weird words are saturated with surprising sanity.
A critic states that though Lamb often put the cap and bells, he was
more than a joker or jester; his jokes were full of wisdom.

In his essay “Character of Late Elia,” Charles Lamb gives a character

sketch of apparently dead Elia saying that he would include a light
humor or joke in the serious decision, however, the jokes would not be
irrelevant or hard to understand.

Charles Lamb as an Essayist

Charles Lamb a well known literary figure in the nineteenth century is

chiefly remembered for his “Elia” essays, work famous for his wit and
ironic treatment of everyday subjects. Because of his nostalgia and
humorous idiosyncrasies, his works were conspicuously known
throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century. He brought a new
kind of warmth to English prose. His sentences can be intense, they can
sneer, they can scream, but they always have a kind of rounded glow,
like a welcoming, slightly melancholy fireplace. Writing in that genre
which has been called “the personal essay,” again and again Lamb
made literary delightfulness of the things that tormented him most—
including his resentments and drunkenness—and his sentences are
usually beautiful.
Lamb’s contribution to the English essay also lies in his changing the
general tone from formality to familiarity. This change was to be
accepted by all the essayists to follow. Alone or with his sister Mary
(when she wasn’t violently insane), he wrote such works as Tales from
Shakespeare, The Adventures of Ulysses, Poetry for Children, The
Works of Charles Lamb, The Essays of Elia and The Last Essays of Elia.

• Friendship with readers

There is no didacticism in his essays. As we observe in the works of
former essayists, we are aware of a well-marked distance between
the writer and ourselves. Bacon and Addison perch themselves, as it
were, on a pedestal, and cast pearls before the readers standing
below. In Cowley, the distance between the reader and writer
narrows down-but it is there still. It was left for Lamb to abolish this
distance altogether. He often addresses the reader (“dear reader”)
as if he were addressing a bosom friend. He makes nonsense of the
proverbial English insularity and “talks” to the readers as “a friend
and man” (as Thackeray said he did in his novels). This note of
intimacy is quite pleasing, for Lamb is the best of friends.

• Charles lamb as a friend and not a teacher:

He is a friend, and not a teacher. Lamb shed once and for all the
didactic approach which characterises the work of most essayists
before him. Bacon called his essays “counsels civil and moral.” His
didacticism is too palpable to need a comment. Cowley was somewhat
less didactic, but early in the eighteenth century Steele and Addison-
the founders of the periodical essay-set in their papers the moralistic,
mentor-like tone for all the periodical essayists to come. Even such “a
rake among scholars and a scholar among rakes” as Steele arrogated to
himself the air of a teacher and reformer. This didactic tendency
reached almost its culmination in Dr. Johnson who in theIdler and
Rambler papers gave ponderous sermons rather than what may be
called essays. Lamb is too modest to pretend to proffer moral counsels.
He never argues, dictates, or coerces. We do not find any “philosophy
of life” in his essays, though there are some personal views and
opinions flung about here and there not for examination and adoption,
but just to serve as so many ventilators to let us have a peep into his
mind. “Lamb”, says Cazamian, “is not a moralist nor a psychologist, his
object is not research, analysis, or confession; he is, above all, an artist.
He has no aim save the reader’s pleasure, and his own.” But though
Lamb is not a downright pedagogue, he is yet full of sound wisdom
which he hides under a cloak of frivolity and tolerant good nature. He
sometimes looks like the Fool in King Lear whose weird and funny
words are impregnated with a hard core of surprising sanity. As a critic
avers,
“though Lamb frequently donned the cap and bells, he was more than
ajester; even his jokes had kernels of wisdom.”

In his “Character of the Late Elia” in which he himself gives a character-

sketch of the supposedly dead Elia, he truly observes: “He would
interrupt the gravest discussion with some light jest; and yet, perhaps
not quite irrelevant in ears that could understand it.”

• The Rambling Nature of His Essays and His Lightness of

Touch:
The rambling nature of his essays and his lightness of touch are some
other distinguishing features of Lamb as an essayist. He never bothers
about keeping to the point. Too often do we find him flying off at a
tangent and ending at a point which we could never have foreseen.
Every road with him seems to lead to the world’s end. We often
reproach Bacon for the “dispersed” nature of his “meditations”, but
Lamb beats everybody in his monstrous discursiveness. To consider
some examples, first take up his essay “The Old and the New School-
master.” In this essay which apparently is written for comparing the old
and new schoolmaster, the first two pages or thereabouts contain a
very humorous and exaggerated description of the author’s own
ignorance. Now, we may ask, what has Lamb’s ignorance to do with the
subject in hand? Then, the greater part of the essay “Oxford in the
Vacation” is devoted to the description of his friend Dyer. Lamb’s
essays are seldom artistic, well-patterned wholes. They have no
beginning, middle and end. Lamb himself described his essays as “a sort
of unlicked incondite things.” However, what these essays lose in
artistic design they gain in the touch of spontaneity. This is what lends
them what is called “the lyrical quality.”

• SELF-REVELATION IN CHARLES LAMB’S ESSAYS

Charles persistently reveals everything about him to his readers in his

essays. This is the striking feature of Bacon’s essays. The shift, from
Bacon to Lamb, in the style of essays lies primarily in the shift from
formality to informality and objectivity to subjectivity.

Among all of the essays, Charles Lamb is the most autobiographical. For
him, his life is full of content to write the essays on. He would
repeatedly say the Montaigne words about himself: -“I myself am the
subject of my book”. Though, the evolution from objectivity to
subjectivity in the essays was initiated by Abraham Cowley by writing
the essay “Of Myself,” Charles Lamb completed the evolution.

His essays contain the bits of his life and mending together these bits,
an authentic picture of his life can be obtained. There is no essayist
born yet who is more personal than Charles Lamb. His essays fully
revealed the experiences, whims, past associates and prejudices that he
discussed. In the essay “Night Fear,” Lamb portrayed himself as a
superstitious and timid boy. Likewise in his essay, “Christ’s hospital,” he
revealed his disgusting experiences of school.
He introduced his various family members in his essay “My Relation,”
Poor Relations,” and the Old Benchers in the Inner Temple. He
discusses his time of adolescence in the essay “Mockery End in
Hertfordshire”; professional life in “The, Superannuated Man” and “The
South-Sea House.” His essay “Dream Children” is full of his sentimental
memories of pathos.
He talks about his predispositions in the essay “The Confessions of a
Drunkard” and “Imperfect Sympathies.” His essays “Grace before
Meat,” and “A Dissertation upon Roast Pig” are his humoristic essays on
gourmandize. In the essay “Dream Children,” Lamb is having a reverie
about his imagined children that would have been born if he married
his beloved Alice, referring to his attachments with Ann Simmons.
When the reverie ends, he says that he found himself sitting quietly in
his bachelor arm-chair. He had fallen asleep in the chair with a devoted
Briget sitting unchanged from his side but his brother John L was gone
forever.
In his essays, Lamb is excessively obsessed with himself that made
readers assume that he is egocentric, selfish, and his writing is inartistic
and vulgar. Apart from this, Lamb is also egotist, which makes him write
offensive accounts. However, his egotism does not have any vulgarity.
Indeed, Lamb is egotist; however, he is not aggressive. He only talks
about himself in his essay because it is the only subject he knows
closely, not because it assumes himself to be more important than any
other subject. Therefore, the egotism of Charles Lamb is not because of
arrogance, but because of humility.

• HUMOUR, PATHOS, AND HUMANITY

The humor, pathos, and his sense of humanity in Charles Lamb’s essays
are the distinctive features that make him different from his
contemporary writers. Lamb’s essays are rich in humor, fun, and wit. In
the edition of the Introduction to Essays of Elia, the critics, Hill and
Hallward, write that the terms humour, wit, and fun are confused most
of the time, however, they are completely different in meaning. Wit is
based in intellect, humour on sympathy, and fun is based on activeness
and freshness of both mind and body. The writing of lamb has all these
three qualities, however, what distinguishes him most is his humor. His
sympathy is always strong and vigorous.

A charming atmosphere is created in the Lamb’s essays with humor and

associated sweetness drawn along with. The fluctuating style of essays
ranges from Rabelaisian verboseness, mischievous attempts at
mystification, playful pun, and ridiculous frivolity to the subtle irony
which penetrates the heart of readers. The best example of his wit and
humor is his essay “Poor Relation.” In the book English Humor, J. B.
Priestly says that he has embodied the English humor deeply and
tenderously. He does not master humor easily, but it is as if he has
plucked the white flower from a dangerous nettle.

Humor is also part of the writings of other writers, however, Lamb’s

humor is closely aligned with the pathos that mark it distinguishes from
others. He is making fun of things, but he is also aware of the tragic
nature of life (life in general, not particularly his own). That is why he
has a “tearful smile.” He has witnessed the hard and struggling lives of
chimney sweepers and the boys at Christ’s Hospital, which made him
deeply humanistic. His descriptions of these events are really touching.
However, it is also accompanied by humor, and therefore, it has
prismatic effects. His treatment of events in such a way momentarily
washes away the tragedy of real life. The overall effect of his essays is
confusing as the readers do not know what id tragedy and what
comedy is.

• THE CONFUSED NATURE OF CHARLES LAMB’S ESSAYS

Charles lamb essays are of confusing nature and light in touch. This
marks his essay distinguished from the rest of the essayist. Charles
Lamb does not adhere to the point. He is continuously moving from one
point to another. He sometimes ends his essay at a point, which is
totally surprising for the readers. He could easily end his essay at any
point. Critics and readers criticize Francis Bacon for his distributed
thought in essays. However, Lamb knocks down everyone in his
outrageous freeness.

His essay “The Old and the New School-master” is the best example of
his outrageous freeness in essays. The essay is apparently written to
compare the new and the old schoolmaster; the first two pages of the
essay are an exaggerated and outrageous description of Lamb’s own
ignorance. The point to ponder is what is the connection between
Lamb’s ignorance and the subject of the essay?

Similarly, in the essay “Oxford in the Vacation,” a great portion is

dedicated to the account of Dyer, his friend. The essay of Charles Lamb
is hardly well-patterned and artistic wholes. His essays do not have a
proper beginning, middle, and end. Lamb describes his essays as “a sort
of unlocked inundated thing.”
Though the essays do not have artistic designs, they have a touch of
spontaneity. This makes his essays lyrical and appealing to the readers.

WORKS OF CHARLES LAMB

ESSAYS
➢ Dream Children
➢ Poor Relations

DREAM CHILDREN BY CHARLES LAMB

SUMMARY
Lamb opens the essay “Dream Children” by the narrating the
story of his grandmother, Mrs. Field to his children, Alice and
John. Lamb’s grandmother, his children’s great-grandmother,
lived in a ‘great house in Norfolk’. This house was a hundred times
bigger than the house they are living presently.

Lamb narrates to his children the story of the tragic scene that
had been carved out in the wood upon chimney-piece of the great
hall in the great house of his grandmother, however, this wood
chimney was then replaced by a marble chimney by the owner.
Mrs. Filed, Lamb’s grandmother, was not the real owner of the
house, however, due to her kind and humble behavior and her
great religious devotion had turned everybody to respect her. The
owner of the house hired her as the caretaker and handed over it
to her while he himself lived in another house. Mrs. Field lived in
the great-house as if it was her own. Later on, the precious
ornaments of the great-house were shifted to the real owner’s
house, however, they didn’t suit the modern house.

Furthermore, Lamb tells his children about his grandmother’s

death and funeral that was attended by a large number of people,
both poor and rich. Even people from many miles around had
come to express their condolences and respect toward her. Mrs.
Field was very humble and pious women who knew Psalms and a
great part of Testament by heart.

Lamb then starts telling his children about their grandmother’s

youth. She was tall, upright with a graceful personality. She was
the best dancer in the country until cancer attacked her and
deprived her of her skill, however, this disease couldn’t take her
good spirits. Furthermore, Lamb tells Alice and John of how his
grandmother used to sleep alone in an isolated chamber of the
house. Also, she believed that she saw two infant ghosts in the
midnight, however, she was also sure that these were decent
mortals that wouldn’t hurt her. Although his maid slept with him,
Lamb was quite frightened of the ghosts as he was not as religious
as his grandmother.

Furthermore, Lamb told his children about their great-

grandmother’s love and affection towards her grandchildren.
Lamb, along with his siblings and cousins, visited his grandmother
in holidays where they, particularly he, spend most of the hours
gazing around the old sculptors of the Emperors of Rome.

He would gaze them as much as the sculptures would appear to

him living or else he would turn marble; moreover, he would
roam around in the mansion without getting tired. He would use
to be alone while roaming around in the empty rooms, worn-out
tapering etc. unless a lonely gardener would cross him. He would
also roam about the gardens, scrutinizing at the vegetation and
flowers. He was more satisfied in spending his holidays like this
and preferred it over the usual habits of children and sweet
aromas of peaches and nectarines.
Lamb, now, tells his children about their uncle John Lamb. Lamb’s
grandmother would love her all grandchildren, however, she had
a special affection for John. John was a brave, handsome, and
spirited man. He had a unique sort of personality. For instance,
others like Charles Lamb would corner themselves, whereas John
would use to mount on horses, tour around the village, and would
merge with hunters. John, with the passage of time, being brave,
earned respect and admiration of almost everyone in the family
and out of the family as well.

John was a few years elder than Charles Lamb. John would carry
Lamb, who was lame-footed, on his back for many miles when he
was unable to walk. However, John, in the afterlife, became lame-
footed. Lamb still dreads that he had not been sympathetic
enough to endure the intolerant discomforts of John or even to
recall his youth when he was supported by John. However, when
John passed away, Lamb would miss him so much. He reminisced
his gentleness and his pettiness and desired him to be alive again.
He wanted him to alive again so that he could fight with him
again. Lamb felt as uneasy without him as the poor John felt when
the doctor took off his limb.

The children at this point start mourning for their deceased uncle
and demand Lamb to proceed by narrating something about their
dead mother. Then he started narrating them how for the period
long seven years he (Lamb) uncomplainingly dated the beautiful
Alice Winterton. When Lamb was narrating his experiences with
his wife, he suddenly realizes that the old Alice is communicating
with him through the eyes of little Alice sitting in front of him. As
Lamb sustain to stare it appears that his children, John and Alice,
are disappearing from him.

Finally, the two desolate structures are left out of them saying
him that they are neither of Alice nor of you, they are not children
at all. The children of Alice calls Bartram father. Hence, they are
merely dreams. Suddenly, Lamb wakes up and finds himself in the
bachelor arm-chair where he has fallen asleep with the loyal
Bridget by his side.

LITERARY ANALYSIS
Charles Lamb, the shining star in the sky of essay writing, was
born on February 10, 1775. He is the world predominant a
renown English poet, essayist and antiquarian. His essays are
considered to be the finest among the English prose work. He is
appreciated for his genial humor, humanity, wisdom and
profound pathos that is reflected in his writings. Essays of Elia was
the first volume of his essays that was published in 1828 while the
second volume of his essays, named, The Last Essays of Elia was
published in 1833. His essays have a unique combination of wit,
reflection, anecdote, and fancy. He died on December 27, 1834.

The essay “Dream Children” is a narrative essay in which the

author, Charles Lamb narrates the story of his dream that he had.
In this dream, he came across his dream children that diminish at
the end of the dream.

This essay exhibits the subjects of pain and guilt of getting

deprived of the people whom we loved from the core of our
heart. In this essay, the author is brought in a dream world to
reveal the sweet recollections of the past days. The essay, being
enhanced with despair, clarifies the worth and necessity of
childhood and the loved ones for an individual, without whom the
life appears to be dark and suffocating for the individual.

The reaction and response the children in the essay reflect the
effect of the story on their mind and turns the essay dramatic.
Moreover, their actions were proof that the story that has been
narrated to then have a great influence on them and were moved
by their father’s description.

There is a shift in the tone of the essay at various points. The

shifts in the tone, from humorous to tragic, occurred when the
author describes the scene of his grandmother and beloved
brother death. Lamb appears to be nostalgic throughout the essay
and longed for his loved ones. He is depressed at the death of his
beloved Alice and feels guilty for not marrying her.

Towards the end of the essay, a twist in the essay comes when all
the events in the story turn out to be a dream. This adds suspense
to the essay along with an open end.

POOR RELATIONS BY CHARLES LAMB

SUMMARY
Lamb opens the essay in a humorous way by listing some of his
views and thoughts regarding a poor relation, without any praises
and compliments. According to him, a poor relation is the most
“irrelevant” thing in the world that is extremely unpleasant and is
the one you don’t want to listen from; they are groove on your
purse, an absurd shadow that always follows you, the one you
don’t want to remember, an embarrassment, something one’s
enemy can enjoy, an apology for friends, inconvenient,
imperfection on the life, and annoying. Indeed, these are the
blunt comment upon a poor relation, however, it poses a comic
intent that exaggerates the writer’s thoughts.

Lamb, in the second paragraph, illustrates the story of such poor

relation. This man is known by his knocking style. When he knocks
on the door, by the first guess you know that is Mr. __, a poor
relative. This man arrives with two contrasting things: a familiarity
i.e. he acts in such a way as if he is your close friend, and
embarrassment i.e. being poor makes him feel embarrassed. The
poor relation never arrives on the open days but always shows up
when you have someone at the dinner. Lamb exaggerates his
manner, the way he acts. He is in one way too “familiar” while in
one way too “diffident” and shy. The servants get confused how
to serve him while the guests (whom you invited for the dinner)
wonders about him. He fetches the old family stories in a wrong in
order to make good conversation, however, they are always
brought in a wrong time and are “unreasonable”. He comments
over each and everything, for instance, he will inquire you about
your furniture price and will make you feel insulting for window
curtain. The conversation and compliments of such a poor relative
are “trouble” and “perverse” and irritate the host. In short, there
presence is highly awkward and when he left, the host moves his
chair into the corner and take a sign of relief. He is a person who
never fits in but you cannot get rid of him.
Lamb them moves ahead to illustrate the story of a poor woman
relation. He claims that female poor relative is even worse than
the male poor relative as described in the previous paragraph.
The female poor finds it harder to hide her financial status and act
as slightly strange and unconventional way and the host is totally
helpless in front of her. She is dressed in a way between the
gentlewoman and a beggar i.e. the quality of the fabric is quite
good but is worn and is outdated. Moreover, the way she acts and
her manners are even worse. Being aware of her poor status, she
acts too modest and abject that people take her for granted and
consider her as worthless: for instance, everyone shows an
inclination towards her and even the governess, who is lower in
rank than her, corrects her when she calls the piano a
harpsichord.

Lamb now narrates the story Mr. W__ and relates it with Richard
Amlet, a character in Sir John Vanbrugh’s comedy, the
Confederacy. Richard Amlet is the son of Mrs. Amlet who is a rich,
however, a vulgar woman who stands as a hindrance in the path
of her son to marry a rich lady. Similarly, a real-life Amlet is the
poor Mr. W__ who studied with Lamb and then went to Oxford
University. Mr. W__ has had highly proud personality and self-
respect. His father was poor house painter who settled next to
Oxford with him. Mr. W__, unable to tolerate his poverty, run
away from Oxford and joined the army. He was soon killed in the
Portugal war.

Lamb continues his essay by saying that the subject of poor

relation is quite uncomfortable, however, he deals with it half
comically and half tragically. He, now, narrates the story of his
Father’s poor friend who visited them at dinner every Saturday.
He was an old gentleman, neatly dressed in black. Lamb would
think him a rich man who worked at money making industry. This
man encountered an insult from Lamb’s aunt when she strapped
him a second serving of food uttering that he must take the food
as he didn’t get it every day. The old man didn’t say anything on
the spot but avenge his insult in the evening in an argument by
emphasizing his poverty by labeling Lamb’s aunt as outdated. This
poor man died soon leaving behind money enough money for his
burier. Lamb here emphasizes on the dignity of a man that he left
enough money so that he won’t be indebted to anybody after his
death. He lands the poor relations on the note of respect and self-
esteem.

LITERARY ANALYSIS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Charles Lamb, one of the most prominent and shining figures in
the essay writing, was born on February 10, 1775. He is a well-
known English poet and dominating essayist and antiquarian.
Among the prose work, his essays are regarded are most premium
and best work in English Literature. Wisdom, humor, humanity,
pathos are best reflected in his word and make readers appreciate
his work from the core of their hearts. The two collections of his
essays: The Essays of Elia and The Last Essays of Elia were
published in 1828 and 1833 respectively. A unique combination of
wit, anecdote, fancy and reflection is present in his essays. He
died on 27 December 1834.

GENRE:
Poor Relations is a self-narrative essay by Charles Lamb. In this
essay, Lamb artistically with comic, humor, and pathos illustrates
the inconveniences that are tolerated by a man from poor
relatives.

CRITICAL APPRECIATION:
The essay “Poor Relations” is taken from the 1st collection of
Lamb’s essay named The Essays of Elia. This essay is actually a sad
commentary of a speaker who describes poor relatives as a
dreadful load on a family that is financially stable. The
speaker/author begins the essay in a comic and humorous way
describing the poor relatives in a various way. He called them an
embarrassment, a load on finances, an entertainment for an
enemy, and an apology for a friend and so on.

The speaker first mentions the male poor relative who enters with
two contrasting things: a familiarity towards the guest and
embarrassment for being poor. Such poor relative gives a hard
time for the host and interferes in everything.

Continuing the comic style, Lamb then mentions the female poor
relative, who is even worse than the male poor relative. He calls
her actions highly modest that everybody takes for guaranteed
and consider her worthless. The host feels highly embarrassed in
the company of such poor relative.

The tone of the essay shifts from comic to tragic when the
speaker mentions his friend who killed make himself killed in the
Portugal war because he was unable to endure his father’s
poverty.
In the last paragraph of the essay, the speaker lands his poor
relatives on the ground of dignity when he mentions the death of
one of his father’s poor friend.