Against the City: A Comparative Study of Charles Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop and 老舍«二馬» (Lao She's Mr Ma and Son)

Abstract This article adopts a comparative approach to examine the ways in which both novels explore the theme of alienation in relation to questions of gender and race through the spatial strategies of the novels; of particular importance in my investigation is the act of walking in the city, and the forms of escape that two leading characters in the novels—Nell and Mr Ma—adopt in order to react against the social reality of the metropolis of London. My focus of inquiry, while choosing two works that are not often put together for analysis, also departs from previous studies that often focus on the two writers' use of humor and characterization, elements of which Lao She had acknowledged the inspiration that he drew from Charles Dickens's novels. I argue in this article that it is the spatial articulation of the two novels, and the characters' response to the various prejudices of their time and the constraints that they face as de facto “outsider” to the city that constitute the major connection between the two writers, both of whom drew inspiration from the city for their artistic composition and social critique.