Sketches of Young Gentlemen

At a dinner party, a young man makes a desperate attempt to get through the introductions. He seizes a stranger’s hand, retreats behind the curtains and must be retrieved when dinner is announced. Once seated, he finds further opportunities for embarrassment. Dickens watches closely enough to make you feel the effort required simply to appear at ease.

This little book offers young ladies a mock guide to the men they may encounter in company. Each short sketch gives a different specimen room to display himself. The bashful guest scarcely knows where to put his hands; the swaggering young man knows exactly where to put his boots, preferably where they will inconvenience somebody else. He and his friends walk several abreast, forcing other pedestrians off the pavement, and congratulate themselves on the amusement they provide.

The portraits move through parties, drawing rooms, streets and theatres, listening for the moment when a chosen manner becomes a nuisance. A man may be determined to seem useful, poetic or entertaining, but everyone around him must bear the consequences. Dickens gives these performances a physical life in awkward movements, occupied seats and conversations that refuse to end. The sketches are brief enough to dip into, and their exaggerated social types make an enjoyable introduction to his eye for behaviour. Beneath the period coats and elaborate courtesies, the situations remain easy to picture: being trapped beside someone at dinner, or watching a person work so hard at making an impression that they forget to notice anyone else.