Needing A Dickensian Clue - Little Dorrit

[akirlu]

I've never read the original Dickens, but we just finished watching the 2008 production of Little Dorrit last night and I am confused. Are Amy Dorrit and Arthur Clennam half siblings born of different mothers, or not? The implication seems to be that Clennam pere may have been father to both, sired on two different ill-fated opera dancers, but it isn't at all clear. None of the synopses of Dickens that I've been able to dig up so far are clear on the point either, and one of them makes it seem that perhaps both are children of the same mother, Mr. Clennam's first wife who wrote so his uncle so touchingly that he changed his own will in favor of her and her get. Either way, it seems Arthur and Amy may be at least half-brother and -sister. Ending on an incestuous marriage seems a bit racy for the late 19th century, and also for Masterpiece Theater Classics, though. Hence my confusion. Anybody well-read in Dickens who can clear this up for me?

Comments

[carbonel]

I haven't read the book or seen the production, but Wikipedia doesn't seem to think so.

From Wikipedia, I infer that Amy is the daughter of William Dorrit and (presumably) his wife, while Arthur Clenman is the son of his legitimate father and the unnamed opera singer. The bequest was via the uncle who pressured Clenman pere to marry the present Mrs. Clenman.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

The implication seems to be that Clennam pere may have been father to both

If so, that's either embroidery or clumsiness on the part of the scriptwriters. The connection between the Clennam and Dorrit families is that William Dorrit's brother was the patron of Arthur Clennam's real mother.

It's clear from the text that Arthur Clennam's real mother died long before Amy Dorrit was born; Amy is the heir of Arthur Clennam's father because the legacy left to her uncle (the patron of Arthur's real mother) devolves to her.

[maryread.livejournal.com]

And yet again, AKICIF.