Transcript John O. Jordan’s “The Purloined Handkerchief”

John O. Jordan’s
“The Purloined Handkerchief”
Analysis By:
Joshua Kirtley, Stephanie Krumm,
Jennie McCully, Tova Salley
Overview
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“The Purloined Letter”
Handkerchief’s origin
Handkerchief’s importance to social classes
Nancy
Oliver
Economy
Application to “The Purloined Letter”
Work Cited
“The Purloined Letter”
• Purloined= verb: “to purloin”
Anglo-French: “pur-loigner”
• Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Purloined Letter”
• Handkerchief displacement from origin
Handkerchiefs and Social Classes
• Handkerchiefs became part of the Victorian
dress code.
- Upper class=Silk, carried in the
pocket. Gentlemen wore “neck cloths”
and “cravats.”
- Lower class=Cotton, often worn
around the neck. Working class wore
neckerchiefs.
…Handkerchiefs and Social Classes
• Dickens attempted to form some kind of
philosophy of clothing in Oliver Twist.
• “Power of Dress”
- Clothes signify social distinctions.
- Power is represented by clothing.
- Clothes help maintain social control.
Nancy
• Nancy receives a handkerchief from Rose.
- The handkerchief exchange signifies
the relationship between Nancy and Rose.
• The white handkerchief symbolizes purity.
• The handkerchief’s is significant in
Nancy’s death.
- It links Rose, Nancy, and Agnes
together.
…Nancy
• Sikes strikes through the handkerchief.
- He tries to hide the handkerchief.
- The handkerchief is present even
when he dies.
Oliver
• Oliver is innocent.
- “Because his heart and mind are
innocent, the idea of theft never occurs to
him.”
• He represents a purloined handkerchief.
- He is circulated throughout the text to
be claimed by those around him.
- He’s sometimes treated like an object.
…Oliver
• He seems to be a blank space that others try
to fill up.
- Bumble and the Police officer name
him.
- Fagin tries to teach him thievery.
• He actually has already been marked.
- His mother imprints a kiss on him
when he is born.
Conclusion
• Handkerchiefs serve an economic purpose.
- Handkerchief production increases.
• Application to “The Purloined Letter”
- A letter always reaches its destination.
- The handkerchief does not reach its
destination.
Work Cited
Jordan, John O. “The Purloined Handkerchief.”
Oliver Twist. By Charles Dickens. Ed. Fred
Kaplan. New York: Norton, 1993. 580-593.