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DicKEns MET EllEn TErnan in 1857, and a relationship developed which lasted until his death in 1870. Did Ellen become Dickens's mistress, or did the relationship remain purely platonic?
Much has been written by professional literary scholars on this subject, with a variety of views, and we have recently had a film based on claire Tomalin's The Invisible Woman1. For a comprehensive review of all that has been written on the matter to date, see The Great Charles Dickens Scandal by Michael slater.2
Those who believe that Ellen was indeed Dickens's mistress, and did bear his child base their arguments on the statements by Thomas wright of olney in his 1935 Life of Charles Dickens,3 in his autobiography Thomas Wright of Olney,4 published posthumously in 1936, and by Gladys storey in her 1939 book, Dickens and Daughter,5 all of which are little more than hearsay. From that time on, many scholars have sought evidence, or at least clues, from Dickens's novels and letters. i shall not detail them all, as Michael slater has already done that, but two fairly recent examples, highlighted as being rather persuasive by slater, and discussed later in this article, are Professor John Bowen and Professor robert Garnett.
Those who believe that the relationship remained platonic, and that there were no children, rely on the absence of hard evidence, but appear to have done little else to support their view. however, it appears to me that those who do hold the view that Ellen did become Dickens's mistress, and possibly did bear his children, have taken all the available 'evidence', and have generally interpreted it to support that view, whilst not giving consideration to any other possible explanation. so what evidence is there for a sexual relationship, pregnancies and childbirth? at this point, i will state that i have no new evidence - this is merely an alternative interpretation of the 'evidence' currently available in the public domain.
readers of ada nisbet's book Dickens and Ellen Ternan6, and of claire Tomalin's more recent Invisible Woman7, should be leftwith no doubt that there was a close and intimate relationship, and that Dickens certainly did keep Ellen in very much the way that a wealthy man in his position might keep a mistress....