MAJOR AUTHORS: CHARLES DICKENS | Spring 2008
STUDENT PROJECTS
Maury: Bleak Maternity Tests
Kelly Appleton, Kim Halligan, Andrea Timpano
For our project, we chose to highlight the melodramatic subplot of Esther's mysterious origins using the format of Maury Povich's talk show. Infamous for episodes on paternity testing, we agreed that it would be an appropriate and comical outlet to offer commentary on Lady Dedlock's scandalous revelation. The video goes through the motions of interviewing the suspected parent beforehand, revealing the results of the paternity test, and then documenting the parent's reaction to the news. This process, closely mirroring that of the real-life televesion show, emphasizes how truly drawn out, overly dramatic, and absurd the situation with Lady Dedlock really is. It also helps to establish connections between the characters in a more entertaining way. The Pickwick segment at the end is meant to showcase Dickens' more humorous side.