"Little Dorrit" is a novel by Charles Dickens published in monthly parts from 1855 to 1857, and eventually in volume form
in 1857. It is a satire on the shortcomings of the government, the political and personal areas of life during the period.
The story begins in Marseille with the notorious murderer Rigaud informing his cell-mate that he has murdered his wife. The "Little Dorrit" in the title role is Amy, who is born in the debtors' prison where
William Dorritt, her father, has spent many years that he has been dubbed "the father of the
Marshalsea."
William Dorrit is imprisoned as a debtor. His children, Fanny, Edward (Tip), and Amy (Little Dorrit), have all grown up there, though the girls are free to pass in and out of the prison as they please. Also in the town is Arthur Clennam, returning to London to see his mother after twenty years of life in the East, after the death of his father.
Arthur is reacquainted with his former fiancée and now overweight Flora Finching. His mother, Mrs Clennam, lives housebound with her servant, Jeremiah Flintwinch, and his wife, Affery. Mrs Clennam decides to employ Little Dorrit as a seamstress. Little Dorrit meets Arthur and soon falls in love with him. Arthur is not cognizant of Little Dorrit's feelings. John Chivery, the son of the Marshalsea jailer, is in love with Little Dorrit.
Meanwhile, Arthur is intrigued by his mother's interest in Amy so he follows her to Marshalsea and tries to investigate William Dorrit's debt at the poorly-run Circumlocution Office. While there, Arthur meets a certain Daniel Doyce, a struggling inventor whom Arthur decides to help by making Doyce his work partner. Aided by a debt-collector, Pancks, Arthur soon discovers that William Dorrit is the lost heir to a large fortune.
To make the story short, William Dorrit is finally able to pay his way out of prison. He then decides that as a respectable family now, they should go on a tour of Europe and travel to Italy, flounting an air of conceit and pride at their new-found wealth, this with the exception of Amy who remains humble. Eventually William Dorrit dies there after a bout of senility. His distraught brother, Frederick, follows him and also passes away. Alone, Amy returns to London to stay with newly-married Fanny (her eldest sister) and Edmund Sparkler.
Arthur and the Dorrits bank at Merdle's Bank but from shady and fraudulent dealings the bank collapses taking with it the savings of Arthur and the Dorrits. Worse, Arthur is imprisoned at Marshalsea. Amy nurses him.
Frenchman Rigaud, now in London, discovers that Mrs Clennam has been hiding the fact that Arthur is not really real son, and that Amy herself is heir to an estate, and attempts to blackmail her. At the last hour of her death, Mrs. Clennam reveals the secret to Amy, and dies soon after. Rather than hurt Arthur, Amy chooses not to reveal what she learns, though this means that she misses the legacy that rightfully belongs to her.
When Daniel Doyce returns from Russia, a wealthy man, he helps Arthur's release and revival of his business. Arthur and Amy "Little Dorrit" are married. In this novel, Dickens stresses the responsibility of individuals in all areas of life.