Railway Mania Dickens

About Railway Mania Dickens

Charles Dickens witnessed Railway Mania and satirized it in his 1846 novel Dombey and Son. The character Mr. Dombey represents the hubris of railway wealth. Dickens wrote about the destruction of the landscape by railway construction. Other literary figures including Charlotte Bronte and William Makepeace Thackeray commented on the railway transformation. The railroad Bubble of 1845 was the subject of numerous cartoons by Punch magazine. The cultural impact of Railway Mania paralleled the way the dot com bubble would be satirized 155 years later. Dickens himself lost money in railway investments, giving his critiques a personal edge.