Alfred Jingle is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
who appears in the 1837 novel ''
The Pickwick Papers
''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with ''Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to s ...
'' by
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
. He is a strolling actor and an engaging charlatan and
trickster
In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwi ...
noted for his bizarre anecdotes and distinctive mangling of English syntax.
He first appears in chapter two of the novel and accompanies the Pickwickians on their first coach journey. As they leave the Golden Cross Inn at
Charing Cross
Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...
, Jingle holds forth in characteristic mode on the dangers of decapitation as illustrated by low archways and the example of
King Charles I, beheaded at nearby
Whitehall Palace
The Palace of Whitehall (also spelt White Hall) at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, except notably Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, were destroyed by fire. Hen ...
:
"Heads, heads - take care of your heads", cried the loquacious stranger as they came out under the low archway which in those days formed the entrance to the coachyard. "Terrible place – dangerous work – other day – five children – mother – tall lady, eating sandwiches – forgot the arch – crash – knock – children look round – mother's head off – sandwich in her hand – no mouth to put it in – head of family off – shocking, shocking. Looking at Whitehall Sir, – fine place – little window – somebody else's head off there, eh, Sir? – he didn't keep a sharp look-out either – eh, sir, eh?" (''Pickwick Papers'' Chapter 2)
He usurps Pickwickian
Tracy Tupman
Tracy Tupman is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's first novel, ''The Pickwick Papers'' (1836). Although fat and middle-aged he considers himself a young lover and has an unfortunate amorous entanglement with the spinster Rachael Wardle. ...
in the affections of Mr. Wardle's spinster sister, Rachael Wardle. Being only interested in her money, he elopes with her to London. Pickwick and Mr. Wardle pursue the couple to London where they pay off Jingle and rescue Rachael Wardle from an unhappy marriage.
After subjecting the Pickwickians to various tricks and affronts Jingle is pursued by them by coach from town to town. Eluding their grasp, he is eventually encountered by
Mr Pickwick as a fellow resident of the
Fleet Prison where Pickwick charitably bails him out and later arranges for him and his servant Job Trotter to pursue their fortune in the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
.
[Mark Wormald (2003) "Introduction" to ''The Pickwick Papers'' by Charles Dickens. London, Penguin.]
In the 1952 film ''
The Pickwick Papers
''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with ''Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to s ...
'' he was played by
Nigel Patrick
Nigel Patrick (born Nigel Dennis Patrick Wemyss-Gorman; 2 May 1912 – 21 September 1981) was an English actor and stage director born into a theatrical family.
During the late 1940s and 1950s, he became known as a debonair leading man in Brit ...
, while in the
TV musical ''
Pickwick'' for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
played Mr. Jingle in 1985 for the BBC's ''
''.