to have a son so his
firm might be named Dombey and Son. When his son, Paul, is born he promises to fulfill this ambition, which overrides even
grief at the
death of his wife. Paul, quite unequal to the great things expected of him, is
sent to a boarding
school run by a bitter
old woman,
Mrs. Pipchin, who gives
children everything they
don't like and nothing they do. Later moving to another
school, Paul's health gives way under the
rigors of boarding-
school life and he dies. Sonless, Dombey remarries only to find more misery after his wife leaves him, and his daughter-whom he hates for surviving her
brother- leaves to live in another part of the
world. The book however finally
ends with a
reconciliation of father and daughter.