In this chapter, all the significant remaining gaps in the tale are filled. Dickens has ingeniously fitted the pieces together by stages, enlightening all of the characters while subjecting the reader to a minimum of repetition. One last mystery is dispelled in the process — the mysteries of Rose Maylie's origin. That issue was hinted at — a technique called foreshadowing — in Chapter 49, when Brownlow guessed that the time would come when Rose might have great "need of firmness."
There is a strong theatrical flavor in Harry Maylie's renouncing his hereditary place in society to play the role of a humble clergyman. Remember, training in the English universities of the time was still basically ecclesiastical, so that a man with a degree could reasonably be considered eligible to take religious orders as Harry did, at any time.
There is delicious irony in Bumble's complaint that the law is idiotic if it supposes that he has any authority over his loving bride. The irony of Bumble's position must be indeed overpowering if it can penetrate his obtuseness.
At this point, the novel might seem to be finished. Order has been restored. The faithful lover has won the peerless girl. The villains have been foiled and virtue is rewarded. Present joy with prospects of future happiness is established as the chapter ends. However, while the sun shines upon scenes of human rejoicing, clouds are ever hovering near, ready to cast a shadow. Dickens adds a pathetic ending: "Poor Dick was dead!"
