Here are my nominations for some of the most far-fetched coincidences, misunderstandings or cases of mistaken identity used as plot devices in Victorian literature. This #victober threw up some corkers for me.
How do you feel about this sort of plot twist in Victorian writing? And today?
Share your favourite examples. Try to avoid spoilers or mark that at the start of your comment so people are warned.
Books mentioned:
Oliver Twist, Pickwick Papers, Great Expectations and David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Tess of the D'Urbevilles by Thomas Hardy
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
The Doctor's Wife by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
London Assurance by Dion Boucicault
Afternoon by Ouida (Maria Louise Ramé) available online onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=ha011201858
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot