I would say yes it's true, other than I didn't talk about the villains where their wealth is generally seen as a constrictor of their moral nature.

But essentially the wealthy characters have no focus on the mechanics of their wealth, other authors might say how much a character makes per year, what they are primarily invested in, how much of the wealth came from what things, what the coming war means for their investments. For Pickwick it is enough that they are wealthy and can do what wealthy people do. Pickwick in debtor's prison is a chance for him to focus on how the poor are generally treated from the viewpoint of a sympathetic rich character, as well as having an amusing situation "rich man in debtor's prison".

Even Scrooge, he lends money at exorbitant rates, underpays his employee, and does not use any money for his own enjoyment. No focus really on how the business works.

Pickwick is not a villain. But yeah, I suppose we can reasonably hairsplit over 'mechanics of wealth'; to me 'did not have a fascination with wealth' seems almost axiomatically impossible for a Victorian writer.

I did not say Pickwick was a villain, I said that my original statement was true except I did not talk about the villains. I wrote "did not have a fascination with wealth and its technical details." the AND in the sentence is meant to combine the two as I thought was clear, sure he had a fascination with being wealthy in the same way that I do about having enough money to never work again, travel the world, and have heaps of fun.

At any rate Steerforth really reinforces my point - how is he wealthy? Like many wealthy characters in Dickens he is because it is a fact of his nature to be so, as it is in his nature to be handsome.

He does not do anything for his wealth, the wealth does not force him to attend board meetings or consider what competitors will do in other regions or how the slow down in the business means he will have to lay off workers or sell some of his land. The wealth allows him to have merry adventures with a pretty girl until he dies.

In Dickens it seems wealthy people never lose wealth by bad decisions or new technologies supplanting what they had or ships failing to deliver cargo on time, they tend to loose wealth by profligacy in either gambling or drink but generally both.

This is not a fault in Dickens, not everyone has to focus on the mechanics of wealth. Indeed perhaps his keeping away from such details helps hold the atmosphere of the fantastical that clings to his works, and has allowed them to keep being read so long.

The details of businesses that no longer would be viable probably make for dreary literature.