Charles Dickens

1
Charles Dickens

• 1812-1870

2
Family Life

• Father John Dickens
• Mother Elizabeth Barrow
• Father was a Navel clerk
• Financially comfortable and then destitute
• Parents were sent to a Debtors Prison

3
Dickens early years

• Family imprisoned for debt
• Young Charles forced to work in shoe factory
• Warrens Blacking Factory
• Mostly self-educated erratic schooling
• In 1827, he took a job as a legal clerk
• He then worked as a reporter in courts and in
  Parliament

4
Married Life and Family

• Katherine Hogarth not a happy woman
• 9 children
• Mistress Ellen Turner- London Actress
• Spent much of his time in London
• Not a good family man
• Settled down to comfortable, married, middle
  class life

5
Early Writing Career
He wrote short humorous sketches with pictures by
Boz which became known as Pickwick Papers
Became famous in a short period of time and
wildly popular among devoted readers awaiting his
next installment
Gave numerous public readings for , worldwide
6
Success as a Novelist

• Nickolas Nickleby1839
• Oliver Twist 1839
• The Old Curiosity Shop 1841
• Barnaby Rudge 1841
• Martin Chuzzlewitt 1843
• Dombey and Son 1849
• David Copperfield 1850
• Bleak House 1853
• Hard Times 1854
• Little Dorritt 1857
• A Tale of Two Cities 1859
• Great Expectations 1861

7
Major Themes in Dickens fiction

• Loneliness of childhood
• Oppression of poverty
• Uncertainty of love and marriage
• Indifference of social institutions
• Sustaining joy of family life
• Perseverance and sacrifice in face of untold
  hardships and injustice
• Many autobiographical links between life and
  writings of Dickens

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Themes

• Docks
• Aristocracy- wealth, rich, land and power
• Child labor- Oliver Twist
• Family life
• Lost love and unattainable women
• Dickens main characters greatly resemble himself
  and his life

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Most famous successful work

• A Christmas Carol 1843
• Enduring holiday favorite
• Amusing elements of supernatural, melodrama,
  humor, and pathos
• Extremely optimistic tale of redemption for
  Ebeneezer Scrooge, archetypal miser
• Remains a sentimental classic

10
Twilight of DickensCareer

• Our Mutual Friend 1865
• The Mystery of Edwin Drood unfinished when
• Dickens died suddenly from a stroke in June,
  1870
• His death was mourned by thousands when he was
  buried at Westminster Abbey five days after his
  death

11
The Victorian Period

• Queen Victoria 1819-1901
• At the age of 18 Victoria inherited the throne,
  she reigned for 64 years
• The sun never sets on the Queens empire
• the power and influence of Britain around the
  world
• She died a lonely ruler

12
The Industrial Revolution

• Villagers moved to the cities factories jobs
  smoke pollution
• backbreaking labor death vs. luxury side by
  side with poverty
• It was the best of time it was the worst of
  times.
• Dickens A Tale of Two Cities

13
London and the Times
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Dickens and ChristmasThe first Christmas Card,
Tree and Holiday Traditions
15
Dickens legacy and links

• He remains the foremost 19th century British
  writer of fiction
• Amazing and detailed depiction of lifestyle and
  issues of a transforming industrial and urban
  landscape
• Vivid and dramatic dialogue
• Profession as court reporter enhanced awareness
  of social inequities