1. The Dickens Nobody Knows

2.  Most recognized name in the history of the English language (besides Shakespeare).  His life is far more fascinating than his books.  He is the top-grossing classic author of all time, earning 68 million dollars as a writer.  He is a bit obsessed with money.

3.  Born Feb. 7 th, 1812 in Hampshire, England  Dickens grew up believing he was from a wealthy family.  When he was twelve, his father, John Dickens, was arrested for not paying his debt.  The entire family had to move into debtor’s prison.

4.  Dickens, at age 12, was forced to drop out of school and work to pay off his father’s debt.  This humiliation of being poor haunted Dickens for the rest of his life (in fact, he never told a soul about it).  Thus began his focused drive on becoming a high-status, upper-class gentleman.

5.  At 23, he hated his job as a court reporter, so he would wander the streets at night.  Sketches, essays, poems, lyrics, etc. were written about anything he saw.  He would send these to magazines with the pseudonym – BOZ.

6.  Inspired by his little brother, Augustus.  Cutest kid to ever live! So they regretted naming him Augustus… So they started calling him Moses!  Moses just started talking and couldn’t say Moses, so he called himself MOZ.  But he had a sinus problem –BOZ.

7.  Everything Dickens sent in was published.  36 sketches in total.  But nobody knew who Boz was.  So he talked a publisher into publishing all 36 sketches in a book entitled “Sketches by Boz.”

8.  “Sketches by Boz” did not sell well AT ALL.  Back then, if a published book flopped, the publisher would send it to every bookstore/publisher in town as a “complimentary copy.”  EVERYONE had seen “Sketches by Boz.”

9.  Very, very successful illustrator of the time  Approached Chapman and Hall publishing company asking to publish a book  Chapman and Hall sucked. They were about to go bankrupt and had no successful books published.  Why would Seymour approach Chapman and Hall???  He was an alcoholic, drug addict, and compulsive gambler in massive debt.

11.  In order to get out of debt, Seymour needed 85% of the profits of his next book to break even.  Chapman and Hall gladly accepted the 15%.  “Perhaps if we wrote humorous captions underneath my pictures, it wouldn’t just be a picture book, it would be a joke book and we could charge double!”

12.  Hall (faking it) looked across the room and saw a copy of “Sketches by Boz” and said they knew a well-known writer who would be perfect.  They asked for a week to “get back in touch” with this writer (AKA find out who Boz was!)

13.  Money-hungry Dickens demanded that he would require the novel to come out monthly, three chapters at a time, one shilling per month.  But it cost three shillings to publish a book, so the men thought his idea was ridiculous.  Thus, at age 23, Dickens invented the paperback book.

15.  Dickens thus invented the form that every one of his novels would take.  ALL of his 15 novels were published three chapters at a time, once per month. By extension, Dickens created the soap opera.

16.  “The Pickwick Papers” by Dickens and Seymour became the best selling novel of 1836 and 1837.  Eventually became best selling novel of the entire nineteenth century!!!  But.not.for.the.reason.you.think! Mwuaha!

18.  Charles Dickens is the only known author to sell the same book to the same customers twice…..but, wait…  THEN….he bought back people’s original paperback copies (for barely anything) and sewed them all together and created “A Collector’s Edition.”

19.  Dickens goes on to write 13 more wildly successful novels over the next 25 years.  He falls in love with a woman but her parents disapprove of his poverty and they send her away.  He marries another woman and has 10 children.  He has a disappointing reunion with his first love.  He has an affair with an actress and separates from wife.

20.  Began writing “Great Expectations” in October of 1860.  His 15 th, and last, novel.  Set in an earlier time (1813-1840)  Known as the quintessential “Victorian Novel”  Most regarded as his “best” novel  Genre: Historical Fiction /Bildungsroman

21.  Named after Queen Victoria, crowned in 1837 at the age of 18.  Many political and social reforms occurred during her reign as queen.  The term “Victorian England” resulted from her ethics and personal tastes which were reflected in middle class life.

22.  Occurred in England between 1750-1850  England changed from an agricultural society to an industrial society with the development of:  Steam-powered machinery  Textile machinery  Mining machinery  Improved canals, roadways, and railways

23.  Positive:  Increased employment opportunities in mills and factories  More middle class businessmen becoming rich vs. upper class nobility wealth  Negative:  Child labor  Dirty working and living conditions  Long working hours

25.  In 1800, London expanded to 1 million people  More than 2 million by 1850!!!  Thousands of people came from the countryside looking for work in the city  Many row houses, alleys and streets were being built to accommodate the increasing population  The city was in an upheaval.  The population of England doubled from 14 to 38 million.

26.  Streets were crowded, noisy and very dirty  Vendors selling items such as pies, coffee, fish, vegetables, clothing, birds, flowers, etc.  Street musicians and performers  Horse-drawn cabs, omnibuses and carriages

27.  Raw sewage in the gutters and Thames River  Pick-pockets, vagabonds, beggars and drunks  Soot everywhere from chimneys belching coal smoke

28.  Industrial Revolution led to a HUGE gap between the rich and poor.  In 1834 a “Poor Law” was introduced in England to try and save money, keep beggars off the streets, and encourage poor people to work harder.  Many artists and writers spoke out against this unjust law.

29.  Known as the “coming-of-age” novel.  It focuses on the moral and psychological development of a young central character (in our case, Pip!)  Means “Novel of education” in German  Often functions as a criticism of the society in which the character grows up.  Sounds like a familiar archetype?

30. Pip –orphan, poor, young boy raised by sister Mrs. Joe – older sister raising Pip Joe –boyfriend of Pip’s sister, Pip’s mentor Miss Havisham –rich, weird, old woman who pays Pip to come play with her daughter weekly Estella –Miss Havisham’s adopted daughter and Pip’s love interest