1. Charles Dickens

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
Bleak House 1853
Hard Times 1854
Little Dorritt 1857
A Tale of Two Cities 1859
Great Expectations

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

8. 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

9. Most famous successful work
A Christmas Carol
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 Dickens’Career
Our Mutual Friend
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 Queen’s 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

14. Dickens and Christmas The 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