1. Charles Dickens "Whether or not I shall become the hero of my own life remains to be seen."

2. Who Charles John Hufman Dickens (1812-1870) An English writer pen-name was "Boz” A Victorian era writer

3. Biography Born on February 7th, 1812 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England Father, John Dickens (1785-1851), was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office John Dickens was very kind and his generosity caused his family many financial difficulties. Mother was Elizabeth née Barrow (1789-1863) Charles had siblings: Frances and Alfred Allen, Letitia Mary, Frederick William, Alfred Lamert, and Augustus Newnham

4. LIFE Attended William Giles where he was a good student When John Dickens, his father, was jailed in the Marshalsen Prison for debts, his family went with him except Charles (12) who worked at Warren’s Show Blacking Factory pasting labels on boxes to help supprt his family. During this time he lived at a boarding house in Canden Town. His working conditions were bad and he was introduced to the hardships of the world However, when his father was released, his father arranged for Charles to attend the Wellington House Academy in London as a day pupil from 1824-1827.

5. Dicken falls in love with Maria Beadnell, the daughter of a banker, whom he had courted for four years. However, her father sent her to finished school and their relationship eneded in 1833. In 1836, he married Cataherine Hogart, the daugher of the Evening Chronicle editor. They had ten children together but seperated in 1858 Rumors has it that Dickens had affairs with both of Catherine’s sisters Died in Gadshill from stroke on July 8th, 1870 Mary Beadnell

6. Formative moment in his life During the months that he worked in the factory, he suffered humiliation and is idyllic childhood is crushed and he learned the harshness of the real world When he worked at the factory, he stood for 16 hours a day standing in the front window of the factory and posting labels on bottles of show polish. He was humiliated by others seeing him doing the job, especially better off parents sneering and laughing at him. The experience set the tone of his books for the rest of his life and drove him to set the foundation of his novels and short stories to depict suffering children and those who were the victims of justice

7. Role Models Henry Fielding, Daniel Defoe, and Oliver Goldsmith

8. Admirers and Critics Admirers: George Gissing and G.K. Chesterton Critics: George Henry Lewes, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf

9. Works Pickwick Papers (1836-1837) his first novel A Christmas Carol (1843) Mr. Scoorge David Copperfield (1848-1850) Most autobiographical work work in a factory Bleak House (1853) social criticism A Tale Of Two Cities (1859) Great Expectations (1860-1861) The story of Pip (Philip Pirrip) was among Tolstoy's and Dostoyevsky's favorite novels The Mystery of Edwin Drood Dickens died half way through this novel

10. Impact Travelled and campaigned against social evils and brought awareness to social evils Some say that he forced child labor laws into existence Others also say that he changed the way poor were viewed and also the amount of assistance and regard given to them

11. Characteristics of Works attacks on social evils, injustice, and hypocrisy. represented suffering

12. Accomplishments By his death he had written 12 novels, numerous short stories and essays, and was a fierce advocate for the poor. He is famous partly for having created some of the most famous boy characters in literature. Apparently, Oliver Twist was the first boy to be the main character in a novel.

13. Bibliography “Charles Dickens.” 3 Dec 2008.http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/dickens.htm “Charles Dickens - Biography and Works.” 3 Dec 2008.http://www.online-literature.com/dickens/ “BBC - History - Charles Dickens (1812 - 1870).” 3 Dec 2008.http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/dickens_charles.shtml “charles_dickens_pd_copyright_expired.jpg (JPEG Image, 288x309 pixels) - Scaled (88%).” 3 Dec 2008.http://www.infed.org/images/people/charles_dickens_pd_copyright_expired.jpg “Nona: Charles Dickens and homoerotic desire.” 3 Dec 2008.http://pierrejoubert.blogspot.com/2008/01/charles-dickens-and-homoerotic-desire.html “Dicken_main_pic.jpg (JPEG Image, 243x336 pixels) - Scaled (81%).” 3 Dec 2008.http://wikis.lib.ncsu.edu/images/b/be/Dicken_main_pic.jpg “Leaving Certificate English Resource Site, by John Jennings.” 3 Dec 2008.http://www.iol.ie/~jenko/dickens.html