Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an author. One of the most popular authors of the Victorian era, Dickens created many characters and wrote numerous books still popular and well-remembered today.
Life[]
Early life[]
Born in Portsmouth (a city located on an island) in February of 1812, Dickens was the son of a navy post officer. He was the second of the family's eight children. While Charles was four years old, the family moved to the city of Chatham - where Dickens spent most of his early childhood. Presumably while in Chatham, Dickens spent most of his time split between reading (including the works of Tobias Smollett, Henry Fielding, and Elizabeth Inchbald along with the Arabian Nights) and the outdoors. Charles was educated in various schools (including a school run by Christian dissenter William Giles) before the family moved to London.
While in London, the family fell into debt - with Charles' father along with most of the family being forced into a debtors' prison. Charles escaped this by boarding with a family friend - a "reduced impoverished old lady, long known to [the Dickens] family" - and an agent of the Insolvent Court. To help end his family's debts, Charles left school and worked at a shoe polish warehouse. This extremely harsh job influenced many of Dickens' writings. Presumably while Charles was working at the warehouse, his grandmother died - with her will allowing the Dickens family to leave the prison.
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Writing style[]
Dickens' works are most well-known for their portrayals of the extremely poor. Many of Dickens' works were published in serial form.
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Notable works[]
- American Notes for General Circulation - a travelogue recounting Dickens' travels to America.
Novels[]
- The Pickwick Papers
- Oliver Twist
- Nicholas Nickleby
- The Old Curiosity Shop
- Barnaby Rudge
- Martin Chuzzlewit
- Dombey and Son
- David Copperfield
- Bleak House - a massive novel about a lawsuit
- Hard Times - a novel about the influence of a strict father on his children
- Little Dorrit
- A Tale of Two Cities - a historical novel about the French Revolution
- Great Expectations - a novel about a young man escaping poverty
- Our Mutual Friend
- No Thoroughfare
- The Mystery of Edwin Drood - an unfinished novel
Novellas[]
- A Christmas Carol
- The Chimes
- The Cricket on the Hearth
- The Battle of Life
- The Haunted Man and the Ghost Story
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See also[]
- Wilkie Collins
- Anthony Trollope
- Honoré de Balzac
- Émile Zola
Sources[]
- Wikipedia