Read the text about Charles Dickens then watch a video on the same topic.

You will notice that some

ideas coincide and some differ in them. Look through the statements 1- 25 and choose A if the idea is
expressed in both materials, B if it can be found only in the reading text, C if it can be found only in the
video, and D if neither of the materials expresses the idea. Now you have 10 minutes to read the text
and then to look through the statements 1-25. Then you will listen to a talk on the same topic. You will do
it twice.

Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870) Victorian novelist who created some of the most memorable characters in
English Literature, while also criticising the worst excesses of Victorian society. Novels included  Oliver
Twist, Great Expectations and David Copperfield.

Early life

Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth on 7 February 1812, to John and Elizabeth Dickens.

As a child, Charles experienced the fickle hands of fate; he was first taught at a private school before
being removed because of his family’s financial hardship.

In fact, his father’s debts were so bad, the whole family (apart from the young Charles was sent to the
debtor’s prison at Marshalsea (this would later be the setting for one of his novels – Little Dorrit).
However, although Charles escaped detention in the debtors’ prison, he was made to work long, 10 hour
days, at a local boot blacking factory. The hard and dangerous work left a lasting impression on Charles
Dickens, who would later incorporate in his writings a sense of social injustice that was endemic in
Victorian Britain.

“I had no advice, no counsel, no encouragement, no consolation, no assistance, no

support, of any kind, from anyone, that I can call to mind, as I hope to go to heaven!”
– from David Copperfield.

Charles managed to escape the grind of factory work, by training to be a shorthand writer and gaining
employment as a journalist – reporting on court cases.

In 1833, he became a parliamentary journalist for the Morning Chronicle. The young Dickens was
fascinated with the Houses of Parliament, though he was often left with a lowly impression of the MPs.
Shortly after this, he began writing his first serialised stories, published under a pseudonym – Boz.

In 1836, he married Catherine Hogarth and also in that year, he saw the first publication of ‘The Pickwick
Papers’ His first book proved to be a great seller, and this enabled him to become a full time writer.

As well as writing popular novels, Charles Dickens took great interest in the social issues of the day. He
toured both Europe and the United States speaking against slavery and the various social injustices that he
saw. He even founded his own paper – The Daily News. This was its first editorial:

“The principles advocated in The Daily News will be principles of progress and
improvement; of education, civil and religious liberty, and equal legislation.
Principles, such as its conductors believe the advancing spirit of the time requires: the
condition of the country demands: and justice, reason and experience legitimately
sanction.”

The Daily News (21st January 1846)

Charles Dickens has become one of the most popular writers in English. In particular, his novels are
brimming with colourful and eccentric characters which leave a lasting impression. He achieved this
through his vivid memory of the various people he had met through his life, but also he added a touch of
fantasy and exaggeration with his vivid descriptive style.

There are various themes which run throughout his writings, which often reflect a degree of
autobiography. Dickens loved the Rags to Riches stories, exemplified by Oliver Twist and David
Copperfield. He frequently highlighted the worst excesses of Victorian society and made a passionate
case for a more caring and moral society.

For his attacks on social injustice, Dickens was considered a “Radical” of his time. Though in a later
essay by the socialist, George Orwell, Orwell questioned his lack of alternatives:

“In Oliver Twist, Hard Times, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, Dickens attacked English
institutions with a ferocity that has never since been approached. Yet he managed to
do it without making himself hated, and, more he has become a national institution
himself. In its attitude towards Dickens the English public has always been a little like
the elephant which feels a blow with a walking-stick as a delightful tickling. Dickens
seems to have succeeded in attacking everybody and antagonizing nobody. Naturally
this makes one wonder whether after all there was something unreal in his attack upon
society.”

– George Orwell, Charles Dickens 1939

Charles Dickens had ten children with his wife, but, became estranged from her and ended his life living
with his mistress Ellen Ternan. Also towards the end of his life, in  June 1865, he was involved in the
tragic Staplehurst rail crash where he narrowly avoided injury.
Dickens died on June 8th, 1870 after a stroke. He was writing a book ‘Edwin Drood’. He had wished to
be buried at Rochester Cathedral in a simple and private manner, but contrary to his wishes, he was buried
at Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey.

1. Charles Dickens was the second out of eight children

2. Only six children grew up
3. His family was well-off but then became poor
4. Charles had to drop out of school because of his family’s financial problems
5. The family moved to London in 1822
6. Once the whole family was sent to prison
7. Charles Dickens had to work really hard and do menial jobs
8. Once he even found himself imprisoned
9. Charles managed to escape hard physical work by studying and acquiring a profession of a
shorthand writer
10. Charles Dickens was very ambitious
11. Charles published serial stories after a pseudonym
12. Names and characters of people greatly inspired Charles Dickens
13. Dickens became a journalist
14. Pickwick Papers was the first published Dickens’ book
15. Writing was Dickens’ passion
16. Dickens used to create his early masterpieces at night
17. In 1835 Dickens became a successful writer and got married
18. Dickens was able to produce many books and many children
19. Dickens loved stories in which poor people became rich
20. There were a lot of rumours connected with Charles Dickens due to his literary success
21. Charles Dickens travelled to get inspiration for his books
22. He even created a radical newspaper
23. Charles Dickens had a mistress Ellen
24. A theatrical project ruined Dickens’ family
25. Dickens managed to survive in a rail crash
26. Ellen was with him on the day of the crash
27. The train crash experience shocked Dickens so greatly that he died
28. Charles Dickens died at the age of 70
29. Charles was buried not where he wanted
30. He was buried in Westminster Abbey