CHARLES DICKENS

CHARLES DICKENS WAS BORN IN PORSTMOUTH IN 1812. HE WENT TO A REGULAR SCHOOL UNTIL
1824, WHEN HIS FATHER WAS ARRESTED AND SENT TO PRISON. CHARLES KNEW THE POVERTY
AND THE CHILDREN WORK BECAUSE HE NEEDED TO WORK, HE STUCK LABELS ON BOTTLES OF
SHOE POLISH. THE LIFES OF POOR PEOPLE, LIVING IN STRETS, CHILDREN WORKING IN FACTORIES
INFLUENCED HIS NOVELS. AT THE AGE OF FOURTEEN, HE WENT TO WORK TO IN A LEGAL OFFICE.
AFTER THAT HE WORKED AS A JOURNALIST, HAVING THE CHANCE TO KNOW ABOUT THE LIFE OF
ALL THE RANGE OF PEOPLE. HE ADOPTED THE POEN NAME OF BFOZ AND IN 1836, SHORT
ARTICLES SHOWING THE LONDON PEOPLE AND SCENES BECAME VERY POPULAR. HE WROTE THE
PICKWICK PAPERS. HIS FIRST NOVEL, RELATING THE ADVENTURES OF A GROUP OF PEOPLE
TRAVELLING ON ENGLAND ROADS, WITH PICARESQUE AND COMIC ELEMENTS. DICKENS WAS
FAMOUS IN ITALY, BRITAIN, UNITED STATES, AND FRANCE. HE DIED DUE A STROKE.

THEMES OF DICKEN´S NOVEL : HE HAS A DEEP CONSCIOUS OF SOCIAL INJUSTICE, POLITICAL

INCOMPETENCE, POVERTY AND SUFFERING DUE TO HIS OWN EXPERIENCE. HE WROTE CRITICS
AGAINST CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY. AN EXAMPLE WAS OLIVER TWIST. IN NICHOLAS NICKLEBY
AND MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT, HE ATTACKED THE CRUELTY OF BOARDING SCHOOLS. IN HARD TIMES,
HE DEALED WITH SUFFERING OF THE FACTORY SYSTEMS AND THE HARM DONE BY THE
UTILITARIAN PHILOSOPHY.

CHARLES ALSO ATTACKED THE VICTORIAN SOCIETY WITH NO AFFECTIONS AND INTERESTS OF
MONEY. THE BOOK BLACK HOUSE, SHOWED THE PROBLEMS OF A POOR YOUNG AND HIS
INHERITANCES (MONEY FROM PARENTS OR OTHER PEOPLE WHO WAS FOR SOMEONE), IN THIS
NOVEL, HE ATTACKED THE COURT OF CHANCERY. HIS MASTERPIECE IS CHARLES DICKENS, ABOUT
A BOY WHO LOST HIS FATHER, WHOSE MOTHER MARRIED TO A BAD MAN. HE WROTE MANY
NOVELS CALLED BILDUNGSROMAN (NOVEL TO LEARN).

SETTINGS OF THIS NOVELS : DICKENS WROTE ABOUT A VARIETY OF SETTINGS. THE

COUNTRYSIDE, THE MERRY (HAPPINESS) OLD ENGLAND, THE PROVINCIAN TOWNS, WHICH
APPEARS IN MOST OF HIS SETTINGS, THE INDUSTRIAL SETTLEMENTS.

CHARACTERS AND PLOTS : DICKENS WROTE MOSTLY ABOUT POOR PEOPLE. ABOUT MIDDLE
AND LOWER CLASS. HE INCLUDED MISTERY, INTRIGUE, ETC.

DICKENS STYLE : HE IS A GREAT MASTER OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. HE IS VERY GOOD MIXING
SOCIAL CRITICISM WITH LIVELY PORTRAITS, THE STRENGTH OF DICKENS IS THE HUMOUR. HIS
WEAKNESS IS MELODRAMATIC OR OPENLY DIDACTIC PASSAGES.