CHARLES DICKENS (1812-70)

1. LIFE
 UNHAPPY CHILDHOOD
Charles Dickens had an UNHAPPY CHILDHOOD because he was forced to work in a factory,
experience which influcenced him and his literary production.

 THE GREATEST NOVELIST OF THE VICTORIAN AGE

He is the greatest novelist of the Victorian Age, in fact he created characters who live
immortally in the English literature.

2. CHARACTERISTICS OF HIS NOVELS

 SETTING
Most of his novels are SET IN LONDON. He knew well the social scene of London, and
described:

 the IMPACT OF INDUSTRIALISM TO SOCIETY (corruption, public abuses,

crimes).
 the URBAN SLUMS and emphasized their CRUELTY AND SQUALLOR in order
to MADE THE WEALTHIER CLASSES AWARE of the condition of the working
classes

 CHARACTERS
o GIVE VOICE TO ALL SOCIAL CASSES
He created caricatures (stereotypes), mainly of the middle and lower classes.
Dickens’s characters give voice to ALL SOCIAL CLASSES, but he was on the side of
the POOR, the OUTCAST and the WORKING CLASS.

o CHILDREN
Children are often THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERS because they TEACH THE
MORAL to the adults. They are presented as:
 INNOCENTS
 CORRUPTED BY ADULTS, they became CRIMINALS

 CRITIQUE of SOCIETY
He criticized some aspects of Victorian Age as:
 Greed
 hypocrisy of the rich
 the indifference to the problems of the poor

In his mature works Dickens attacked the SOCIAL EVILS of his time such as:
 POOR HOUSES such as WORKHOUSES

He described the HORRIBLE CONDITIONS in it. These places were built to

HELP THE POOR, however the officials who ran the WORKHOUSES abused
of them. In fact the whole social system didn’t really allow the poors to
change their situation.
  UNJUST COURTS
 THE UNDERWORLD (malavita)

3. OLIVER TWIST
 THE PLOT
After his mother’s death, OLIVER TWIST is brought up in a WORKHOUSE in an
INHUMAN WAY. He escaped and run away to London.

In London he met a gang of young pickpockets and their boss FAGIN. Oliver is forced to
steal from a gentleman MR BROWNLOW who help him.

Oliver is kidnapped by FAGIN’S PARTNERS (Sikes and Nancy) and forced to commit
another crime (burglary), but during it he is shot. The victims of the crime are a
MIDDLE CLASS FAMILY who adopts OLIVER: Mrs Mayle and her adopted niece ROSE.

It is dicovered that OLIVER TWIST has NOBLE ORIGINS, in fact his father, before dying,
appoints Oliver as his unique heir unless he commited a crime. However his father had
another son: MONKS who wants the heredity so paid thieves to ruin OLIVER.

At the end the thieved are arrested and OLIVER is been adopted by MR BROWNLOW.

 DESCRIBE SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Oliver Twist deals with the strong problems of VICTORIAN AGE and the IMPACT OF
INDUSTRAIL REVOLUTION, such as:
 EXPLOITATION OF THE CHILD IN FACTORIES
 DEGARDATION OF SLUMS (middle class districts)
 POVERTY
 CRIME
 SETTING
The story is SET IN LONDO where 3 DIFFERENT SOCIAL LEVELS are explored:
1. PAROCHIAL WORLD: lower-middle classes, insensible to the feelings of the
poor.
2. CRIMINAL WORLD: described with PICKPOCKETS who live insquallid SLUMS.
Dickens shows how poverty drives many people to crime and violence.
3. VICLORIAN MIDDLE CLASS: respectable pople who believe in moral values.

 NEW HERO
The protagonist embodies the values of a NEW HERO, an OUTCAST (emarginato) of
society who succeds thanks to HIS OWN DEVICES and the HELP OF KIND PEOPLE.

 STYLE
The text is RICH IN METAPHORS and full of details, it has passages from the sad to the
melancholy and from the pathetic to the joyful. IRONY is very present especially against
BAD CHARACTERS.
  MORAL
There are many obstacles in LIFE, but it’s important yo BE YOURSELF and NOT TRUST
FALSE- BAD PEOPLE, because at the end honestu always succeds. So we must be
GENTLE and HELP people wuthout thinking we are the best.

4. HARD TIMES
 THE PLOT
o THOMAS AND HIS SCHOOL
The story is about THOMAS GRADGRIND, a school headmaster who believes in
FACTS AND FIGURES, in fact his school tries to turn CHILDREN INTO MACHINES.
He has 2 children , Louisa and Tom, who live a life without feelings and
imagination.

o AN IMAGINATIVE STUDENT
However there is a student called SISSY JUPE, who is a imaginative children, so,
according to THOMAS, has a bad influence on the other students. He wanted to
expell her, but he learn that she is alone, so he adopts her.

o LOUISA AND HER UNHAPPY MARRIAGE

Louisa is forced to marry JOSIAH, her father’s best friend and a banker, in order
to help his brother TOM. In this way Tom obtains a job in Josiah’s bank.
However Louisa is unhappy and is been seducted by another man JAMES,
fortunately sissy resolve the problem.

o THE BANK ROBBERY

Tom robs in the bank, but blames an innocent worker who left Coketown and
dies after falling down. Tom is arrested and then dies.

At the end of the story, Thomas Gradgrind understands the damage(Tom

becomes a criminal and Louisa is unhappy) he has caused to his children and
gives up his materialistic philosophy.

Louisa finds comfort in Sissy’s happy marriage and children

 NOVEL OF DENUNCIATION
HARD TIMES denounces the EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY (industrialization) such
as:
 The TERRIBLE CONDITIONS OF INDUSTRIAL WORK
 THE EDUCATION SYSTEM
 UTLITARIANISM
It is a 19th century political, economic and social doctrine which believe
that something is morally right if it helps a lot of people. So life must be
based on FACT WITHOUT IMAGINATION AND CREATIVITY. However this
doctrine was turning men in MACHINES.
 THEMES
There are 3 themes:
 MECHANIZATION OF HUMAN BEINGS
 OPPOSITION BETWEEN FACT AND FIGURE
 IMPORTANCE OF FEMALE ROLE (femininity)
 SETTING
The story is set in COKETOWN, an imaginary industrial town (a brick jungle). There is
the description of:
 PEOPLE’LIFE
 They live the same life everyday (same work, hours and time)
 LANDSCAPE
 Machines are like MAD ELEPGHANTS and their smoke is like
SERPENTS
 The buildings are all covered with SOOT (cenere) that comes
from the coal burnt in the factories.

The description of COKETOWN and its inhabitants want to attack the UGLINESS AND
SQUALLOR of the NEW INDUSTRAIL AGE.

 MORAL
The moral of HARD TIMES is that a life based on FACTS id LIMITED AND UNHAPPY.

 MESSAGE
Without immagination, life is untollerable