Charles Jonh Dickens was born in 7th of February 1812 in Landport near Portsouth and died 9th of June 1870. He was livin only 58 years and he was the most popular English novelist of the Victorian era.
Dickens attended private school for a time, after the family relocated to Camden Town, London. Unfortunately for the young Dickens, this time would come to an abrupt end, after his father was sent to debtor's prison. His family joined him there, except Charles, who started working at Warren's Blacking Warehouse. He earned six shillings a week and worked 10-hour days. Some have wondered if the time Dickens spent there may have provided insights for Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol.
In 1827 Dickens entered a career in law, working as a Clerk. These experiences would provide more insights for future novels such as Nicholas Nickleby and Bleak House. In 1829, aged 17, Dickens took a job as a court stenographer.In 1834 Dickens would start writing political journalism, using the pen-name `Boz.'His first collection was published in 1836, the same year as his first novel The Pickwick Papers.The following year, Dickens' success would continue with the production of his arguably most famous novel, Oliver Twist. Nicholas Nickelby followed in 1838-1839 and The Old Curiosity Shop.
In April 1836 Dickens married Catherine Hogarth; they would have 10 children. Dickens, in 1858, would separate from his wife, though they did not divorce. This would have been frowned upon, especially considering Dickens' fame. In later years, it was suspected that Ellen Ternan, a friend, may have been Dickens' mistress. Not only that, but she may have been part of the reason that his marriage broke down.
In 1842 Dickens visited America and Canada with his wife, where they enjoyed a positive reception. He spent time in New York before returning to England. Dickens would also live briefly in both Italy and Switzerland, but returned home. In 1843, Dickens produced another hugely popular novel, A Christmas Carol, the first of the Christmas Books. More success followed with the publication of David Copperfield (1849-1850), Hard Times (1854), Little Dorrit (1857) and Great Expectations (1861).
SIn 1865, Dickens was returning from France by train; what would follow became known as the Staplehurst rail crash. Dickens happened to be travelling in the one carriage that stayed on the track. Dickens never fully recovered either physically or psychologically. As with all of his life experiences, he used it as material for his writing. However, he turned his attention from writing to giving public readings of his previous works, against the advice of his doctor.
In 1869 Dickens collapsed, after suffering a minor stroke. On the 8th of June, 1869 Dickens suffered another, more severe stroke and died the following day, which ironically, was exactly five years after the rail accident. Dickens was buried in Poet's corner, Westminster Abbey.
Charles Dickens has a very distinct writing style; he writes in a poetic way and uses a lot of satire and consequently humor. His satires of British aristocratic snobbery — he calls one character the “Noble Refrigerator” — are wickedly funny. Comparing orphans to stocks and shares, people to tug boats, or dinner party guests to furniture are just some of Dickens' flights of fancy which can sum up situations better than any simple description could. Since Dickens's started off his literary career writing papers for newspapers most of his stories are in an episodic form. He is a master using this method in his stories, using cliff hanger endings he was able to keep his readers interested in his stories. Dickens uses idealized characters in his books, this in itself can be a very bad thing because an idealized character does not have any room to grow throughout the course of the book. However Dickens does not make all of his characters perfect, rather he uses his idealized characters to contrast the ugly side of life that he so often portrays. Oliver Twist is an example of one of his idealized characters, during the course of the book Oliver is put through many trials including an evil orphanage and a small training center for thieves. Throughout all of this Oliver is naive and his values are never compromised even though he is put in very difficult situations. Seeing the ugly circumstances that Oliver so often occupies, it is no wonder that Dickens chose to idealize Oliver and give the reader something to love completely. If Dickens had not idealized Oliver the book would have been dark with very little joy in it. Dickens also loves to employ incredible circumstances in his books. In Oliver Twist, Oliver turns out to be the nephew of the rich high class family that rescues him from the gang of thieves that Oliver had fallen in with. Using these incredible coincidences was popular for authors during Dickens's time, but he uses it in a distinct way. While other authors of the period would use the method to further their plot in their simple picturesque stories, Dickens's took the approach that good will triumph over evil sometimes even in very unexpected ways and he used the method of incredible circumstances to show his outlook. A Christmas Carole is one of the best loved Christmas stories of all time. In a Christmas Carole Dickens uses music and mysterious ghosts to bring to bring an old miser the message of Christmas. Charles Dickens frequently uses houses to symbolize the people who inhabit them. He utilizes vivd description, similes, metaphors, personification, and imagery to capture the essence of the character's personality and traits. A good example of this is Dickens' description of Mr. Jagger's office in his novel Great Expectations, which he uses in order to illustrate Mr. Jagger's dark, gloomy personality.In the book Great Expectations, Dickens illustrates Jagger's dark and gloomy personalities through painting vivid descriptions of his office. Mr. Jagger's dark, depressing office exemplifies his characters, a burly man full of secrets, mysteries, and dark complexions.
Dickens was once a newspaper reporter; his descriptions show a wonderful eye for detail.
Dickens loved words, and liked to produce a 'pretty piece of writing' in different styles. He included lots of powerful adjectives, and is famous for his use of alliteration, asyndeton, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, anaphora, parallelism, polysyndeton, epistrophe, personification and antithesis.His descriptions often present people, their surroundings, and even the weather, in ways which reinforce each other, so that a certain 'feel' is built up through the passage.
From the early 1850s, Dickens gave public readings of his novels. His writing is rhythmic and designed to be read out loud. He loved to make young women in his audience laugh or weep, so many of his characters are either hilariously comic or heart-breakingly sentimental.
Dickens was a master of dialect and used what is called 'substandard' speech to add to the picture of a character he was building up.
The key social and cultural influences of the time were:
1. Ambition
In 1859, Samuel Smiles published his book Self-Help, which told people that if they worked hard they could improve their station in life. The 19th century was the age of the 'self-made man'.
2. Social class
In Victorian times, society was strictly layered - not only into rich and poor, or even upper, middle and lower class, but hundreds of 'grades'. People were expected to 'know their place', and the Church taught them to be content in their 'station'. Dickens did not like the effects of social class.
3. Social problems
At the time, many people were becoming aware of the need to improve the condition in which the poor found themselves. Dickens was a great supporter of social reform - especially in education and prisons.
4. Church and religion
In Victorian times, Britain was overwhelmingly Christian. The Church dominated religion and the morals of the time. Dickens, however, disapproved of the power the Church had over people's lives.
5. Family
Family was at the centre of Victorian society. People had large, extended families - although Dickens was aware that not all families were happy families.
Wybrana bibliografia [edytuj]
* Klub Pickwicka (The Pickwick Papers, 1836-1837),
* Oliver Twist (1837 - 1838, wydanie polskie 1846),
* Nicholas Nickleby (Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, 1838 - 1839, wydanie polskie 1847),
* David Copperfield (David Copperfield, 1849 - 1850, wydanie polskie 1889),
* Ciężkie czasy (Hard Times, 1854, wydanie polskie 1866),
* Mała Dorrit (Little Dorrit, 1855 - 1857, wydanie polskie 1925),
* Magazyn osobliwości (The Old Curiosity Shop, 1840 - 1841),
* Barnaba Rudge (Barnaby Rudge, 1841),
* Marcin Chuzzlewit (Martin Chuzzlewit, 1843 - 1844),
* Samotnia (Bleak House, 1852 - 1853),
* Opowieść o dwóch miastach (A Tale of Two Cities, 1859),
* Wielkie nadzieje (Great Expectations, 1860 - 1861, wydanie polskie 1868),
* Nasz wspólny przyjaciel (Our Mutual Friend, 1864 - 1865),
* cykl Opowieści wigilijnych (1843 - 1846, łączne wydanie polskie 1958),
o Opowieść wigilijna (A Christmas Carol, 1843),
o Dzwony (The Chimes, 1845),
o Świerszcz za kominem (The Cricket on the Hearth, 1846),
* niedokończona powieść Tajemnica Edwina Drooda (The Mystery of Edwin Drood, 1870).