The World of Charles Dickens

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The World of Charles Dickens
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Charles Dickens Biography

• Was born on February 7th , 1812
• In 1824 Dickens worked at Warrens Blacking
  Warehouse
• In 1824 Mr. Dickens (Charles father) is taken to
  debtors prison. His family joins him. He is
  imprisoned from February until May

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Biography

• In 1827 the Dickens family are thrown out of
  their home for not paying rent
• Charles is pulled out of private school
• Charles, now 15, becomes law clerk and free-lance
  writer
• In 1834 - Charles takes Boz as pen name
• In 1834 - Charles Dad is re-arrested for debts

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Catherine Hogarth

• In 1836 at the age of 24 Charles Dickens marries
  Catherine Hogarth.
• One year later, their first child is born.
• The year after that the next baby is born.

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Biography

• He fathered 10 children.
• His wife left him (in 1856).
• He gave numerous talks across Europe and in
  America.

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Literary Periods

• The Renaissance (1500 1650)
• The Neo-Classical Period (1660 1798)
• - Dryden, Defoe, Pope, Johnson, Boswell
• The Romantic Period (1798 1837)
• Burns, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron
• The Victorian Period (1837 1901)
• - Dickens, Hardy, Thackery, Tennyson, Browning
  (both), Brontes (both)

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Dickens starts Publishing!

• In 1836 Sketches by Boz is published
• In 1837 The Pickwick Papers is published
• Original Pickwick cover issued in 1837 with
  Dickens autograph

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Complete list of publications...

• 1837 The Pickwick Papers
• 1837 Oliver Twist
• 1838 Nicholas Nickleby
• 1840 The Old Curiosity Shop
• 1841 Barnaby Rudge
• 1842 American Notes
• 1843 A Christmas Carol
• 1844 Martin Chuzzlewit
• 1844 The Chimes
• 1845 The Cricket on the Hearth
• 1861 Great Expectations
• 1846 The Battle of Life
• 1846 Dombey and Son
• 1850 David Copperfield
• 1853 Bleak House
• 1853 A Childs History of England and... a near
  nervous breakdown
• 1854 Hard Times
• 1857 Little Dorrit
• 1859 A Tale of Two Cities

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An impressive authorship

• Dickens wrote 15 major novels in a period of 33
  years.
• He was most creative in the years between 1848 -
  1865.

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Poets Corner

• He is buried in Poets Corner in Westminster
  Abbey in London.
• Dickens epitaph
• He was a sympathizer to the poor, the suffering,
  and the oppressed and by his death, one of
  Englands greatest writers is lost to the world.

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What was happening in 1837?

• King William IV of England dies
• Victoria becomes queen of England
• Benjamin Disraeli delivers his first speech in
  the House of Commons
• http//www.townlib.org.uk/ex-f-pol.htm

Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield.
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Oliver Twist

• Oliver Twist was published in 1837
• The first screenplay
• http//www.veoh.com/videos/e183843GPSB8k7T?cs2600
  83
• The book
• http//www.dickens-literature.com/Oliver_Twist/0.h
  tml
• Slide show
• http//www.imdb.com/title/tt0380599/

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Oliver Twist

• Dickens wrote
• I wished to show in little Oliver, the principle
  of Good surviving through every adverse
  circumstance and triumphing at last.

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Social Conscience

• He crusaded for childrens rights.
• He was an advocate of child labor laws to protect
  children.
• He opposed cruelty, deprivation, and corporal
  punishment of children.
• He believed in and lobbied for just treatment of
  criminals.

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Themes and Symbolism http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Oliver_Twist

• Poverty and social class
• Poverty is a major concern in Oliver Twist.
  Throughout the novel, Dickens enlarges on this
  theme. He describes slums so decrepit that whole
  rows of houses are on the point of collapse.
  Moreover, people are so downtrodden that they
  seem hardly human.
• Dickens describes how much of the London
  population was stricken with poverty and disease.
  
• Oliver has an air of refinement remarkable for a
  workhouse boy, proves to be of gentle birth.
  Although he has been abused and neglected all his
  life, he shows an aversion at the idea of
  victimizing anyone else.This apparently
  hereditary gentlemanliness makes Oliver Twist
  something of a challenging tale. Oliver, born for
  better things, struggles to survive in the savage
  world of the underclass before finally being
  rescued by his family and returned to his proper
  place.
• In a recent film adaptation of the novel, Roman
  Polanski dispenses with the problem of Oliver's
  genteel origins by making him an anonymous
  orphan, like the rest of Fagin's gang.

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Themes and Symbolism http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Oliver_Twist

• Dickens makes considerable use of symbolism.
• The many obstacles Oliver faces symbolises the
  concept of good versus evil, with the evil
  continually trying to corrupt and exploit the
  good.
• The good wins out in the end.

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Characters http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Tw
ist

• Oliver Twist the title character, an orphan boy
  born in a workhouse. He's a young, passionate boy
  and very kind hearted, but he is very naive. He
  does not know the dangers of the world yet.
• Fagin a Jew who recruits and trains boys for
  thievery.
• Bill Sikes a violent thief and eventual
  murderer.
• The Artful Dodger one of Fagin's boy
  pickpockets
• Nancy Bill's girl a thief trained by Fagin who
  longs for a better life.
• Mr. Brownlow Oliver's saviour, a kindly old
  gentleman
• Rose Maylie who turns out to be his aunt.
• Mr Bumble the parish Beadle (kirketjener) and
  leader of the orphanage.
• Mr. Sowerberry an Undertaker (leder av
  begravelsesbyrå) who takes Oliver into his
  service. He's not a bad sort, and rather likes
  Oliver.
• Mrs. Sowerberry Mr. Sowerberry's wife, who
  dislikes Oliver and treats him cruelly.
• Mrs Bedwin Motherly housekeeper to Mr. Brownlow
  who nurses Oliver back to health.

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A Christmas Carol 1843

• He protested a greedy, uncaring, materialistic
  society through such works as A Christmas Carol.
• He repeatedly used satire to highlight problems
  in his society.

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Plot introduction

• A Christmas Carol is a Victorian morality tale of
  an old and bitter miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, who
  undergoes a profound experience of redemption
  over the course of one night. Mr. Scrooge is a
  financier/money-changer who has devoted his life
  to the accumulation of wealth. He holds anything
  other than money in contempt, including
  friendship, love and the Christmas season
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Caro
  l

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Ebenezer Scrooge

• Ebenezer Scrooge is the main character in Charles
  Dickens' 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol.
• He is a cold-hearted, tight fisted, selfish man,
  who despises Christmas and all things which
  engender happiness.
• A quote from the book reads "The cold within him
  froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose,
  made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and he
  spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice ..."
• The story of his transformation by the three
  Ghosts of Christmas (Past, Present, and Yet to
  Come) has become a defining tale of the Christmas
  holiday. Scrooge's catchphrase, "Bah, humbug!" is
  often used to express disgust with many of the
  modern Christmas traditions.
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebenezer_Scrooge
  

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The Ghost of Christmas Past
The visit by The Ghost of Christmas Past also
reveals the origin of Scrooge's neurotic hatred
of Christmas. Most of the events that affected
Scrooge's character occurred during the holiday
season. The important revelation from the spirit
of Christmas Past is why Scrooge has such a
negative view of Christmas. The bookdoes not
state how long ago all this happened, or even how
old Scrooge is now. One of the sources of his
negative ways is the pain he feels for losing his
love, Belle. Engaged to be married to her, he
keeps pushing back the wedding until his finances
are as healthy as he would like something that,
given his insatiable lust for money, he would
probably never have. Realizing this, Belle calls
off the engagement and eventually marries someone
else, causing Scrooge to further withdraw from
society and relationships. http//en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/Ebenezer_Scrooge
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The Ghost of Christmas Present

• The Ghost of Christmas Present was the second of
  the three spirits that haunted the miser Ebenezer
  Scrooge, in order to prompt him to repent. It
  transported him around the city, showing him
  scenes of festivity and also deprivation that
  were happening as they watched. Among those they
  visited were Scrooge's nephew, and the family of
  his clerk, Bob Cratchit. The spirit also shares a
  vision of Tiny Tim's crutch, carefully preserved
  by the fireplace. Scrooge asks if Tim will die,
  and, quick to use Scrooge's past unkind comments
  against him, suggests "they had better do it, and
  decrease the surplus population" reflecting
  Scrooge's earlier comment to two charitable
  solicitors. But Scrooge is disgusted at his own
  words and is concerned for Tiny Tim and his
  family.
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_of_Christm
  as_Present

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The Ghost of Yet to Come

• The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is the last of
  the three spirits that haunt the miser Ebenezer
  Scrooge, in order to prompt him to adopt a more
  caring attitude in life and avoid the horrid
  afterlife of Marley. Most people find the Ghost
  of Christmas Yet to Come the most fearsome of the
  spirits it appeared to Scrooge as a figure
  entirely muffled in a black hooded robe, except
  for a single gaunt hand with which it pointed.
  Although the character never speaks in the story,
  Scrooge seems to be able to get its messages,
  usually as assumptions due to his previous
  experiences.

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_of_Christmas_Ye
t_to_Come
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Themes

• The powerlessness of children
• Goods ability to triumph over evil
• Mans humanity to man
• Mans inhumanity to man
• The outcasts search for status and identity
• The heinous nature of crime and criminals

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What to watch (out) for...

• Use of irony
• Use of coincidence
• Use of humor

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Dickens Belief

• To be thoroughly earnest is everything, and to
  be anything short of it is nothing.