The Life and Adventures of Charles Dickens

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The Life and Adventures of Charles Dickens

• A Gentleman of Great Expectations

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Episode III

• Dark Crescendo

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Act I State of the Nation

• 1850sDickens writes sprawling novels (e.g.,
  Bleak House, Little Dorrit) providing a general
  attack on society as a vast, oppressive,
  monolithic structure based on principles of greed
  and class interest.
• Writes articles attacking government in magazine
  Household Words
  

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Act II Dissipation

• 1850sDickens forms new set of friends, Dickens
  young men, young writers who are more lively,
  unconventional, less respectable
  

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Act II Dissipation

• To escape bouts of depression and restlessness,
  Dickens accompanies Wilkie Collins on series of
  escapades
  
• Touring Switzerland
• Paris nightlife
• Cumberland walking tour

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Act II Dissipation

• Dickens amateur theatrical company produces
  Collins plays, including The Frozen Deep (1857),
  in which Dickens meets Ellen Ternan
  

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Act III Household Harmony?!!!

• Upon receiving a letter, Dickens arranges secret
  meeting with old love Maria Beadnell (now Mrs.
  Winter)
  
• Dickens is disillusioned by the changes she has
  undergoneshe has aged!!

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Act III Household Harmony?!!!

• Estrangement grows between Dickens and Kate
  Dickens begins writing to friends expressing
  domestic unhappiness
  
• After finding a bracelet Dickens bought for
  Ellen, Kate demands a separation

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Act III Household Harmony?!!!

• To quell rumors, Dickens prints a public
  statement in Household Words blaming Kate for the
  failure of the marriage
  
• Dickens becomes patron of Ellens family, and
  Ellen eventually becomes his mistress (we
  suspect!)

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Act IV Frenzy

• 1853Dickens begins yearly public readings of A
  Christmas Carol for charity benefits
  
• 1858begins series of reading tours through
  England, Ireland, and Scotland, performing for
  personal profit

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Act IV Frenzy

• 1860sgives reading tours of France and America,
  despite increasing strain on his health
  
• Experiences shock of Staplehurst railway accident
  (1865)

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Act IV Frenzy

• Against friends advice, adds The Murder of
  Nancy to his readings and finally collapses
  during his Farewell Tour (1869)

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Act V Better to Die, Doing

• 1859leaves Household Words to start All the Year
  Round
  
• Becomes increasingly obsessed with stories of a
  double life or double characters

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Act V Better to Die, Doing

• Publishes A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great
  Expectations (1861), Our Mutual Friend (1864)
  
• Begins The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870)

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Act V Better to Die, Doing

• Dies of cerebral hemorrhage at Gads Hill, June
  9, 1870
  
• Mourned by readers from all classes
• Buried in Poets Corner of Westminster Abbey

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Our hero has at last found peace. And so with a
fond farewell, we drop the curtain on the final
episode ofThe Life and Adventures of Charles
Dickens
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