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Charles Dickens

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A Christmas Carol 1843. Enduring ... Dickens and Christmas. The first Christmas Card, Tree and ... www.underthesun.cc/Classics/Dickens/ humwww.ucsc.edu ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Charles Dickens


1
Charles Dickens
Loyola Academy English Department
  • 1812-1870

English Literature Mr. Simon
2
Family Life
  • Father John Dickens
  • Mother Elizabeth Barrow
  • Father was a Navel clerk
  • Financially comfortable and then destitute
  • Parents were sent to a Debtors Prison

3
Dickens early years
  • Family imprisoned for debt
  • Young Charles forced to work in shoe factory
  • Warrens Blacking Factory
  • Mostly self-educated erratic schooling
  • In 1827, he took a job as a legal clerk
  • He then worked as a reporter in courts and in
    Parliament

4
Married Life and Family
  • Katherine Hogarth not a happy woman
  • 9 children
  • Mistress Ellen Turner- London Actress
  • Spent much of his time in London
  • Not a good family man
  • Settled down to comfortable, married, middle
    class life

5
Early Writing Career
He wrote short humorous sketches with pictures by
Boz which became known as Pickwick Papers
Became famous in a short period of time and
wildly popular among devoted readers awaiting his
next installment
Gave numerous public readings for , worldwide
6
Success as a Novelist
  • Nickolas Nickleby1839
  • Oliver Twist 1839
  • The Old Curiosity Shop 1841
  • Barnaby Rudge 1841
  • Martin Chuzzlewitt 1843
  • Dombey and Son 1849
  • David Copperfield 1850
  • Bleak House 1853
  • Hard Times 1854
  • Little Dorritt 1857
  • A Tale of Two Cities 1859
  • Great Expectations 1861

7
Major Themes in Dickens fiction
  • Loneliness of childhood
  • Oppression of poverty
  • Uncertainty of love and marriage
  • Indifference of social institutions
  • Sustaining joy of family life
  • Perseverance and sacrifice in face of untold
    hardships and injustice
  • Many autobiographical links between life and
    writings of Dickens

8
Themes
  • Docks
  • Aristocracy- wealth, rich, land and power
  • Child labor- Oliver Twist
  • Family life
  • Lost love and unattainable women
  • Dickens main characters greatly resemble himself
    and his life

9
Most famous successful work
  • A Christmas Carol 1843
  • Enduring holiday favorite
  • Amusing elements of supernatural, melodrama,
    humor, and pathos
  • Extremely optimistic tale of redemption for
    Ebeneezer Scrooge, archetypal miser
  • Remains a sentimental classic

10
Twilight of DickensCareer
  • Our Mutual Friend 1865
  • The Mystery of Edwin Drood unfinished when
  • Dickens died suddenly from a stroke in June,
    1870
  • His death was mourned by thousands when he was
    buried at Westminster Abbey five days after his
    death

11
The Victorian Period
  • Queen Victoria 1819-1901
  • At the age of 18 Victoria inherited the throne,
    she reigned for 64 years
  • The sun never sets on the Queens empire
  • the power and influence of Britain around the
    world
  • She died a lonely ruler

12
The Industrial Revolution
  • Villagers moved to the cities factories jobs
    smoke pollution
  • backbreaking labor death vs. luxury side by
    side with poverty
  • It was the best of time it was the worst of
    times.
  • Dickens A Tale of Two Cities

13
London and the Times
14
Dickens and ChristmasThe first Christmas Card,
Tree and Holiday Traditions
15
Dickens legacy and links
  • He remains the foremost 19th century British
    writer of fiction
  • Amazing and detailed depiction of lifestyle and
    issues of a transforming industrial and urban
    landscape
  • Vivid and dramatic dialogue
  • Profession as court reporter enhanced awareness
    of social inequities
  • http//www.underthesun.cc/Classics/Dickens/
  • humwww.ucsc.edu/dickens/
  • http//www.literature.org/authors/dickens-charles
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