A Christmas Carol

The Victorian age contributed several things to modern day Britain with the growth of industries rather that agriculture. But with the growth of industry in 1833 also came the poor working conditions and low pay. Under the command of Queen Victoria not much really changed in the slums of London in the beginning. Victoria's reign brought on change in government which in later years brought improvements to London. Charles Dickens, a novelist from the Victorian period, wanted to make the world a better place through he writings.

The Victorian time period brought on the industrial revolution. "On the one hand they admired the material benefits the industrialization had brought. On the other, they deplored the brutality of factory life and of industrial slums"(Bowler 689). The Victorian writers often exposed the industrial slums and darkness of the industrial age. The writers encompassed the brutal factory conditions along with the slums that led to the poverty and diseases in London.

English: Detail from photographic portrait of Char...

Charles Dickens, a former resident of Lant Street.

English: Portrait - Charles Dickens Polski: Portre...

Poverty was something that the Victorian age and Charles Dickens had in common. The first eleven years of Charles Dickens' life were fairly typical. When Dickens was twelve years old his family moved to London where his family's fortunes changed for the worst. His father was put into prison for not paying his debts while Charles was sent to work in a blacking warehouse. His job was to paste labels on bottles of black shoe polish. This was a mindless job that Dickens could do while watching the people of London on the streets outside the window. These sights were often reflected in his writings.

After a few months, his father John Dickens was released from debtors' prison. When his father was released from prison, he took Charles out of the blacking warehouse and sent him back to school at...