The Life Of Charles Dickens.

The Life Of Charles Dickens

A biography by Harshil Shah - An Elizabethan Era View

January 2004

Contents

Introduction..................................................................Pg.3

Early Childhood..............................................................Pg.4

Dickens's Working Life................................................Pg.6

Dickens's Personal and Family Life.............................Pg.9

What is Dickens Famous for?.......................................Pg.12

Dickens and Theatre.......................................................Pg.15

Dickens Readings.........................................................Pg.15

What was Dickens like Really?...................................Pg.16

Conclusion...................................................................Pg.19

Introduction

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is one of the greatest English novelists of the Victorian period. He wrote many novels, such as Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, but they didn't die with him. His books are still very popular today.

Dickens's novels are full of great feeling. He tries to fight injustice and unfairness, he loathes social evil, and he despairs double standards. Many events and people in his books were based on events and people in his life. As a child, he had very bad experiences - working in a factory and his father going to prison and facing poverty.

Dickens's writings are complex. Sometimes he preaches social reform and family life.

English: Dickens's Dream." Painted 1875. Donated b...

English: Detail from photographic portrait of Char...

Charles Dickens, a former resident of Lant Street.

Other times he vividly and brutally reflects on the Victorian era. Occasionally he uses comedy for example writing about things behaving like people whilst people behave like machines. His style of writing is very descriptive - he writes like an imaginative yet frightened child.

Early Childhood

Charles Dickens was born February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, England, He was the second child of eight children. Dickens' father was a clerk in the navy. Although he was well paid, he often got into trouble because he was unable to use his money wisely.

When Dickens was two years old, his family moved to Chatham in London. By four, Dickens was an avid reader. Dickens loved his father and they would often take walks. During one of these walks that he saw a grand, old house called Gad's Hill Place. He fell in love with...