Charles Dickens

Posted: November 27th, 2013

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Charles Dickens

            Charles Dickens was regarded as one of the greatest writers of his time, which was the Victorian era. His work was majored on criticizing social evils in the community, the injustices, and hypocrisy of that time, which is still relevant today in literature. He produced his books in a serial manner, which created suspense in the reader over the next issue. As a youth, he faced difficulties, to a point of dropping out of school to work in a factory. His work and life history has been a favorite to many readers across the world today.

Charles Dickens was a great novelist and writer of short stories in the Victorian time in England. He was born second to a family of eight children, in Land Port on 7 February 1812. His parents were John Dickens and Elizabeth Dickens. His father was a clerk in the naval pay office. His family moved to London in 1814 and then to Chatham. He got some education here, and then dropped out of school to work in a blacking factory after his family was in debtor’s custody in 1824. Later during the same year up to 1827, he went to study at Wellington House Academy, London, and in Dawson’s school in 1827. During that year up to 1828, he was a legal clerk, and then worked as a reporter. In 1830s, he wrote for several media companies and magazines such as the Monthly Magazine and Evening Chronicles. He married Catherine Hogart in 1836, whom he bore with ten children. In 1840s, Dickens was editor of London daily news. Those years inspired Dickens to be a writer and a novelist (Dickens-literature.com, 2011).

Journalism inspired his talent and gave him the thought of writing about social issues and oppressing laws of that time. Dickens’ work started in 1830s when he became a reporter. He became a political reporter when he reported on parliamentary debates. With Morning Chronicle, he traveled across Britain to cover election campaigns. This is what led to his critiques of injustices and the laws made by this people. Writing sketches in periodicals was his first literature work. His first novel, “The Pickwick Papers”, was serialized. The reason for serializing was to make the books more available and affordable to the poor. The novel, upon completion of the story, was published as one book or in volumes. He also published library editions, which had no illustrations, but were later reissued. His work was also published in the United States.

Dickens’ ability to engage the reader was magnificent. He was able to draw the imagination of the reader through good use of characters, which were very real to the reader. This was one point that made his novels very popular. Some of the novels being fictional, which was a new area to many at the time, captured many readers. Dickens also made many travels to other countries such as the United States and across Europe. In his trips, Dickens addressed the issue of oppression and injustices committed in his time. He also gave lectures, wrote leaflets and plays, and wrote letters between 1840s and 1850s. During this time, he lived in several countries in Europe. Some of his fiction works include, “Dinner at Poplar Walk” 1836, “Oliver Twist” 1837-39, and “Pickwick Papers” 1836-37. Other non-fictional works were, “The Uncommercial Traveler”, and “The Lost Arctic Voyagers” 1854 (Perdew, 2011).

Many people know Dickens’ work in novels, but the truth is that he published many essays, wrote articles in periodicals, and campaigned on social injustices. Dickens’ career started as a reporter, to a journalist and finally a renowned writer of his time. He was also involved in community-based works such as campaigning against injustices, and criticizing offending laws made by politicians. He used to get his characters from people in all kinds of life, which made his work very real. Dickens is still highly regarded in current literature world, due to his work. He died in 1870 and left a legacy in literature.

Works Cited

Dickens-literature.com. The complete works of Charles Dickens. n.d. Web. 23 March. 2011.

Perdew, David. The Novels: Charles Dickens Page. n.d. Web.23^rd Mar. 2011.