Charles Dickens is still seen as a pillar of English literature in the 21st century. He remains one of the most loved writers of all time. His contribution to classic novels is great, he belonged to the Victorian era and almost represented it. He displayed a stark portrait of the underclass and he shed light on important social and political issues for which he felt deeply concerned: the difficult working conditions of children and women in Britain, slavery in the USA.
He was born in Portsmouth in 1812 and died in 1870; he was buried in the poets’ corner at Westminster Abbey in London. He spent his early childhood in Kent and then his parents settled in a poor neighbourhood in London. In his early life, he had to face adversities along with loneliness and despair. His father was sent to prison with the entire family, apart from Charles, because of his debts, when the boy was just 12. He had to leave school in order to work in a factory, enduring terrible conditions which were a source of inspiration for the adult writer.
In 1836 he married Catherine Hogarth with whom he had ten children but they separated in 1858 and Dickens fell in love with Ellen Ternan, an 18 year-old actress; their passion was to last until Dickens’ death.
Like many writers he began his career as a journalist: he edited a weekly newspaper for 20 years. At that time the demand for monthly serialisation was high, each episode introduced some new element (a plot twist or a new character) so it maintained the reader’s interest. Therefore Dickens’s novels were all serialised in weekly and monthly magazines before being printed in standard books.
Dickens obviously contributed to the golden age of the British novel which became the leading literary genre. He wrote fifteen novels featuring vivid characters and an exhaustive depiction of contemporary life sometimes leaning on his personal experience. His first great success was The Pickwick Papers followed by Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, etc. The prolific author wrote almost one book a year.
A pillar : un pilier
Stark : saisissant, dur
An adversity : une épreuve
A serialisation : une adaptation en feuilleton
A twist : un tournant
Vivid : vivant, frappant
A depiction : un portrait
