LIFE AND wORKS OF cHARLES dICKENS

1. “A Novelist with a Purpose” Life and Works of Charles Dickens By Xavier Pradheep Singh. M. S.

2. Please Note:- This PowerPoint presentation is available in my website: http://sites.google.com/site/xavierpradheepsingh/ So, just listen and take down the important points. Don’t try to copy the content of the slides. 2 Pradheep

3. Overview Birth Early Years Education Career Works Literary Style Pradheep 3

4. Birth Charles John Huffam Dickens On 7th February 1812 At Portsea in England Son of John Dickens and Elizabeth Second of eight children Pradheep 4

5. Early Years His father, a minor clerk in the Navy Pay Office, was a man of the Micawber type. He was unable to manage his financial affairs which led to a severe financial crisis His family moved first to London in 1823, then to Chatham and back to London Pradheep 5

6. Dickens's home from 1817 to 1821 in Chatham Pradheep 6

7. A Voracious Reader He read the novels of: Smollette Fielding Le Sage This reading has an influence upon his works Pradheep 7

8. Financial Crisis John Dickens was arrested and taken to debtor’s prison of the Marshalsea The schooling of Dickens was suspended He was sent to work at a blacking factory A time of utter misery, humiliation and despair. Pradheep 8

9. Rescue A timely legacy from John’s grand mother, Elizabeth Dickens. She had left him ₤450 in her will. Hence John was released and Charles Dickens was sent back to school. Pradheep 9

10. Career Became a junior clerk in a solicitor’s office in 1827 Learnt shorthand and became a reporter in 1829 Became a parliamentary reporter on The TrueSun and then on The Morning Chronicle Pradheep 10

11. Marriage Loved a girl, Maria Beadnell, in 1830. But Maria’s parents disapproved their affair and sent her to Paris. Married Catherine Thomson Hogarth in 1836. They had ten children. The marriage ended in separation in 1858. Pradheep 11

12. Writing Career Published Sketches by Boz in The Monthly Magazine Sketches by Boz was published as book in two volumes in 1836 It brought him immediate success “Boz” is his pen name. Pradheep 12

13. Pickwick Papers Chapman & Hall publishers commissioned him to write stories for a series of sketches by Seymour. Dickens wrote The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club from April 1836 to 1837 It established his fame for all time Dickens became a busy and successful novelist Pradheep 13

15. Tours to foreign countries Visited America in 1842 and again in 1867 Visited Italy in 1844 Visited Switzerland in 1846 Pradheep 16

16. American Notes Based on his impressions of America he published American Notes in 1842 and Martin Chuzzlewit in 1843 Pradheep 17

17. A Christmas Carol in 1843 Dombey and Son in 1846 Pradheep 18

18. David Copperfield (1849) His masterpiece Originally appeared in serial form The most autobiographical of all of his novels Pradheep 19

19. Bleak House in 1852 Little Dorrit in 1855 A Tale of Two Cities in 1859 Great Expectations in 1860 Our Mutual Friend in 1864 Pradheep 20

20. A Tale of Two Cities in 1859 Set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution With 200 million copies sold, it is the most printed original English book Pradheep 21

21. A Tale of Two Cities in 1859 Published in weekly installments in Dickens' literary periodical All the Year Round from 30th April 1859 to 25th November of the same year. Pradheep 22

22. Public Readings He made public readings of his own works on a professional basis Pradheep 23

23. Poster promoting a reading by Dickens in Nottingham dated Feb. 4, 1869; two months before he suffered a mild stroke Pradheep 24

24. Last Novel He wrote till his death The Mystery of Edwin Drood (incomplete) His health broke down completely in 1869 Pradheep 25

25. Death Died from a cerebral stroke at Gad’s Hill Place on 9th June 1870 He was buried in Westminster Abbey Pradheep 26

26. The Grave of Charles Dickens Pradheep 27

28. His books never went out of printPradheep 28

29. His interest in Social Reform Dealt with social evils of his day Boarding schools in Nicholas Nickleby Workhouses in Oliver Twist New Manufacturing System in Hard Times Court of Chancery in Bleak House Pradheep 29

30. His Characterization Pradheep 30

31. His Characterization Pradheep 31 No English novelist excels Dickens in the multiplicity of characters He has created a whole world of people

32. His humour and pathos Reputation as a humourist His humour is broad, humane and creative Pradheep 32

33. His style Neither polished nor scholarly Clear, rapid and workmanlike The style of a journalist a lyrical style A mixture of fantasy and realism Pradheep 33

34. His humanitarianism His novels belong to the humanitarian movement of the Victorian age He was “a novelist with a purpose” He was the champion of the weak, the outcast and the suppressed. Pradheep 34

35. Episodic writing Most of his novels were written in monthly and weekly installments in journals Later they were reprinted in book forms He used ‘cliffhangers’ to arouse curiosity in readers Pradheep 35

36. His signature Pradheep 36

37. Thank You Pradheep 37