Charles Dickens
(1812–1870)

No other writer since Shakespeare has occupied a more important place in popular culture than Charles Dickens. From his own time on, his works, with their unforgettable characters, have held special appeal for both scholars and the reading public at large, and have been transformed time and again into plays and films.

Dickens was born in Portsmouth on England's southern coast. Except for a few happy years at Chatham, east of London, his childhood was darkened by his father's wavering economic status. After years of eluding creditors, his father was finally sent to debtor's prison. Dickens, in the meantime, was sent to a "prison" of his own—to a factory where he worked long hours pasting labels. These experiences, and other ills of the newly industrialized society, figure prominently in his novels.

After becoming a law clerk at the age of 15, Dickens taught himself shorthand and became a court reporter. At 21 he began applying his keen powers of observation to humorous literary sketches of everyday life in London while reporting on the Parliamentary debates. A collection of these, Sketches by Boz (1835–1836), earned him a small following, which he built up considerably with his first novel The Pickwick Papers, published in 1837.

Next came such favorites as Oliver Twist (1837), Nicholas Nickleby (1839), and, after a trip to America where his fame had already spread, A Christmas Carol (1843). In these early novels, which paint a sweeping satiric picture of Victorian England, Dickens displayed both a passion for social reform and a unique ability to combine humor with horror—themes and techniques that became the hallmark of all his fiction. He also developed his lifelong practice of writing for serial publications. Paid by the word, he wove elaborate plots with vast numbers of characters.

A turn toward more serious planning and characterization of greater psychological depth is evident in Dombey and Son (1848) and David Copperfield (1850)—which also contain social criticism that is more direct and less optimistic. In the later novels, Dickens blended these elements together most successfully, and the results were his masterpieces: Bleak House (1853), Hard Times (1854), and Great Expectations (1861). "The Signalman" was published in 1866 in a collection including several other railway stories.

Dickens never gave up journalism as a second outlet for his social conscience. In his later years, the workload imposed by his many writing responsibilities coupled with his exhausting public reading tours took its toll on his health. Dickens died of a stroke in 1870 while at work on a novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

A  |  B  |  C  |  D  |  E  |  F  |  G  |  H  |  I  |  J  |  K  |  L  |  M
N  |  O  |  P  |  Q  |  R  |  S  |  T  |  U  |  V  |  W  |  X  |  Y  |  Z