1. Charles Dickens
(1812- 1870)
• An Overview of his life, his works,
and why he was and still is famous.
By James Doyle
Thursday, 11 October 2012
2. Who was Charles
Dickens?
• Charles Dickens (or John Huffam), was
a prominent English writer from the Victorian era.
Thursday, 11 October 2012
3. What did he do?
• During his life time Dickens worked originally at a
factory. He then worked as a journalist. He then
became a writer and wrote many successful novels.
Thursday, 11 October 2012
4. When did he live and
write?
• Charles Dickens was born on the 7th of February
1812, and died on the 9th of June 1870. Dickens
wrote many novels in his lifetime some of them
really well known, and others not so. He wrote
most of his novels between the 1830’s, to when he
died, the final novel that he started writing was
never finished.
Thursday, 11 October 2012
5. Where did he live?
• Charles Dickens lived most of his life in and
around London, although he was born in
Portsmouth, Hampshire.
Thursday, 11 October 2012
6. Early Life
• Dickens early life was difficult but not unlike many of that time.
When he was 12 his father was arrested, he was then forced to
work 10 hours a day in Warren’s boot-blackening factory in
London. His wages supported himself and his family and his
family who had to live in the debtor’s prison( where his father
was being held). Even after family inheritance paid off the debt
and freed them from prison, young Charles’ mother insisted he
keep working at the factory which was owned by a relative. This
caused a great deal of resentment, much of which came out in
his later works.
Thursday, 11 October 2012
7. How did he become
famous?
• He became famous by starting out as a journalist
and publishing weekly stories, then by starting to
write his own novels (these novels were originally
published chapter by chapter in the weekly
newspaper).
Thursday, 11 October 2012
8. How do people still
know about him?
• People still know about Dickens and his works,
because they are world renowned.
Thursday, 11 October 2012
9. Why are his stories/ novels so
famous/ loved and significant?
• His novels are still so famous, loved and significant, because he
was a man of his own times, but because he was a man for our
times as well. We read Dickens because his perception and
investigation of the human psyche is deep, precise, and
illuminating, and because he tells us things about ourselves by
portraying personality traits and habits that might seem all too
familiar. His messages about poverty and charity have
travelled through decades, and we can learn from the
experiences of his characters almost as easily as we can learn
from our own experiences.
Thursday, 11 October 2012
10. His well known novels
• Dickens wrote many famous novels. These include:
Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, A Christmas
Carol, David Copperfield, and A Tale of Two
Cities.
Thursday, 11 October 2012