3. Charles Dickens was a British novelist, journalist, editor, illustrator and
social commentator who wrote such beloved classic novels as Oliver
Twist, A Christmas Carol, Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield, A Tale
of Two Cities and Great Expectations.
Dickens is remembered as one of the most important and influential
writers of the 19th century. Among his accomplishments, he has been
praised for providing a stark portrait of the Victorian-era underclass,
helping to bring about social change
Who Was Charles Dickens?
4. CHILDHOOD
2
1
He spent the first ten years of his life in
Kent
Charles was the second of eight
children
3
Dickens was born on 7th February 1812
in Portsmouth.
5. • His mother, Elizabeth Barrow, had been in
service to Lord Crewe although she aspired to
be a teacher and school director
• His father, the inspiration for the character of
Mr. Micawber in 'David Copperfield', worked as
a clerk for the Naval Pay office.
HIS PARENTS
6. • In 1822, the Dickens family moved to
Camden Town.
• John Dickens was imprisoned for debt in
1824, when Charles was just twelve years
old.
• Dickens’s mother moved into the prison
with seven of her children.
7. • Only Charles lived outside the prison in order to earn
money for the struggling family.
• He worked with other children pasting labels on bottles in a
blacking warehouse where he endured appalling conditions
as well as loneliness and despair.
• Dickens was permitted to go back to school when his father
received a family inheritance and used it to pay off his debts, but
the experience was never forgotten and became fictionalized in
two of his better-known novels 'David Copperfield' and 'Great
Expectations'.
8. • As a young boy, Charles Dickens was exposed to many artistic
and literary works that allowed his imagination to grow and
develop considerably.
• He was greatly influenced by the stories his nursemaid used
to tell him and by his many visits to the theater.
9. ADOLESCENCE
● Although he had little formal schooling, Dickens was able to teach himself
shorthand and launch a career as a journalist.
● At the age of sixteen, Dickens got himself a job as a court reporter, his own
father became a reporter, and shortly thereafter he joined the staff of A
Mirror of Parliament, a newspaper that reported on the decisions of
Parliament.
● During this time Charles continued to read voraciously at the British Library,
and he experimented with acting and stage-managing amateur theatricals.
● Fast becoming disillusioned with politics, Dickens developed an interest in
social reform and began contributing to the True Sun, a radical newspaper.
10. YOUTH
• Then in 1833, he became a parliamentary journalist for The
Morning Chronicle.
• With new contacts in the press, he was able to publish a
series of sketches under the pseudonym 'Boz’.
• In 1836 Dickens also married Catherine Hogarth, the
daughter of a fellow co-worker at his newspaper. The
couple had ten children before their separation in 1858.
• His travels abroad in the 1840s, first to America and then
through Europe, marked the beginning of a new stage in
Dickens’ life.
11. LATER YEARS
• His writings became
longer and more serious.
• As well as a huge list of
novels he published an
autobiography, edited
weekly periodicals including
'Household Words' and 'All
Year Round', wrote travel
books, and administered
charitable organizations.
12. • He was also a theatre enthusiast, wrote plays,
and performed before Queen Victoria in 1851.
• His energy was inexhaustible and he spent
much time abroad.
• He was estranged from his wife in 1858 after
the birth of their ten children but maintained
relations with his mistress, the actress Ellen
Ternan.
13. • Dickens’ health began to deteriorate in the 1860s.
• In 1858, in response to his increasing fame, he
had begun public readings of his works.
• These caused him to suffer greatly physically.
• An immensely profitable but physically shattering
series of readings in America in 1867-68 sped his
decline.
• He died of a stroke in 1870. He is buried at
Westminster Abbey.
