CHARLES DICKENS INTERESTING FACTS AND INFORMATION The writer of poverty, injustice, comedy and crime.
Transcript
1. CHARLES DICKENS INTERESTING FACTS AND INFORMATION The writer
of poverty, injustice, comedy and crime.
2. CHARLES DICKENS: THE QUINTESSENTIAL V I C T O R I A N AU T H
O R Charles Dickens was born on the 7th February 1812 in
Portsmouth.
3. VICTORIAN ENGLAND The Victorian age in British history is
named after Queen Victoria, who was Britain's queen from 1837 until
1901. What was life like for Victorian children? There were big
differences in homes, schools, toys and entertainments. No TV, no
computers, no central heating, no cars only horse and carriage
(until the last few years of Victoria's reign). No air travel -
unless you went up in a balloon! Many children went to work, not to
school.
4. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION The Industrial Revolution (the era
of rapid and great change in industry and manufacturing with the
growth of factories- 1700) changed Britain from a land of small
towns, villages and farms to a land of cities, large towns and
factories. The population grew from 16 million in 1801 to over 41
million in 1901. Cities grew fast as people moved from the
countryside to work in factories. Men, women and children worked in
factories and in coal mines. Factory and mine owners became rich
but workers were very poor. They were paid low wages and lived in
unhealthy, overcrowded slums.
5. THE LIFE OF CHARLES DICKENS Charles Dickens came from a poor
family but he was lucky enough to attend school. Unfortunately, his
father was jailed for having bad debts so Dickens was forced to
leave school early and start working in a boots polish factory. He
worked here for three years and the conditions were very bad
resulting in Dickens suffering with lonliness as a young boy.
6. DICKENS CAREER At the beginning Dickens called himself Boz,
this was his penname. Dickens started to write as a journalist. He
contributed articles to journals called The Mirror of Parliamentand
The True Sun. In 1833 he was employed as a parliamentary reporter
for a newspaper and started to produce a series of sketches. Later
in 1836, a story by Dickens The Pickwick Paperswas published as a
seriel. This became very popular and Dickens began to become
famous. In 1836 Dickens also married Catherine Hogarth who was the
daughter of one of his editors.
7. DICKENS WORK Charles Dickens went on to produce a massive
amount of material during his lifetime. He published fifteen
novels, wrote hundreds of short stories and non-fiction pieces,
lectured and performed both in England and in the United States,
wrote plays, wrote thousands of letters and edited two
journals.
8. OFFSPRING AND DEATH After having ten children together,
Charles Dickens and Catherine Hogarth separated in 1858. Charles
Dickens died on 9th June 1870. He suffered a stroke after
completing a full days work on his novel in progress, Edwin Drood.
He was buried in Poets Corner of Westminister Abbey.
9. WHAT THE DICKENS ? RANDOM FACTS Dickens was interested in
the paranormal. He was a member of The Ghost Club. In 1865 Charles
Dickens was involved in the Staplehurst Rail Crash. His was the
only first class carriage to avoid running off the tracks.
Apparently, Dickens helped many of the wounded passengers before
rescuers arrived. Charles Dickens has appeared on the British 10
note.
10. Dickens kept a pet raven called Grip, which he had stuffed
when he died in 1841. He was eccentric and was an obessive
compulsive, reportedly always re- arranging his hotel furniture and
having to sleep with his head facing north. He supported the use of
hypnotism and attempted to use it to cure his wife and children. In
his study he had a secret door which was designed like a bookcase
filled with fake books. Dickens had almost demonic energy. Often
unable to sleep, he would take long night walks through the streets
of London.
11. CHARLES DICKENS NOVELS The Pickwick Papers The Adventures
of Oliver Twist The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby The
Old Curiosity Shop Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty A
Christmas Carol The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit The
Chimes The Cricket on the Hearth The Battle of Life Dombey and Son
The Haunted Man and the Ghosts Bargain David Copperfield Bleak
House Hard Times: For These Times Little Dorrit A Tale of Two
Cities Great Expectations Our Mutual Friend The Mystery of Edwin
Drood (never completed by Dickens)
12. NICHOLAS NICKLEBY Nicholas Nickleby is an early novel of
Charles Dickens and is a melodramatic tale of the adventures of a
young man as he struggles to find fortune in Victorian England. The
novel critises societys bad treatment of children and the cruelty
of the education system. This book was originally published in 20
monthly installments under BozDickens pen-name and came out as a
book in 1839.
13. BRIEF OVERVIEW The story of Nicholas Nickleby is about a 19
year old boy whose father dies. When this happens his uncle, Ralph
Nickleby who is a mean-spirited money lender , makes him become an
assistant teacher at Dotheboys Hall. The school is run by the Head
Teacher Wackford Squeers who is very unkind and is very creul to
the children that attend the school. Angry by Squeers bad treatment
of the boys, Nickleby attacks Squeers and then runs away, taking
the little boy who is the main victim Smike with him. Nickleby and
Smike become involved in lots of adventures while Ralph Nicklby
makes evil plots against Nicholas his nephew. The book uses comedy
and dark subject matters and is a sharp and moving social
critique.
14. NICHOLAS NICKLEBY FILM TRAILER Listen to the plot overview,
what can you hear?