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Emery Shoemaker Professor Malcolm Literature 2100 4 May 2007 Charles Dickens and the Victorian Period Charles Dickens was born February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. His parents were Elizabeth nee Barrow and John Dickens. Charles Dickens grew up reading Henry Fielding, Daniel Defoe, and Oliver Goldsmith. Charles Dickens and his siblings played games that included reciting poetry, singing songs, and creating theatrical productions. In 1824 John Dickens was imprisoned for debt, and all of his family went with him except Charles who worked at Warren’s Shoe Blacking Factory at the age of 12 to help support the family. Later that year when his father was released, his father sent him to the Wellington House Academy in London from 1824-1827 which guided him into the field of writing. Dickens’ first book, Sketches by Boz was published in 1836. He also married Catherine Hogarth, and eventually had ten children. Dickens would have books published almost every year between 1836 and 1865. Dickens died June 9, 1970 from a cerebral hemorrhage (<http://www.online-literature.com/dickens/>). The Victorian Period was a period full of terrible working conditions and poverty. There was also over-crowded and inadequate housing. Along with everything there was also a high rate of disease and death. Child labor was very popular at the time because families could not survive if their children did not work so it was an absolute necessity that the children worked (<http://www.victorianweb.org/>). Charles Dickens obviously grew up in hard times considering he had to help support his family by getting a job and his dad was imprisoned for a short period. Charles Dickens grew up to be a very generous man, donating money when he could because he knew what it was like to not have money. Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist is a good example of how the Victorian Period influenced his writing and how he viewed the society at the time (<http://dickensfordummies.homestead.com/>). Dickens contributed to the development of the English Novel (<classiclit.about.com/od/victorianliteratu/a/aa_victorian.htm>). The artwork of the time was pretty dark, and showed that the times were dark. The art also showed a struggle such as the Lady of Shalott who seemed to be held to the ground and unable to move very much. The Morte d’ Arthur image seems very sad; the people in the background are all mourning the death of someone. The time was a very sad and hard time to get through, and as shown in the art, some did not make it through the struggle (<://www2.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/victorian/>). Charles Dickens wrote with the time, and showed comparisons in his novels that were similar to the period in which he was living. Dickens wrote novels with the same tones and moods as the art of the time. Dickens was one of the great writers of his time and is still one of the greatest writers of today. Works Cited Literature Made Simple: Dickens Made Simple. 6 January 2007. <http://dickensfordummies.homestead.com/>. Lombardi, Esther. About:Literature:Classic. 2007. <http://classiclit.about.com/od/victorianliteratu/a/aa_victorian.htm> Merriman, C.D.Jalic Inc. 2006. The Literature Network. < http://www.online-literature.com/dickens/>. Victorian Web, The. Retrieved April 30, 2007. <http://www.victorianweb.org/>. W.W. Norton and Company. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 2007.
<http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/victorian/>.