1. The World of Charles Dickens

4. Charles Dickens – Biography
Was born on February 7th , 1812
In 1824 Dickens worked at Warren’s Blacking Warehouse
In 1824 Mr. Dickens (Charles’ father) is taken to debtors’ prison. His family joins him. He is imprisoned from February until May

5. Biography…
In 1827 the Dickens family are thrown out of their home for not paying rent
Charles is pulled out of private school
Charles, now 15, becomes law clerk and free-lance writer
In Charles takes Boz as pen name
In Charles’ Dad is re-arrested for debts

6. Catherine Hogarth
In 1836 at the age of 24 Charles Dickens marries Catherine Hogarth.
One year later, their first child is born.
The year after that the next baby is born.

7. Biography… He fathered 10 children. His wife left him (in 1856).
He gave numerous talks across Europe and in America.

8. Literary Periods The Renaissance (1500 – 1650)
The Neo-Classical Period (1660 – 1798)
- Dryden, Defoe, Pope, Johnson, Boswell
The Romantic Period (1798 – 1837)
Burns, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron
The Victorian Period (1837 – 1901)
- Dickens, Hardy, Thackery, Tennyson, Browning (both), Brontes (both)

9. Complete list of publications...
1837 The Pickwick Papers
1837 Oliver Twist
1838 Nicholas Nickleby
1840 The Old Curiosity Shop
1841 Barnaby Rudge
1842 American Notes
1843 A Christmas Carol
1844 Martin Chuzzlewit
1844 The Chimes
1845 The Cricket on the Hearth
1861 Great Expectations
1846 The Battle of Life
1846 Dombey and Son
1850 David Copperfield
1853 Bleak House
1853 A Child’s History of England and... a near nervous breakdown
1854 Hard Times
1857 Little Dorrit
1859 A Tale of Two Cities
1865 Our Mutual Friends
1869 The Mystery of Edwin Drood (unfinished)

10. An impressive authorship…
Dickens wrote 15 major novels in a period of 33 years.
He was most creative in the years between

11. Poets’ Corner
He is buried in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey in London.
Dickens’ epitaph:
He was a sympathizer to the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England’s greatest writers is lost to the world.

12. Social Conscience He crusaded for children’s rights.
He was an advocate of child labor laws to protect children.
He opposed cruelty, deprivation, and corporal punishment of children.
He believed in and lobbied for just treatment of criminals.

13. A Christmas Carol 1843
He protested a greedy, uncaring, materialistic society through such works as A Christmas Carol.
He repeatedly used satire to highlight problems in his society.

14. Plot introduction
A Christmas Carol is a Victorian morality tale of an old and bitter miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, who undergoes a profound experience of redemption over the course of one night. Mr. Scrooge is a financier/money-changer who has devoted his life to the accumulation of wealth. He holds anything other than money in contempt, including friendship, love and the Christmas season

15. Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge is the main character in Charles Dickens' 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol.
He is a cold-hearted, tight fisted, selfish man, who despises Christmas and all things which engender happiness.
A quote from the book reads "The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and he spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice ..."
The story of his transformation by the three Ghosts of Christmas (Past, Present, and Yet to Come) has become a defining tale of the Christmas holiday. Scrooge's catchphrase, "Bah, humbug!" is often used to express disgust with many of the modern Christmas traditions.

16. The Ghost of Christmas Past
The visit by The Ghost of Christmas Past also reveals the origin of Scrooge's neurotic hatred of Christmas. Most of the events that affected Scrooge's character occurred during the holiday season. The important revelation from the spirit of Christmas Past is why Scrooge has such a negative view of Christmas. The book…does not state how long ago all this happened, or even how old Scrooge is now.
One of the sources of his negative ways is the pain he feels for losing his love, Belle. Engaged to be married to her, he keeps pushing back the wedding until his finances are as healthy as he would like; something that, given his insatiable lust for money, he would probably never have. Realizing this, Belle calls off the engagement and eventually marries someone else, causing Scrooge to further withdraw from society and relationships.

17. The Ghost of Christmas Present
The Ghost of Christmas Present was the second of the three spirits that haunted the miser Ebenezer Scrooge, in order to prompt him to repent. It transported him around the city, showing him scenes of festivity and also deprivation that were happening as they watched. Among those they visited were Scrooge's nephew, and the family of his clerk, Bob Cratchit. The spirit also shares a vision of Tiny Tim's crutch, carefully preserved by the fireplace. Scrooge asks if Tim will die, and, quick to use Scrooge's past unkind comments against him, suggests "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population" — reflecting Scrooge's earlier comment to two charitable solicitors. But Scrooge is disgusted at his own words and is concerned for Tiny Tim and his family.

18. The Ghost of Yet to Come
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is the last of the three spirits that haunt the miser Ebenezer Scrooge, in order to prompt him to adopt a more caring attitude in life and avoid the horrid afterlife of Marley. Most people find the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come the most fearsome of the spirits; it appeared to Scrooge as a figure entirely muffled in a black hooded robe, except for a single gaunt hand with which it pointed. Although the character never speaks in the story, Scrooge seems to be able to get its messages, usually as assumptions due to his previous experiences.

19. Themes The powerlessness of children
Good’s ability to triumph over evil
Man’s humanity to man
Man’s inhumanity to man
The outcast’s search for status and identity
The heinous nature of crime and criminals

20. What to watch (out) for... Use of irony Use of coincidence
Use of humor

21. Dickens’ Belief:
To be thoroughly earnest is everything, and to be anything short of it is nothing.