Life of Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth, England. His father was a successful man who worked as a clerk in the Navy. Although Dickens’ father made a good living, he was wasteful with his money and eventually ended up in debtor’s prison. At the age of 12 years old, Dickens chose to leave school and enter the work force while the rest of his family joined his father in prison. His first job was as a factory worker. Although Dickens hated the experience of being among the working class, it did give him firsthand experience with the struggles the lower classes faced. His sympathy to their plight appears as a theme in several of his later works such as Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, and David Copperfield. After his years as a factory worker, Dickens went on to work in two separate legal firms, and was a reporter for two separate newspapers.

Dickens published his first work, A Dinner at Poplar Walk in 1833. In 1836 he married Catherine Hogarth. Dickens was a devoted father to his ten children. He made it a priority in his life to maintain a happy home and family.

Also in1836 Dickens became the editor of a magazine called Bentley’s Miscellany. Dickens published his novel Oliver Twist in a series of installments in this magazine; many of his stories were published this way, including Nicholas Nickelby, Barnaby Rudge, and A Christmas Carol. Because of a squabble with his publishing company, A Tale of Two Cities was published as a serial in a new magazine Dickens created. Because Dickens chose to publish his works in this manner, his writing was readily available and affordable to many people. This allowed Dickens great popularity in his lifetime.

In 1856 Dickens began work as an actor in a play called The Frozen Deep. Dickens fell in love with two things during this play. The first was a young actress named Ellen Ternan. It has been speculated that the character Lucie Manette from A Tale of Two Cities is modeled after Ternan. This romance eventually led to the breakup of Dickens’ 23 year marriage to Catherine Hogarth. The second thing Dickens fell in love with while working on The Frozen Deep was the treatment of the themes of redemption and rebirth, love and violence. In 1859 Dickens decided to transpose these themes onto the French Revolution, a historical event Dickens felt embodied the same themes, and thus A Tale of Two Cities was born.

A Tale of Two Cities was a shift from Dickens’ typical writing style. While most of his works are humorous with excellent characterization, A Tale of Two Cities was much more serious in its depiction of the French Revolution. This work shows an author in transition. After writing A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens was prepared to embark on such works as Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friend.

Although A Tale of Two Cities continues to be on many school reading lists, critics vary in their opinion of the book. While some criticize the work for its lack of vibrant characterization, others regard the book as one of Dickens’ most important and mature works. Although the view point of the critics has changed over time, A Tale of Two Cities contains enough realistic depiction of the French Revolution and memorable characters to entertain casual and serious readers alike.

In 1865 Dickens was injured in a railway accident. This incident began the decline of Dickens’ health. Although Dickens was in poor health, he began to write his last novel, Edwin Drood. This book was never finished because Dickens died of a stroke on June 9, 1870 at the age of 58.

Dickens' work is generally studied and read more than any other English author except Shakespeare.