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CHARLES DICKENS (1812-1870) - Coggle Diagram
CHARLES DICKENS (1812-1870)
He had an unhappy childhood
his father went to prison for debts when Dickens was 12 and he had to work in a factory
He begins his writing career as a newspaper reporter, adopting the pen name "Boz" and publishing "Sketches by Boz". It was a collection of articles and tales describing London's people and scenes. We could consider it as the roots of his great novels.
THE GREAT NOVELS
autobiographical
Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Little Dorrit became symbols of an abused childhood
OLIVER TWIST
Education novel published in instalments in 1837
the protagonist, Oliver Twist is Dickens himself and always appears pure, innocent and incorruptible
at the end he is saved from a pitiful life by a well-to-do family
Hard Times, A Christmas Carol, Bleak House, Great Expectations
they deal with the conditions of the poor and working class
SETTINGS
workhouses, criminal world, Victorian middle class, Seven Dials (a slum district)
CHARACTERS
Dickens broke through the 18th century social barriers of the novel
the representation of the upper and middle class was replaced by the world of the poor ones and the working class
he drew a rich social portrait, enhancing the contradictions and paradoxes of the Victorian era
he mixes subtle observation and autobiographical testimoniances
caricatures
Mr Pickwick, Scrudge, Mr Gradgrind
Dickens used exaggeration and irony to arouse the reader's interest and to highlight some key ridiculous aspects of the society
He created weak female characters, because he sucked like everybody else
he was always on the side of the poor, the outcast, the working class
Dickensian poverty
Dickens was one of the first to describe London poverty and the underclass
THEMES
family, childhood and poverty
the child is always innocent and corrupted by adults
negative circumstances turn into happy endings, metaphor for the contradictions in the adult world
AIM
Dickens works had an instructive aim. They had to spread awareness through the upper class audience
STYLE
His language is complex, full of subordinate sentences and adjectives.
He always adds several details, not strictly necessary in order to create a longer narration but also to create a vivid imaginary in the reader's mind.
use of antithetical images and ideas
suspense at the end of episodes
repetition of concepts or words