Dickens and Victorian Era
Travel back in time to get presented and meet 19th-century London with all its hustle and bustle of horses’ hooves and cries of hawkers. This was the world of Charles Dickens, whose complete and importante literary output of entertaining novels contained primary social themes of the Victorian Era. Art and reality can also be said to exist in a symbiotic relation, or syncopation: a supporting, mirroring relationship.
The Rise of Dickens
Changing One’s Fate: From Blacking Factory to Bestselling Author
Even though the success stories of most authors are famous around the globe, the inspiring story of Charles Dickens beginning from a young factory employee to one of the most respected writers in his time is outstanding. It has been said that the young Charles was born in the year 1812 and suffered the unpleasant taste of poverty and child labor that shaped him into the writer that he became. The death of his father due to debts made young Charles work at Warren’s blacksmith’s warehouse, an experience that shaped his personality as well as his writing.
However, due to hard work and excellence secured from a young age, Dickens was able to rise to the top. He was a journalist as a young man, which gave him time to prepare himself and to acquire his firsthand experiences, which form the basis of most of his stories. It made its author electric, and his voice rang in these brand-new halls of Victoriana. He published “the Pickwick Papers” in 1836.
Dickens and Victorian Era: A Perfect Match
Mirroring Society’s Struggles
The process of industrialization was changing the terrains, literally and figuratively. The population of cities expanded rapidly, and the problems related to this process became the focus of Dickens, who witnessed the phenomenon himself.
Dickens and Victorian Era were synonyms of each other in many instances. His novels therefore captured a mirror image of the common man’s life and projected it in front of a society that rarely bothered to look at the mirror. From the poor living areas of the big cities to the fate of the orphans, Dickens placed these problems into focus.
A Voice for the Voiceless
In books like Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby Dickens wrote for those excluded from having anything to say because of pauperism and the general oppression of man by man. His characters, though created, felt so real to the readers, and this was because he depicted the characters in the Victorian working class. More than that, in his writing, Dickens took up the mantle of a reformist, and his work called for a change in the iniquities that were rife in Victorian England.
The Victorian Novel: Dickens’ Playground
Bimonthly Publishing and Public Outreach
Probably one of the most interesting features of Dickens and Victorian Era was how people indulged in literature. The serial publication was common with many of Dickens’ novels, and parts were released every month. This format enabled Dickens to follow the public’s reaction at least and even adapt the stories to the reaction they garnered.
The domestic serialization of novels was characteristic of Victorian literature, and Dickens successfully used apparatuses of narrative suspense and anticipation to maintain the interest of the readers from one part to the next. Dickens established an intimate connection with his readers, a feature typical for the epoch and one that helped to explain the popularity of the writer’s books.
Themes in Dickens’ Work
Critique of Society and Psychology
Over his writing career, Dickens engaged in certain major subjects to which Victorians were so sensitive and receptive. In his novels, he depicted the fight between good and evil, the function of love, and even the darkness of money.
The Importance of Education
Another important subject that can be marked as significant in the works of Dickens was education, as the author was deeply concerned with the destiny of schools. During the Victorian Era, a development took place in the school system with the enactment of compulsory education for children. As you know, Dickens had no opportunity to be educated in his childhood, and he adopted simple schooling for all children, irrespective of their status in society.
Dickens’ Legacy
Influencing Reform
It was not just literature that felt the effect of Dickens and Victorian Era. Thanks to his compelling descriptions of social wrongs, actual and lasting changes can be noted in the workhouse situation, educational methods, and the treatment of the impoverished. Dickens remained one of the creative geniuses who endeavored to put a human face to the impoverished and thus upset the pro-rialist theory that the poor were lazy and deserved their fate.
A Lasting Literary Influence
In the United States, a biography of Charles Dickens is simply unthinkable and impossible to write, as his impact on literature is hardly overstated. He has created extraordinary characters, complex and fast-knit plots, and high-grade stylistic and literary devices, which either for the first time or innovatively set up a new context and standard for the novel. Contemporary as well as other authors who were following his steps during the Victorian age and those who came after were compared to Dickens in terms of their talent.
Conclusion
Charles Dickens and Victorian Era were ideal because they impacted each other as well as got impacted by each other. In his novels, many believed that Dickens pointed a vivid mirror at society and challenged people to click into reality about social issues including poverty and injustice as well as humanity. He is still with us today, and his passion for literature as an instrument of change is still heard inspiring humanity to this age.
Looking back over Dickens and Victorian Era, we are reminded not only of the great writer and the specific historical epoch but also of a process of interaction between the creative individual and his society, which seemed alive and fascinating and remains so even today. What is astonishing is how evenhandedly Dickens’ voice, that very Victorian voice, speaks to yesterday and tomorrow and how it can still stir the heart.
FAQs
In what ways did the did the personal experience of Dickens contribute to the writing of the novel?
Of all the experiences he had during his childhood, Dickens said that ‘‘my first recollections are of Blacking.’’ Resizable images of Dickens’ childhood experiences of poverty and child labor influenced his writing. Sufferings bestowed him a passion for the downtrodden and his observations on social inequality; such a society indeed was Victorian civilization.
Dickens’ most frequently read piece during the Victorian Period?
Although Richard published many books, the “Pickwick Papers” is the first work that brought him fame and established him as a writer. Nonetheless, “A Christmas Carol” remains now and for a long time was one of Dickens’ favorite works, which had enchanted Victorian society with ideas of conversion and justice.