The life and adventures of Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens is arguably the best known and most prolific writer of the 19th century. He authored 15 full-length novels in his time, plus numerous collections of short stories, articles, and plays.

Dickens was born in 1812 in Portsmouth, on the south coast of England. In his early years, the family moved several times — to Kent when he was 5 and to Camden Town in London when he was 10. Dickens was from a lower middle class family that, unfortunately, had a tendency to live beyond its means. His father, John, was a clerk in the British Navy pay office. By 1822, John had incurred such debts that at age 12, Charles was forced to work at Warren’s Blacking Warehouse, a boot-polish factory, to help support the family. Not long after, his father was sent to debtors’ prison, along with his mother and four younger siblings.

This was probably the lowest point in Dickens’ life. It humiliated him, and he kept the ordeal a secret from everyone. Only in his semi-autobiographical novel David Copperfield did he ever refer to those trying times. Three months after his father was imprisoned, Charles’ grandmother passed away. She left behind enough money that the family was eventually able to pay off its debt. Charles’ mother Elizabeth, however, did not immediately remove him from the boot-blacking factory, a decision for which the young Dickens never forgave her . Though he eventually was allowed to return to his schooling, his observations of the conditions working-class people lived under were to make a lifelong impression on him.

When Dickens turned 15 he entered the workforce for good. He began his professional career in a solicitor’s office as a law clerk. After a year and a half, he abandoned his legal studies and briefly tried his hand at court stenography. Though he found that the legal profession didn’t suit him, the time he spent in the law gave him invaluable exposure to London’s court system and criminal underworld, which he later used as fodder for his novels.

At the age of 20, Dickens made another career change, this time to journalism. And this time it would stick. He spent several years as a political correspondent, giving him an extensive knowledge of Parliament and national politics.

During his early years in journalism, Dickens also began writing fiction. In his first attempts, he wrote under the penname “Boz,” a childhood nickname of one of his younger brothers. These small “sketches,” which illustrated scenes of London life, eventually found their way into book form, Sketches by Boz, published in 1836. The following month, the first installment of The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (better known as The Pickwick Papers) was published. This comic novel in serialized form –initially a collaboration with illustrator Robert Seymour but eventually taken over by Dickens – was extremely well received. In fact, it was deemed a “runaway success” and a Pickwick craze spread over the city – Pickwick coats and cigars were popular, and the novel’s protagonist, Sam Weller, became a national icon.

The year 1836 was a busy year for Dickens for another reason: he married Catherine Hogarth. The couple spent 22 years together and had 10 children, but the marriage ended in separation in 1858, a casualty of Dickens’ fame. In Victorian times, divorce was almost unthinkable. He continued to maintain her in a house for the next 20 years until her death. He had several affairs but never remarried.

After the success of The Pickwick Papers, Dickens resigned from his position at the Morning Chronicle and became the editor of a new periodical called Bentely’s Miscellany. In this publication, he began the serialization of Oliver Twist (1837-39) and followed it with Nicholas Nickleby (1838-39). Interestingly enough, this method of publishing stories in serial installments before compiling them into novel form was established and made popular (as well as profitable) by Dickens. Afterwards, many other writers in England and America adopted this approach.

The response to Dickens’ early writings — and those that followed — was extremely positive. He was widely read in his day and remains so. In fact, his novels hold the unique feature of having never been out of print. He produced some of the best works of English literature, rich in artistic form, narrative structure, imagery, symbols, characters and settings. Among his other works are such classics as David Copperfield, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, Bleak House, The Old Curiosity Shop, and his immortal short story A Christmas Carol.

Many factors influenced his work, especially the social injustices of the time and the treatment of the poor. Throughout his career he strived to prick the public’s conscience, and he drew from his own life experience to give his writings the vivid descriptive quality that became the hallmark of his work. His literary style even has an adjective to secure his place in posterity: “Dickensian.”

Dickens led an active social life, which included letter-writing, public readings of his novels, charitable activities, horseback riding, and taking long walks. In later life his writing output slowed, perhaps influenced by his involvement in a railway accident in 1865. Though unharmed, he never quite recovered. He spent his final days working on his final book, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which he wasn’t able to complete. On June 9, 1870, Dickens suffered a stroke and slipped into a coma, dying the following day.
A lifetime of immortal characters – Ebenezer Scrooge, Fagin, Micawber, and Miss Havisham, to name a few — and compelling prose is his legacy.