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The Description of Characters in Charles Dickens's Books
“A characters description clearly shows the kind of life they have led
and the person they have become”
This statement suggests that in a story the description of each
character gives some hints towards there past and present self. I
agree with this statement because most stories whiles describing a
character for the first time may hint towards there past using word
play or threw what they may be wearing or doing at that time.
Although, this is not entirely true as some stories may not hint
towards anything to do with there past at all, you might say there
starting a fresh.
One author who does this a lot in his books is Charles Dickens. In
this essay I am going to write about three different characters from
some of his books where this has been used significantly, these are:
“Captain Murderer” from The Commercial Traveller Short Stories and
“Miss Havisham” and “Magwitch” from Great Expectations.
First of all is “Captain Murderer” from The Commercial Traveller Short
Stories book. As soon as the story begins it starts to describe what
the character used to be like, it says: “The first diabolical
character…”, diabolical comes from the Spanish word Diablo which means
devil, this means that he has a devil like nature about him, cruel and
evil. Another suggestion of evil is that he is referred to as an
off-shot of Blue Beard the pirate, it says: “This wrench must have
been an off-shot of Blue Beard family”, blue beard was a pirate and
any typical pirate is usually evil. One obvious play on words is his
name: “Captain Murderer” suggesting he may have killed someone at one
point in his life. It also refers to him having very sharp teeth on a
number of occasions, on time he is seen showing his teeth to a bridle,
it says: “disquieting the minds of the noble bridle, company, with a
very sharp show of teeth”, he is also seen by one of his brides having
focused on his future with his wife without her birthmark to realize that with her
The use of word choice in this passage helps express the idea that life should be taken slow, and we should have no anxieties. The author writes: ". . .I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and [simply] as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad [strip] and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce
notices that he is "a man with no hat", the sign of a lower class
On February 7, 1812, a popular author named Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England during the Victorian Era and the French Revolution. He had a father named John Dickens and a mother named Elizabeth Dickens; they had a total of eight children. In Charles’s childhood, he lived a nomadic lifestyle due to his father 's debt and multiple changes of jobs. Despite these obstacles, Charles continued to have big dreams of becoming rich and famous in the future. His father continued to be in and out of prison, which forced him, and his siblings to live in lodging houses with other unwanted children. During this period of depression, Charles went to numerous schools and worked for a boot cleaning company. This caused him
aims to seek revenge on the tyrant king and he does this using a very
Originating in the Victorian Era, Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations continues to be a huge success. So much of a success, in fact, that it is being re-released as it originally was (in installments), but now in a digital format for reading on electronic devices.
strength upon his face that made it show as if the bright sun of the
In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens uses diction and imagery to illustrate how if one bases their dreams and aspirations on the values of a society that prizes materialism over character, they will face a life of devoid unhappiness through the character of Pip. In the novel, Pip finds it impossible to change social classes when Joe declares, “That ain't the way to get out of being common. . . as to being common . . . You are uncommon in some things. You're uncommon small . . .
would be a very gallant thing for him to do to marry one of his
Readers of Charles Dickens' journalism will recognize many of the author's themes as common to his novels. Certainly, Dickens addresses his fascination with the criminal underground, his sympathy for the poor, especially children, and his interest in the penal system in both his novels and his essays. The two genres allow the author to address these matters with different approaches, though with similar ends in mind.
...adn't noticed....." (p. 209). Touching was forbidden during the ceremony and showed a sign of emotion and enjoyment, in which he was not supposed to do at all. He had just been caught up in the moment and almost forgot about Serena Joy, his poor barren wife.
In the novel ‘Great Expectations’ there are three women who Dickens portrays differently to his contemporary’s, writers such as Austen and Bronté, and to the typical 19th century woman. These three women go by the name of Mrs Joe (Pips sister), Miss Havisham, and Estella. Mrs Joe who is Pips sister and Mr Joe’s wife is very controlling and aggressive towards Pip and Mr Joe. ‘In knowing her to have a hard and heavy hand’. This shows Dickens has given Mrs Joe very masculine qualities, which is very unusual for a 19th century woman. Mr Joe has a very contrasting appearance and personality to Mrs Joe. ‘Joe was a fair man, with curls of flaxen hair on each side of his smooth face, and with eyes of such a very undecided blue that they seemed to have somehow got mixed with their own whites.’ In many ways Dickens has swapped the stereo type appearances and personalities of 19th century men and women. Dickens portrays Miss Havisham to be rich but lonely women. ‘I should acquit myself under that lady’s roof’. This shows Miss Havisham owns her own property which is Satis House. This woul...
Charles Dickens' Picture Of Childhood in Victorian Times Great Expectations is set in early Victorian England, a time when great social changes were sweeping the nation. The Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries had transformed the social landscape, enabling capitalists and manufacturers to amass huge fortunes. Although social class was no longer entirely dependent on the circumstances of one's birth, the divisions between rich and poor remained nearly as wide as ever. London, a teeming mass of humanity, lit by gas lamps at night and darkened by black clouds from smokestacks during the day, formed a sharp contrast with the nation's sparsely populated rural areas. More and more people moved from the country to the city in search of greater economic opportunity.
"I must entreat you to pause for an instant, and go back to what you know of my childish days, and to ask yourself whether it is natural that something of the character formed in me then" - Charles Dickens