The Life and Writings of Dickens

On February 7, 1812 one the world’s most famous nineteenth century novelist was born. Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England. Charles John Huffam Dickens was born to John and Elizabeth Dickens. He was the second of eight children. At age two, his family moved from Portsmouth to London.

His father worked as a clerk in a Navy Pay Office. Due to his hospitable and generous nature, they had financial trouble. This trouble escalated to a point that landed John in debtors’ prison. After his father went to prison, at the age of twelve, Charles had to go to work for a few months as a warehouse employee, blackening shoes and putting labels on boxes. During this period in his life, (while his father was in jail) was painful for him and is later influenced in some of his writings such as the novel David Copperfield. His father was the inspiration of one of the characters, Mr. Micawber.

Charles Dickens never had much of the opportunity to be a child. Many of his novels such as Oliver Twist and Philip Pirrip express the struggles he faced growing up. At a very young age he became a student of, “The School of Hard Knocks.” The idyllic days of childhood were over and he was rudely introduced to the world of the working poor (Merriman).

From 1824 to 1827 Charles studied at the Wellington House Academy in London (Bloom, Bloom's Classics Critical Views: Charles Dickens). For a year after he was removed from school, Dickens worked in a law office as a solicitor’s clerk. Soon thereafter in 1929, he became employed a free lance reporter. In 1833, Charles began to publish in Monthly Magazine. This is also when he began writing under the pseudonym “Boz,” (Bloom, Charles Dickens).

In 1833, Charles met the love of his life,...

... middle of paper ...

...morable words of one of the greatest, Charles John Huffam Dickens.

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. Bloom's Classics Critical Views: Charles Dickens. New York: Infobase Publishers, 2008.

—. Bloom's Guides: A Tale of Two Cities. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2007.

—. Charles Dickens. Broomall: Chelsea House Publishers, 2003.

Cody, David. Dickens: A Breif Biography. 2004. 2 March 2010 .

Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2002. 2 March 2010 .

Merriman, C.D. The Literature Network. 2006. 2 March 2010 .

The Complete Works of Charles - Dickens. 2008. 2 March 2010 .

The Diagram Group. Literary Lifelines Col 3. Danbury: Grolier Educational, 1998.