Who is Charles Dickens?

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Recommended: Dickens art of characterization in hard times

The Victorian Age was beginning to show when Charles Dickens lived in England. It was between 1812 and 1870 as imperialism and industrialism emerged, a democracy bloomed, and middle classes were developing within the city. He wrote about his life in this period of time, taking to the streets and all the villages that surrounded London. Most of the “fictional” characters he wrote were portrayals of people from his daily life and were from the perspective of the poor, working, and middle class that is recognized through the ages. Dickens clearly gave how ineffective social policies and discrimination gave families and communities grief in this time. He was born on February 7, 1812 and in 2012 writers celebrated his 200th anniversary of birth. This brought a banquet of books for the occasion that all had to do with the writer that so many claim to be a gift from Victorian England. It is true, every new work relating to historical fiction screamed Dickens-like writing. His purists remind us that he was, as he liked to be called, the Inimitable (Philpotts). In A Tale of Two Cities the opening of the novel makes it clear how important doubles are throughout the entire book. Doubles prove to be important to the plot, structure and dominant themes. The theme that emerges in pages early on is the idea of resurrection and it would not be possible without a death of some sort. Dickens established a dark place that suggests death from where he could resurrect the long imprisoned Doctor Manette. There are many ominous objects and scenery to make this so. There is an obscured path, hidden by mist that the mail coach drives on, once there, it is a dark paneled room and each chapter has shadowy corners and gloom. Dickens ponders over the “wonder...

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...2012: 5. Literature Resource Center. Web. 12
Mar. 2014
Charles Dickens Revisited. New York: Twayne, 2000. Twayne's English Authors Ser. 558. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Johnson, John A., Joseph Carrol, Jonathan Gottschall, and Daniel Kruger. "Portrayal of
Personality in Victorian Novels Reflects Modern Research Findings but Amplifies the Significance of Agreeableness." Journal of Research in Personality. Science Direct, Feb. 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Philpotts, Trey. "Slater, Michael. Charles Dickens." Dickens Quarterly 28.4 (2011): 301+.
Literature Resource Center. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
Jones, Richard (2004). Walking Dickensian London. Globetrotter walking guides. London: New
Holland Publishers.
Ackroyd, Peter (1990). Dickens. London: Sinclar-Stevenson.
Forster, John (2006) [1872–1874]. Life of Charles Dickens. London: Diderot Publishing.

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