Charles John Huffam Dickens ' Great Expectations

From the biography, what incident changed Dickens' life and helped to shape him as a writer?

Charles Dickens was a well known, celebrated author of the Victorian Era. Though he was successful, he faced many setbacks in his difficult life. His father was hurled into debtors’ prison when Dickens was young (Bragg 5) and he was left with his mother and six siblings (Rooke 1). Dickens, being the oldest male of the family (Rooke 1), had to go work in a factory during his formative years. Dickens’ rough childhood made him insensitive. (Bragg 1) When Dickens came of age, he began to show interest in writing novels and short stories (Bragg 2). His mother, however, was unsupportive of his endeavors (Bragg 2), and was often after him for his money (Bragg 2). He was said to have lived a depressing, lonely adulthood (Bragg 1) and people used to

It is said that right before someone dies, they see their life flash before their eyes. They are said to see the things most dear to them. However, no one on their deathbed regrets the amount of money that they have. In the moment of clarity, most realize that a number on a paycheck is not as important as emotional and mental possessions. People always tell each other that money can not buy happiness, yet most end up spending every waking moment thinking about money. Why do people waste their time and energy pursuing something that is not what they truly need? Often, they use social class to fill a void in their lives that can not be filled by materialistic possessions. Many people realize this, but it is often too late. Charles Dickens demonstrates the effects of social climbing in his novel, Great Expectations. This novel explores the connections and effects of human nature and society, which are the two most powerful forces that guide people’s decisions. Some may say that social climbing is good, but as will be proven, pursuing social class for the wrong reason can result in disastrous consequences. The motivation to obtain higher social status leaves those who pursue it dissatisfied with reality and with a wider void in their lives as shown by Pip, Estella, and Magwitch.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,”- Charles Dickens. This quote represents Charles Dickens life very well showing his poverty as the worst of times, and his fame in writing as the best of times. Also, his novels, and short stories were a centerpiece of his writing with many famous ones. These famous novels, and their context carry into why Dickens is taught in school. Charles Dickens was a very talented writer, by his unlucky childhood but still being a successful writer. To his writing charm giving a unique look on England, and writing together.

Horace Greeley at the mourning of Charles Dickens. Dickens was a man looked at with all different sorts of perspectives involving influence and admiration. Authors, artists and directors all were inspired by the work of Dickens, as well as any average person in society in the 19th century and presently. He was able to shape the ideas of modern day comedy, allow a more understanding view towards the lower class and give his opinion to influence the classrooms of today. With such a bright and confident personality as Dickens, society should be grateful to have had a man like him grace himself into the world of literature. The 19th century and modern day society would have been a completely different place if it were not for the ideas and opinions of Charles

Charles John Huffam Dickens was born at 13 Mile End Terrace, Portsea, Portsmouth, the 4th day of the second month as the second child to John and Elizabeth Dickens (EBSCOhost). Dickens sadly became the eldest child when his older sister died in 1820 (Britannica). In the year 1822, the whole Dickens household moved their belongings to Camden Town, London (Biography.com). Charles schooling was interrupted in 1824 when his father was put in prison for his unpaid debt (Dickens Fellowship). Because of this, Dickens was forced to pick up the slack (British Library). Dickens earned 6 shillings a week at his new job (Biography.com). When Dickens' father was released from prison, his mother asked him to keep working because he gave them good money. Because of this, Dickens grew to despise his mother (Britannica). Dickens went back to school and is getting a good education, for the meantime (Dickens Fellowship). In the year

The Victorian era class system was founded upon three distinct social classes – upper, middle, lower – with marginal upward mobility granted to those of the lower and middle classes. Society in 19th century England determined an individual's value largely by the social class that individual belonged to, and by extension how much power and wealth that individual held. Naturally, primitive lower classmen such as Pip would struggle to find a respectable identity in a society founded upon social titles. Through a refusal to accept that social worth is determined at birth, Pip defies the predated victorian-era class system and proves to himself that hard work and self improvement is the true measure of self worth.

Charles Dickens is one of the most renowned British writers with well-known and widespread work. Dickens was born in England in 1812 and died in 1870. During this time, Victorian England experienced an Industrial Revolution, which impacted his life tremendously. New factories and industrial machinery changed many lives of the lower class citizens. The family grew up impoverished and struggled to maintain a good lifestyle. The family’s financial situation was strained as John Dickens, Charles’s father, spent money that the family didn’t have. These societal factors were influential in Charles Dickens’s life, and the same themes present themselves in his works. When an author creates a work, frequently themes of their life events are incorporated into the theme of the book, consciously or unconsciously. Victorian Age industrial-influenced strife was a common theme in Dickens’s life and presented itself throughout Dickens’s books.

The beginning of the video started off by introducing a man named John Dickens, who worked at a naval pay office on the docks of Portsmouth, and lived in a small house at 387 Mile End Terrace. His wife was Elizabeth Barrow who he met at his office, and who he also had a kid with named, Charles Dickens. But within 7 months of Charles being born everything seemed to go wrong for them, from running into financial problems to being forced to move to several different locations, until they settled in a house up the hill from the docks of Chatham, London. This is where Charles had his happiest memories of his childhood.

The Victorian era is one full of grieving for many. Poverty, disease, and death all became evident. Out of this negativity, however, came one of the most well-known classic writers—Charles Dickens. Dickens experienced these hardships first-hand. At a young age, his father accumulated a large amount of debt which then forced Charles to halt his learning career and begin excessive amounts of work in a low-class factory.

Albert Borowitz writes in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, “Charles Dickens may have started life on the ‘wrong side of the street,’ but he ended it as the people idle, after writing the many novels and sketches which held the public interest” (“Charles (John Huffam) Dickens,” par. 3). Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 and died on June 9, 1870. Dickens was a writer in Great Britain during the Victorian Era. Influenced by his family and many of his own experiences, Charles Dickens was able to craft his own style that made him one of the most known authors from the Victorian era.

Great Expectations’ main character, Phillip Pirrip- generally known as Pip- had a rough upbringing as a child. His sister, Mrs. Joe had “brought him up by hand”, after their parents and five brothers had all been laid to rest many years ago. Another character, Herbert Pocket experienced a bizarre childhood, though in a different manner. Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations develops through the novel following Pip, a young “common boy” who grew up in the countryside. As he matured so did his love for a girl of higher class, Estella. However, being a common boy, Pip was not good enough for his Estella, thus once he was given an opportunity to become a gentleman in London he seized it without much hesitation. Charles Dickens’ had his own

Charles Dickens uses people from his life as character references for his books. For example, Charles uses his childhood memories of his father as one of the character references in “A Christmas Carol”. “While Dickens’

Dickens, at the beginning of his life, was very optimistic, his novels having “serious themes and plots” but also having “enough humor to keep [them] entertaining” (Collins). Later on in life, however, Dickens writing became less lighthearted, with his “view of Victorian society, and perhaps of the world, [having grown] darker” and his “character and plots seem[ing] to emphasize the evil side of human experience” more and more (Collins). Since Dickens style of writing was mostly influenced by his experiences, this change in style most likely resulted from negative experiences in his life which every person tends to experience as they get older. Dickens had to abandon some of the optimism that he had held on to in youth, which is something that usually happens as one experience life more and the weight of the world is felt more on one’s shoulders. In Dickens case, this weight was Victorian society and all its vices which he had high hopes to escape from when on “on January 4, 1842, Dickens and his wife boarded the steamer Britannia” to go to Boston in America (Lepore). Dickens, like most people at the time, probably had an ideal picture of America and most likely saw the country as a paradise against some of the old world’s plagues and problems. When he arrived at America his fantasies were not met, and he would often write home saying things like "this is not the Republic [he] came to see" and how "this [was] not the Republic of [his] imagination"(Lepore).

For this essay I will be focusing on the opening chapters of Great Expectations, a novel written by Charles Dickens. I am going to consider the Victorian society at the time and dickens’ use of language to express themes, settings and characters.