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Economic challenges in Hard Times by Charles Dickens
How does Dickens present the theme of poverty in his novel
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Recommended: Economic challenges in Hard Times by Charles Dickens
The most famous writer of his time and still renowned today, Charles Dickens is a man that people do not know much about. The only real information that anyone knows about him is that he is an author that has published many famous books and stories, such as The Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol. What is not known about Dickens is that he was a poor person who lived during the Victorian Era (named after Queen Victoria) and was accountable for some of literature’s model characters. Unlike, many modern-day authors most of Charles Dickens’ work was released in a series of monthly magazines. This was customary back then, as opposed to releasing the entire novel at one time – this technique was used to keep the readers interesting by using cliffhangers (e.g. to be continued…). Dickens worked his way up from nothing; he went from being a poor child labor worker to becoming one of the most praised authors for his astounding, intricate plots as well as his distinct, realistic characters. Charles Dickens was a man who suffered from poverty, which led him to expose the cruelty, injustice, and disadvantages that the poor encounter on a daily basis. Dickens was born into a low class family as many other authors of his time were. Ironically enough the restrictions that he faced living a hard and cruel life with his family, encouraged him to think outside the box of social norms. He began his career by doing some journalistic work and then worked his way up to becoming a newspaper reporter. The main focus of his works were the ignorance of the poor and child labor, both topics seemed to effect him on a personal note. Dickens’ attitude toward child labor and the poverty of the masses was exposed through his writings, which awakened the s... ... middle of paper ... ... of Chicago Press, 1954. Laughlin, J. Lawrence. The Elements of Political Economy. New York, NY: 1896. Malthus, Thomas. First Essay on Population, 1798. London, England: Macmillan & Company. 1926. Marx, Karl. "Capital." Great Books of the Western World. Vol. 50. Ed. Robert Hutchins. Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica. 1982. Veblen, Thorstein. Selected Writings of Thorstein Veblen. Ed. Wesley C. Mitchell. New York, NY: Viking Press. 1947. Wilson, John F. British Business History: 1720-1994. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press. 1995. Huffam, John. "Dickens, Charles" MS Encarta, 3.0a. Gale Research Inc., 1993. Kyle, Elisabeth. Great Ambitions, a Story of the Early Years of Charles Dickens, New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1966. pp. 1 - 13. Mankowitz, Wolf. Dickens of London, New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1976. pp. 7 - 25.
Price, Martin. ed., Dickens: A Collection of Critical Essays Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967
Landow, George P. "Dickens Wrote for Money!" The Victorian Web: An Overview. 2000. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. .
Rawlins, Jack P. "Great Expectations: Dickens and the Betrayal." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. 23 (1983): 667-683.
12. Oldham, R. (2000) Charles Dickens’ Hard Times: Romantic Tragedy of Proletariat Propaganda [Online]. Available: http://www.pillowrock.com [Accessed: 25th April 2005].
Charles Dickens’ novels criticize the injustices of his time, especially the brutal treatment of the poor in a society sharply divided by differences of wealth. He lived through that world at an early age; he saw the bitter side of the social class system and had wanted it to be exposed, so people could see the exploitation that the system rests on. But he presents these criticisms through the lives of characters, Pip and Magwitch.
is more of a biography of Dickens life made into fiction than of just a regular
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.
When one considers their future, it may to fully comprehend how it can unfold. Charles Dickens overcame his dark childhood, and let it inspire his insight behind most of his compositions. Fortunately he became a very influential and lucrative author, speaker and performer of his literature. His 40 works lead him to go on tours to the US, hold readings in public, and inspire England’s writers with his literature. Charles Dickens’ beginning as a poor child working to help his family influenced his compositions throughout his life as well as his readers.
Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. Ed. Fred Kaplan and Sylvere Monod. A Norton Critical Edition. 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 2001. 5-222
Dickens, Charles. Hard Times: An Authority Text, Background, Sources, And Contemporary Reactions Criticism. NewYork: W.W. Norton & Company. 2,1990. Ch.1: 1, ch.7: 203, ch.8: 210 & 211, ch.9: 218.
Dickens knew how hard-pressed life was for thousands of English families in mid-ninteenth century England, and he knew the legal side of such desperation--a jungle of suspicion and fear and hate. He was especially attentive [if] . . . hungry, jobless men, women, children with few if any prospects became reduced to a fate not only marginal with respect to its "socioeconomic" character but also with respect to its very humanity. (575)
Some people thought of Dickens as the spokesman of the poor, as he represented the awareness of their troubles.
Charles Dickens is well known for his distinctive writing style. Few authors before or since are as adept at bringing a character to life for the reader as he was. His novels are populated with characters who seem real to his readers, perhaps even reminding them of someone they know. What readers may not know, however, is that Dickens often based some of his most famous characters, those both beloved or reviled, on people in his own life. It is possible to see the important people, places, and events of Dickens' life thinly disguised in his fiction. Stylistically, evidence of this can be seen in Great Expectations. For instance, semblances of his mother, father, past loves, and even Dickens himself are visible in the novel. However, Dickens' past influenced not only character and plot devices in Great Expectations, but also the very syntax he used to create his fiction. Parallels can be seen between his musings on his personal life and his portrayal of people and places in Great Expectations.
Hobsbaum, Philip. A Reader’s Guide to Charles Dickens. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1972.
driving power behind his pen in book after book" (Neill 168). Much of Dickens' literary career is devoted to create awareness of the reality that is being overlooked by many. He attempts to enlighten everyone with how the world should be, a place in perfect harmony. Truly, Dickens did not write his novel in a dream world, but rather showed the inevitable truth if society does not change.