The Cricket on the Hearth and a Tale of Two Cities: Charles Dickens

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Recommended: Critical analysis of a tale of two cities

Charles Dickens is arguably one of the best writers of his time. He wrote many classic novels that are still appreciated today. A Tale of Two Cities is known for its description of the events leading up to the French Revolution, in two very different places, London, England; and Paris, France. The Cricket on the Hearth is a touching story of two young people in love, and the lack of trust that occurs between them. Oliver Twist is the tale of a young orphan and his struggles to advance in social classes. Pip wants nothing more than to be a gentleman and to have all the money in the world; however his expectations are too great in Great Expectations. Dickens writes with humor and satire of character and social classes. Physical descriptions that bring out a character’s moral and spiritual natures are one of Dickens’s strong points according to George P Landow, an English and Arts professor from Brown University. Dickens describes even the littlest parts of the plot with great detail. Edwin P. Whipple writes in Atlantic Monthly: 1 “[Dickens] has succeeded so perfectly in… stimulating and baffling the curiosity of his readers” (156). The description in Dickens’s writing also expresses the themes of his novels. Instead of having one main theme, Dickens writes with many themes in mind. Charles Dickens illustrates the themes of social classes, city versus country, and poverty in his writing to reflect his own experiences and influence social change.
The theme of social classes is found in almost all of Dickens’s novels. Dickens writes the rich as rich as they can possibly be, which means he writes the poor as poor as they can be as well. In each of his books, Dickens shows that social classes can lead to immoral human behavior. The ri...

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... 2008. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
Helal, Kathleen. "Notes." Oliver Twist. By Charles Dickens. New York: Pocket, 2007. 603-44. Print.
Landow, George P. "Characterization in Dickens." Victorian Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
Miller, J. Hillis. "The Dark World of Oliver Twist." Charles Dickens: The World of His Novels. Cambridge: Harvard, 1958. N. pag. Rpt. in Charles Dickens. By Harold Bloom. N.p.: Chelsea, 1987. 29-69. Print.
"Oliver Twist." Shmoop. Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Schultheiss, Katrin. "Dickens Touches a Nerve." Calliope: 30. Rpt. in Dickens. N.p.: Cobblestone, 2014. N. pag. General OneFile. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Whipple, Edwin P. "Reviews and Literary Notices: Great Expectations." Atlantic Monthly VIII.XLVII (1861): 380-82. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 1983. 156. Print.

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