“in all of english literature, his creativity is rivaled only by shakespeare's.”
TRANSCRIPT
“In all of English literature, his creativity is rivaled only by Shakespeare's.”
Charles Dickens• Charles Dickens
was the son of John and Elizabeth Barrow Dickens.
• John was a navy paymaster and couldn’t manage money.
Debtor’s Prison
• In 1824, John Dickens was thrown into a debtor’s prison.
• His whole family had to work off his debt.
Debtor’s Prison• Had Joe not paid
Pip’s debt, he would have been sent to prison.
• Irony: consider how much Pip disdains prison system.
Warren’s Blacking Factory
• In 1824 at age 12, Dickens was pulled from school so that he could work to help pay his father’s debt.
Warren’s Blacking Factory
• The experience in the factory was very traumatic, and Dickens resented his parents greatly.
• This is reflected in almost all of his works.
• With Dickens, there are few happy, complete families.
Charles Dickens
• In the factory, he makes shoe polish and vows to NEVER be poor again.
• His kids never knew that he worked in a factory.
Maria Beadnell• In 1830, he meets
Maria Beadnell, whom he loves.
• She is very wealthy and thinks that he will amount to nothing.
• They date briefly, but she breaks up with him in 1833.
Maria Beadnell• Critics often say
that Estella in Great Expectations is modeled off this ex-girlfriend.
Maria Beadnell• In 1850, Dickens is
the most famous person in the world.
• Maria writes to him– but he is married with kids.
• They meet, and she is fat, ugly, and immature.
Catherine Hogarth• In 1836, Dickens
married Catherine Hogarth.
• She is described as a “modestly intelligent, unimaginative, and young woman when he was twenty-four and she twenty-one.”
Catherine Hogarth• However, after
having ten children, Catherine became fat and clumsy.
• She began to remind Dickens of his mother.
Ellen Ternan• In 1857, after
being married 20 years, he blames his wife for always being fat and pregnant.
• He separates from her after meeting 18 year old actress Ellen Ternan.
Great Expectations• Great Expectations
was published in 1860-1861
• Autobiographical• Dickens’ darkest
work• Well-received by
public
Autobiographical • Poverty of a young
boy• Mistreated by
family• Unrequited love• Discomfort with
rise to gentleman status
Characteristics • Written in 1st
person (this was a new technique—Jane Eyre).
• Had two endings (more on that later).
• Serialized
Serialized Novels• Victorian novels
were serialized- published a few chapters at a time in newspapers or magazines.
• Mudies- like Blockbuster for books.
Charles Dickens • Dickens dies at the
age of 58 from a stroke.
• He was in the middle of a novel– The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
• Pip’s sister tells her that “Hulks are prison-ships, right ‘cross the marshes” (14).
An old forge and cottage believed to be the inspiration for the home of Joe Gargery, that simple, gentle giant of a village blacksmith, who is such a friend and ally to Pip in Great Expectations.
• Restoration House was so called because Charles II stayed here in 1600 on his way to reclaim England's throne.
• In Great Expectations Dickens used it as the model for Miss Havisham's Satis House and has Pip describe it thus: "I had stopped to look at the house as I passed, and its seared red-brick walls, blocked windows, and strong green ivy clasping even the stacks of the chimneys with its twigs and tendons, as if with sinewy old arms, had made up a rich attractive mystery, of which I was the hero.”
Chapter 20-21Pip Meets London
“I was content to take a foggy view of the Inn through the window’s encrusting dirt, and to stand dolefully looking out, saying to myself that London was decidedly overrated”
(174).
PopulationPopulation YearYear
1 million1 million 18001800
1.75 million1.75 million 18311831
2.4 million2.4 million 18501850
4.54.5 Before 1900Before 1900
The River Thames (TIMS)- was 800-1500 feet wide and flowed through the city.
Pip and his friends attempt to help Magwitch escape on the River Thames.
At 8:00 am the sky turned black.
Lamps had to be lit during the day.
The smoke extended 4 miles beyond the city.
People would wander into the Thames and drown.
Streets were full of horse waste and mud.
No sewage system- chamber pots were thrown into street, and waste was dumped in river.
No one wore light colors.
In 1832, 445 were killed per week
Total- 6,700Later killed 15,000From dirty water
and waste
Amount SoldAmount Sold AnimalAnimal
180,780180,780 CattleCattle
1,360,2501,360,250 SheepSheep
254,672254,672 PigsPigs
22,50022,500 CalvesCalves
In the middle of city- only way to get fresh meat
Tons of animal waste and guts flowed into street- no drainage…
“So, I came into Smithfield; and the shameful place, being all asmear with filth and fat and blood and foam, seemed to stick to me. So, I rubbed it off with all possible speed by turning into a street where I saw the great black dome of Saint Paul's bulging at me from behind a grim stone building…” (165).
Alcatraz of the day; Hard core criminalsWemmick and Pip visit one of Jaggers’
clients there in chapter 32.