Prose and Cons

Here is a recent research paper that I wrote.

Rachel Cain
Literature Writing
Anna Christenson
2/25/11

Dickens: From Deficiency to Dignity

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the nineteenth century — the epoch of Dickens. Charles Dickens was the inimitable, prolific, paramount, and highly acclaimed writer of the nineteenth century. As the author of short stories, plays, novels, fiction and non-fiction, Dickens became known for his mastery of prose in recounting the lives of his remarkable characters. People in Dickens’ life influenced many of his characters. The personalities, characteristics, and issues of Dickens’ friends and family would evolve as he recorded his thoughts on paper. Dickens’ opinions, thoughts, arguments, and issues flowed from his pen. William Wordsworth said, “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” Through his writings, Dickens fulfilled that commanding quotation. Charles Dickens’ family, personal life, and the society of nineteenth century England influenced his writing.
Charles John Huffman Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England, on February 7, 1812, to John and Elizabeth Dickens (Rosen, 12). John Dickens, a worker for the Navy Pay Office, was a congenial man but had many financial difficulties. Because he thought he was grander than he was, John dressed like a gentleman. Elizabeth Dickens was 23 years old when Charles was born and later became her son’s first educator. When Charles was born his only sibling was Frances or “Fanny,” his 18th month old sister (Rosen, 13). He would eventually have seven siblings. The names of the children in the Dickens’ family starting with the oldest were: Frances, Charles, Alfred Allen, Letitia Mary, Harriet, Frederick William, Alfred Lambert, and Augustus Newnham.
Because of John’s job, the Dickens family moved a lot while Charles was a child. When little Charles was only five years old he had moved streets over, moved to the West End of London, to Sheerness, and then to Chatham. Later he moved to Camden Town, London, and other places (Rosen, 13,14). In Dickens’ early years he sang with Fanny and both grew to love acting. On special occasions relatives took them to theaters like Theatre Royal in Rochester (Rosen, 17). In the eighteen hundreds, theaters were riotous, drunken, dirty, and violent places, but Dickens loved them (Rosen, 29). Because he grew up around the theater, acting became a favorite with Dickens, and later he acted himself. Listening to the expressive scripts at theaters and living around the acting scene helped Charles to write his own eloquent dialogues.
Charles Dickens lived a childhood with joy and happiness as a rarity. Two of Charles’ siblings died from illness. His poverty-stricken family constantly needed more. As a result, young Charles wondered the streets as a beggar (Rosen, 19). Although Charles Dickens appeared to be a health and sturdy boy, he was a sickly child. Charles often had seizures and later found out his sickness was called “colic” (Collins, 10).
In February of 1824, twelve-year-old Charles Dickens was sent to work away from his family. Working at Warren’s Blacking Factory scarred the young boy for life. At the dark and dirty factory, located beside the Thames River, Dickens made black boot polish and pasted labels before blacking-filled jars were sold. While working, Charles became friends with Bob Fagin who would later appear on paper in Oliver Twist. A working day consisted of a three-mile walk to the factory, over ten long hours of hard work, only two breaks in a day, and little food (Rosen, 21 and 25). Each week he would work six days and earn six shillings (Collins, 19). Could Charles’ childhood become worse? — Twelve days after beginning work at Warren’s, his father was arrested. John Dickens, because of debt, was imprisoned in the Marshalsea Prison; this prison Dickens wrote of in his novel, Little Dorrit. Mrs. Elizabeth Dickens along with her youngest children moved into the Marshalsea with Mr. Dickens. Charles and Fanny had to fend for themselves. Deficiency, debt, and doubt commonly dwelled in the hearts and minds of the Dickens’ household.
For his education Charles learned and studied at different schools. His mother was his first teacher, then he went to a nearby school, next in Chatham, William Giles, a graduate of Oxford University, was his schoolmaster (Collins, 10). Once John Dickens was released from prison he enrolled Charles at Wellington House Academy in 1825. At the Academy two hundred boys studied in one room. “Mistakes, rudeness, and naughtiness were punished with beatings” (Rosen, 27,28). After two years of learning Charles, because of family money problems, was sent out to work again. At fifteen years of age, Dickens worked for a law firm by copying papers by hand (Rosen, 28). While working for lawyers Charles taught himself shorthand, a method of writing down exactly what someone says in code. When he reached the age of eighteen he became an excellent shorthand writer and took the job of writing down speeches for Parliament (Rosen, 30).
The writing occupation of Dickens increased in 1833. In the Monthly Magazine some of his funny short stories were printed. Next Dickens climbed the ladder of occupational rank when he began to work for the Morning Chronicle (Rosen, 31,32). While working from 1834 to1836 for the Morning Chronicle Dickens became the forerunner of the columnists and published his creative works Sketches by Boz and The Pickwick Papers. These works were originally printed as monthly articles in which Dickens ended each monthly episode with a cliffhanger (Rosen, 33). The invention of Boz started when Augustus Dickens, Charles’ youngest sibling, was nicknamed “Moses.” Because Augustus couldn’t say the name, it became “Boses.” Creatively, Charles shortened the word to Boz to make it his pen name (Collins, 33). Readers loved the Sketches by Boz and searched for other writings by the illustrious Boz.
This eloquent writer was not only a devoted to his occupation but was also passionate about the fair maidens in his life. In 1829, Charles met Maria Beadnell, a friend of Fanny’s and a well-educated girl. Dickens fell for her and courted her for four years thereafter. Amorous Dickens wrote letters, sent gifts, and spent time with Maria. But when Maria’s father, George Beadnell, found out about John Dickens’ imprisonment at the Marshalsea he ended the young lovers’ relationship. Mr. Beadnell said that he wouldn’t allow his daughter to be with a debtor’s son (Collins, 27-28). Three years later Dickens met another young woman. She was the daughter of the editor of the Evening Chronicle. According to David Collins, nineteen-year-old Catherine Hogarth was as quite as Maria had been flirtatious (35). On April 2, 1836 the couple was married. A year later their first son arrived; he was named Charles Culliford Boz. The children to follow were: Mary, Kate Macready, Walter Landor, Francis Jeffery, Alfred Tennyson, Sydney Smith, Henry Fielding, Dora Annie, and Edward Bulwer Lytton. Altogether they had ten children.
Soon after the couple’s marriage Mary, Catherine’s sister, moved in with them. Mary Hogarth died at the age of seventeen in 1837. Dickens, who was very fond of her, requested to be buried next to Mary and wore her ring his whole life. When another of Catherine’s sisters, named Georgiana, moved into their house the novelist fell in love with her. While visiting Paris in 1855, Charles Dickens had a disappointing reunion with Maria Beadnell, whose new name was changed to Mrs. Winter (Davis, 417). In 1857, Dickens acted along side actress Ellen Ternan. They fell in love and a year later Charles separated from his wife. Catherine returned to the Hogarth family while the children stayed with Charles. Georgiana also stayed with the Dickens family as the caretaker of the children (Collins, 58). Although faithful was not a characteristic related to Dickens’ marriage, his rather episodic love life made drama natural and easy to write about.
Many of the characters in Dickens’ novels relate to the writer’s personal acquaintances. Maria Beadnell, Charles’ first love, is seen as Estella from Great Expectations and as Flora Finching from Little Dorrit. Dora was a young and beautiful lady in the novel David Copperfield whose life story and character paralleled that of Mary Hogarth. As Mary died at a young age, Dora also died as a young wife (Collins, 55). After writing David Copperfield, Dickens named his next daughter Dora. Two of Charles’ daughters had names honoring Mary Hogarth, one named Mary and the other Dora. In Bleak House the relationship between John Jarndyce and Ester Summerson is comparable to the relationship between Charles Dickens and Georgiana Hogarth. Both Mr. Jarndyce and Dickens admired young women with whom a romance was inappropriate due to the difference of their ages. Both relationships might have been more of a father-daughter relationship. Ellen Ternan was said to have beauty and character similar to that of Lucie Manette, the unselfish, beautiful, and genteel lady from A Tale of Two Cities. The writer’s love life influenced the making of some of his characters.
Members from the Dickens family were portrayed in the writings of Charles. John Dickens was the origin of the character Mr. Micawber from David Copperfield. Both men often find themselves in debt but live with sustaining hope. Also Dickens’ father inspired the character of Mr. Dorrit from the novel Little Dorrit. Mr. Dorrit was a man whose selfishness and pride affected all those around him. In observing Mr. Dorrit one can understand the feelings Charles might have felt when living near his own father. Mrs. Elizabeth Dickens was observed to be the original inspiration when Dickens created the querulous Mrs. Nickleby in Nicholas Nickleby. Charles’s older sister, Fanny, is the equal of Fanny Dorrit in two ways. Both were named Fanny and both were actresses. Fanny Dickens acted at the Royal Academy of Music and Fanny Dorrit was an actress for a local theater (Rosen, 20).
Dickens portrayed himself as different characters in his novels. David Copperfield is the most obvious duplicate of Dickens because their lives and character are incredibly similar. Other boys like Oliver Twist, Jo, the street sweeper from Bleak House, and Pip from Great Expectations relate to their creator. All are orphaned which is like Charles living and providing for himself on the streets. Pip’s love for Estella and Charles’s love for Maria are alike because both girls hold a spell over the boys and each boy adores his girl but can’t seem to win her over. In Bleak House both John Jarndyce and Guppy like Ester Summerson. John Jarndyce respectfully admires Ester and a correlation to their relationship is to Dickens affection for Georgiana. Guppy is the outcast that nobody wants and is rejected by the one he loves. Although Guppy is an annoyance, he turns out to be an ambitious man who intelligently investigates to figure out a mystery. Like Guppy, Dickens also was rejected by many and he had an intelligent side which was unseen by some people. Nemo, also a character from Bleak House, lives part of his life by his name, which in Latin means “no one.” When Dickens looked through the world’s lens he saw himself being seen as “no one.” His childhood had a tremendous effect on this view of himself. In Little Dorrit three characters portray Dickens. Arthur Clennam searches for answers and a new beginning the same way Dickens searched to find his place in the world and to be accepted. John Chivery is similar to Pip and Guppy; he is willing to do anything for the love of his life. When speaking about his love he says, (she is) “the one that I would fling myself off that parapet to give half a moment’s joy to! Not that that’s much to do, for I’d do it for twopence.” John Chivery loves someone that he cannot have and again the same goes for Dickens with Maria Bednell. Fredrick Dorrit, the uncle to Amy Dorrit and brother to William Dorrit, always helps the Dorrit family with debts and food. Charles also gave to his family; he provided and shared what he could with his needy family. Although he was generous, his family took advantage of his money and possessions. Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol is a weak and sickly child whose character is stronger than his body. Dickens was a sickly child but overcame it with his ambitious character. These portrayals of Dickens were moreover how he believed onlookers perceived him, usually as an undeserving, worthless, pitiful nobody. Most of the characters resembling Dickens aim for the reader to sympathize with them or rather sympathize with Dickens.
Charles Dickens had many wonderful works with his most autobiographical novel being David Copperfield. This accomplished writer wrote some of his most famous works later in life. Among these are Bleak House, Little Dorrit, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations. Dickens is also known for his Christmas books, especially A Christmas Carol. Dickens wrote many short stories, novels, and articles. Because of ambition and perseverance, Dickens is still known as a prolific and engaging writer.
In Dickens’s works there is the recurring theme of imprisonment. The characters living in debtors’ prison are in bondage physically and emotionally by their debt. Many people living in England during the nineteenth century were taken captive by poverty. Both debt and poverty trap all those who enter their doors, which only makes the poor drown deeper in the misery of debt. Through his books Dickens asks, how can someone in debtors’ prison ever return to the free world if he is unable to work?
Other characters are imprisoned by something other than poverty. Miss Havisham chooses to be confined by her past and won’t leave her home. Lady Deadlock and Mrs. Clennam are bound by their family secrets. Mrs. Clennam is also physically imprisoned in her wheelchair. Pip is enslaved by his love for Estella; she holds him wherever she wants. Sidney Carton is literally imprisoned and dies for his love, Lucie. When Mr. Dorrit is released from prison and goes out to the free world, he is more in bondage than when he was in the Marshalsea Prison. These imprisonments show some of the problems of the time in which Dickens lived.
Charles Dickens used his writing to show the reality of problems in society. Poverty is an enormous issue in his books. Because Dickens hated the way the poor were humiliated and the way poor children were taught in school, his writings show how extreme and awful life was for poverty-stricken families. In his book Great Expectations Dickens wrote, “In the little world in which children have their existence, whosoever brings them up, there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt, as injustice.” According to Michael Rosen, the kinds of crime and misery that go hand and hand with terrible poverty seem to have made Dickens very angry, but also scared him (44). Snakes and ladders is the game played most often in his novels. In one chapter a man climbs up the rungs of society, but in the next he falls back to the bottom. Though this, Dickens criticizes different ranks of society. Tiny Tim, from A Christmas Carol, is not just a weak boy; his maimed legs are caged in iron, which is symbolic of the oppression brought about by the Industrial Revolution. The ills of society in the nineteenth century are observed secondhand when reading Dickens’s works.
Charles Dickens left a legacy for all to enjoy. On June 9, 1870, Dickens died from a cerebral hemorrhage at his home, Gad’s Hill. Buried at Westminster Abby in Poets’ Corner, the inscription on his tomb reads: “He was a sympathizer to the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England’s greatest writers is lost to the world.” Charles had many admirers, one of whom was G.K. Chesterton. In his biography Charles Dickens, Chesterton wrote, “He was the voice in England of this humane intoxication and expansion, this encouraging of anybody to be anything.” Dickens was the voice that spoke out for the poor and his pen was the key to changing the ills of society. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote, “Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.” Through his combination of words, this novelist displays the good and evil of his personal life, family, and society in order to influence and impact the world. Dickens is a hero because he shows how one climbs from deficiency to dignity.

Works Cited

Rosen, Michael. Dickens: His Work and His World. Cambridge: Candlewick Press, 2005. Print.

Collins, David R. Tales for Hard Times. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, Inc., 1990. Print.

Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts on File Inc., 1998. Print.

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