Charles Dickens 1812 – 2012

• February 7th, 2012
• Posted by 7thmin

Oliver Twist, “ungrateful boy”, wanted more to eat, (and was a leader of others); Uriah Heep was “very’umble”, unlike Mr Bumble; Bill Sikes’s Nancy was a tragic figure of those times, and these; something turned up for Mr Micawber, in Australia.

Charles Dickens’s characters, sketched amiably for the newspapers of 19th Century England, gave their creator an outlet for an incisive sense of humour, and a feeling for sufferers of unjust fortunes.

There was much social injustice and misfortune to be seen and exhibited by a man of great talent, in the depths of the industrial revolution.

Charles Dickens, born on 7 February 1812, at Portsmouth, a journalist, novelist, playwright, wrote much of his best work in serial form, keeping ahead of monthly deadlines for newspapers; and they thrived on the sentiment and pathos of his tales taken directly from the London streets.

He became in that way, part of a great liberal movement, bent on salvation and reform.

The anniversary is being marked by readings across the globe, by leading actors, teachers and much younger initiates.

Proceedings began in London with a wreath laying by the Prince of Wales at Charles Dickens’s grave, in poet’s corner, Westminister Abbey.

“This bicentenary should help renew our commitment to improving the lot of the disadvantaged of our own day”, said the Dean, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall.

Charles Dickens, who lived until 1870, was immensely successful in his own time. He was feted as a leading novelist of the Victorian era, if not the greatest of those, at home and abroad, as in his successful reading tours throughout the United Kingdom and in the United States.

He spoke about going to Australia but did not make it so far, though leaving some literary mentions.

The great characters travelled near and very far; thanks be for Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, The Artful Dodger, Fagin, Pip, Miss Havisham, Samuel Pickwick, and “Brooks of Sheffield”, David Copperfield …

Novels of Charles Dickens included: The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, The Adventures of Oliver Twist, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of ‘Eighty, A Christmas Carol, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, Dombey and Son, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Hard Times: For These Times, Little Dorrit, A Tale of Two Cities,Great Expectations, Our Mutual Friend …

Reference

.

BBC news, London, “Prince Charles leads Charles Dickens celebrations”, 7.2.12.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16914295, (7.2.12).

Wikipedia, SF, “Charles Dickens”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens, (7.2.12)

Pictures  

Oliver Twist illustration, George Cruikshank, Wikipedia

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