Miserable
people and places as they were shown in Charles Dickens' different novels. By :Sally Atef.
"That
sort of half sigh, which, accompanied by two or three slight nods of the head,
is pity's small change in general society." Charles
Dickens.
Figure1: Hard times
Who was Charles Dickens? How was his age? How was the world during that era? How was novel in
that age? How was he influenced by the social conditions in his society? What
was the image of people and places portrayed in his novels?
Charles Dickens's life:
Charles Dickens was born on 7 February 1812 in Portsmouth, England
to John and Elizabeth Dickens. His father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office. During his early life his family moved to different
places as: Bloomsbury then when he was four to Kent till he was eleven. Dickens received little education first at Dame-school then at school ran by William
Giles. After his father had imprisoned, little Charles
-who was 12 years old- left school to work in a factory where he worked 10-hour
days and was paid 6 shillings a week.
Figure2: Charles Dickens
Although he spent a very short time at
school, Dickens made the best use of what he learned.
He started his career as a journalist. He wrote in "the mirror of parliament" and "the true sun". Under the pen name "Boz" Dickens
published a number of sketches. His cruel and unjust working conditions that he
experienced during his childhood influenced him and were shown in his work. In
1851, he was married. He had 10 children. In 1870 he died of a stroke and was
buried at Westminster Abby. He left 15
novels and 5 novellas and a number of short stories.
The
kingdom during the nineteenth century:
Napoleon's ambition had no
limits and wished to conquer the world. He was fighting a trade battle against Britain. Then Wellington's
army entered France from the south while the Russian, Austrian, Prussian and Sweden forces attacked from the Rhine. Napoleon was
defeated and taken to the island
of Elba
but his escape in 1815 led to another battle. But a peace treaty had been made
and Britain and France became friends.
Figure3: Napoleon Bonaparte
Britain's industrial development demanded social and
political changes. However the new government did not take into account the
movement of population to the north. Although the new towns grew up around the
factories, they had on schools, no water supply, no churches no court and no
representative in parliament.
It is noteworthy that Britain's agriculture suffered a lot however its industry
became head and shoulders above the rest. That is because the upper class took
car of science and discovery and endowed their wealth for new methods of
production the middle class did so. The biggest trade was in cotton good and
the import raw American cotton rose to 300,000
tons in 1860.
Figure 4: Queen Victoria
That era witnessed many changes as:
1. The first steamship crossing the Atlantic in 1818.
2. The first railway was opened to
the public in 1825.
3. The world's first proper postal
system.
Political reformation was also taking
place:
1. The Tory Party ended in 1830.
2. The death
of King George IV caused an election which
brought the liberals to power.
3. Robert Peel formed the first regular
police force.
4. Peel stopped the customs duty on
foreign corn and began a system of free trade.
5. Peel also stopped the use of women
and children in the coal mines and improved their conditions in the factories.(Eyre,1971)
The nineteenth century novel and its
outstanding forms and styles:
"I've always been a fan of the
19th century novel, of the novel that is plotted, character-driven, and where
the passage of time is almost as central to the novel as a major minor
character, the passage of time and its effect on the characters in the story." John Irving.
The nineteenth century novel has
various forms some of which sprung from the political and social conditions in England in that
age.
One of
these styles is the novels of family life.
The novels of Jane Austen represent that style. What
distinguishes her writings is that her novels are not affected by the ugly
outside world. She presented the actions of her novels as she had experienced
them. 'She managed her characters with a master's touch. Miss Bates in "Emma", though herself uninteresting, is not allowed to
destroy the reader's interest.' (Robert, Gwyneth&G.C Thornely, 1954).
The
second form that appeared is the novels of terror.
Mary Shelley wrote the very famous novel
"Frankenstein" (1818) about the
Genevan student Frankenstein who collected bones, built a
human being and gave him life. That person was hated by the others because of
its ugliness so it felt lonely then it kills Frankenstein's
brother and his wife then Frankenstein himself is murdered by it.
She wrote another novel called "The Last Man" (1826) in which she describes a disease that destroys the human
race except one member.
Figure5 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Another novelist who was interested in that
kind of novels is Edgar Allan
Poe (1809-1849)
his "tales of
Mystery and Imagination" include "the
Fall of the House of Usher"(1839), "The
Masque of the Red Death "(1842) ," A Descent into the Maelstrom"(1841), "The Murders in Rue Morgue"(1841) and "The Mystery of Marie Roget "(1842).
Adventure and
The sea stories are another style. The
stories of Frederick Marryat (1792- 1848) are significant
examples of this style of writing. His novel "Peter Simple" (1834) describes a
foolish boy who is sent to sea and fails but he shows himself as a great officer
and is prison.
Anthony Hope (1863-1933) was also interested in this style. In
"the prisoner of
zenda"
(1894) and its continuation "Rupert of Hentzau "(1898), he shows the imaginary country Ruritania.
Many
women novelists appeared in the Victorian age. Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) was born in Yorkshire but she
stayed in Brussels.
In "Villette"(1853) she reflects her
personal experiences when she was in Brussels.In her well known novel
"Jane Eyre" (1847), she presents the
life of a poor and unbeautiful girl who was brought up by a cruel aunt. She was
sent to a miserable school then she moves to Thornfield
Hall to teach Mr. Rochester's daughter. Mr. Rochester falls in love with her but
she discovers that his mad wife is still alive and runs away. After that the Hall is burnt and the mad wife is killed and Rochester losses his
eyesight but when Jane knows about that she returns
and marries him.
Figure6: Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte's sister Emily
wrote one of the most outstanding novels," Wuthering Heights" (1847).George Eliot(1819-1880) was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans. Her first novel was "Adam Bede" (1859) in which she
hints for her childhood. She also wrote historical novel about Florence,"Romola"(1863).
Historical novel flourished. The novels of Charles Kingsley (1819-1875) represent that kind. The scene of "Hypatia"(1853) was set in Alexandria
in the fifth century. Another writer, Charles Reade(1814-1884), wrote Historical novels. His greatest work is "the Cloister and the Hearth"(1861) is set in the
fifteenth century about Gerard's adventures through Europe.
Dickens also wrote two historical
novels:"Barnaby Rudge"(1841)
and "A Tale of Two Cities"
Detective stories were first presented and William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was the first novelist to write such
novels. He wrote "the
Woman in White"(1860)
about Anne Catherick who is shut up as a mad.
"The Moonstone" (1868) is about a
precious stone from India appears and many
people are searching for it.
In Thomas Hardy's (1840-1928) novels nature plays a vital rule
to the extent that it is considered a character. 'Hardy's scenes are set in Wessex
among trees, farms, fields, and low hills.' He wrote a lot of novels such
as:" Far from the
Madding Crowd"(1874),"The Return of the Native" (1878) and "The Mayor of Casterbirdge" (1886). (Robert, Gwyneth&G.C Thornely, 1954:115-131)
Figure7: Thomas Hardy
Charles Dickens and his miserable characters and unpleasant places:
Spending
years of his childhood working at Warren's blacking Warehouse; Charles Dickens' experiences affected his writings. 'Dickens’s novels are
multifarious, digressive and generous. In an important way, they reflect the
nature of Victorian urban society with all its
conflicts and disharmonies, its eccentricities and its constrictions, its
energy and its extraordinary fertility, both physical and intellectual.'(Sanders,
1994).
In his various novels, Dickens portraits and attacks unpleasant persons
and places. He attacks bad schools and dirty houses.' His characters include
thieves , murderers , men in debt ,stupid and unwashed men and women ,hungry
children , and those who do their best to deceive the honest.' (Robert, Gwyneth&G.C Thornely, 1954:122).
In fact Dickens
was influenced in his writings by Henry Fielding
(1707-1754), Daniel Defoe(1660-1731) ,Tobias Smollett(1721-1771) and
Goldsmith.that is clear from his novel "David Copperfield"(1849-50). That doesn't
mean that he used to copy eighteenth-century models into
the nineteenth century as his first writings present' a writer with an acute ear for speech, and for
aberrations of speech, and with an equally acute observation of gesture and
habit, of London streets and London
interiors, of spontaneity and of misery. '(Sanders, 1994:405).
His beginning was with "The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club"
(1836-7) (generally known simply as the Pickwick Papers). Its events happen in
a London club and its protagonist Mr.
Pickwick is a very kind man who is lucky to meet Mr.Weller who keeps him out of the troubles caused by his
kindness.
In "Oliver
Twist" (1837-39) Dickens begins
his novel by attacking the household system. . 'The scene of Oliver Twist asking for more, so graphically caught
by Dickens’s illustrator, George Cruikshank, rapidly became, and has remained,
the most familiar incident in any English novel.' (Sanders, 1994:405). Oliver's life in London and the feeling of insecurity compared with the comforts of bourgeois respectability made Dickens himself compared to streaky bacon.
Figure8: Oliver Twist
"David
Copperfield"(1849-50) is based on his life. It is central to
his career. It has a sad beginning. Although it is crowded of many events happy
and unhappy and characters, it can be classified as satire because it
criticizes social conditions.
The most important and outstanding novel
of Dickens' novels is "Hard Times"(1854) which was set in
industrial England. It explores the social and industrial conditions of
the mid-Victorian England through Mr. Gradgrind's
children who are brought up' among hard faces without any help for the spirit.'
(Robert, Gwyneth&G.C Thornely, 1954:121). As a result of this his son robs
a bank and his daughter is unhappy after an unhappy marriage. Fortunately, Mr. Gradgrind understands that he was wrong.
