Charles Dickens - Life and works, Dispense di Inglese

Scarica Charles Dickens - Life and works e più Dispense in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! CHARLES DICKENS was born in 1812 in Portsmouth, second of 8 siblings. At the age of 9, he was sent to school, but his education didn’t last long; because, after his father was arrested for debts, he went working in a blacking factory. Fortunately, at 15, he found employment as an office boy and studied shorthand at night. By 1832, he began to work as a reporter for a newspaper. In 1836, he adopted the pen name of “Boz” and published “Sketches by Boz”, a collection of article and tales describing London’s life. It was immediately followed by the “Pickwick Papers”and he officially started his career as a novelist. The protagonists of his autobiographical novels (such as Oliver Twist and David Copperfield) became the symbols of an exploited childhood and the conditions of the working classes. Dickens focused on the lower social classes and his aim was to arouse the reader’s interest by exaggerating his characters’ habits. He created caricatures, in fact, his characters are flat and, most of times, do not evolve during the book. Children are often his main focus, they are the moral teachers, the example to follow. —> His novels had a didactic aim; he wanted to educate the wealthier classes and make them acquire knowledge about their poorer neighbour. Oliver Twist (1837) is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three volume book in 1838. It deals with the story of a orphan, Oliver, who was born in a workhouse, his mother died during childbirth and his father is unknown. One day when, at the end of the dinner, he asks for more soup, he is punished and is sent away. At this point, Oliver manages to run away to London —> where he becomes involved with a gang of thieves, led by Fagin. During his firs mission, he is caught and arrested, but then Oliver is rescued by Mr. Brownlow, the victim of the theft. Unfortunately, Oliver is kidnapped by Fagin’s gang and he’s forced to take part in a burglary, during which the kid is shot and abandoned. For his fortune, he is taken again by good people who want to help him: Mr. Maylie and her niece, Rose. Nancy, a kind prostitute, discovers that Oliver is son of a wealthy man, who left him most of his fortune. Fagin plotted to kill Oliver and take all the inheritance and he kills Nancy because she wanted to reveal his plan. At this point (deus ex machina) the gang is arrested and Oliver can now live happily and rich. At the end, we can truly understand that Oliver’s surname “Twist” reflects his twisted life and the eventiìs that led him to be finally happy. The setting of the book shows the two opposite sides of Victorian society. In fact, the novel is set in London, which is depicted at 3 different social levels: 1. the world of the workhouses. 2. the criminal world. 3. the rich Victorian middle class. In Oliver Twist, Dickens mixes grim realism with merciless satire to describe the effects of industrialism on 19th-century England and to criticise the harsh new Poor Laws. Oliver, an innocent child, is trapped in a world where his only options seem to be the workhouse, a life of crime symbolised by Fagin's gang, a prison, or an early grave. From this unpromising industrial/institutional setting, however, a fairy tale also emerges. In the midst of corruption and degradation, the essentially passive Oliver remains pure-hearted; he steers away from evil when those around him give in to it, and in proper fairy-tale fashion, he eventually receives his reward – leaving for a peaceful life in the country, surrounded by kind friends. On the way to this happy ending, Dickens explores the kind of life an outcast, orphan boy could expect to lead in 1830s London. The more Oliver tried to escape from this criminal world, the more he was entrapped. However, as mentioned earlier, Dickens' main motive was to reform society and people. Thus, at the end of the novel, we find poetic justice with the death of Nancy and Fagin and Oliver is also rescued from the trap. Whether it is Oliver, David or Pip, they all missed the affection and love of their parents in their early stages. In Oliver Twist, Oliver is seen trying hard to get such love and affection from every character, even from criminals like Fagin or Nancy. Hard Times (1854) The book is set in a fictional town named “Coketown” —> inspired to Preston, a real city in England, that Dickens has visited right before writing the novel. The city is a realistic representation of a common city in the Victorian Age; in Coketown all the buildings are the same, it’s a sort of brick jungle—> where the factories look like mad elephants and their smoke look like serpents. In Coketown, Thomas Gradgrind has founded a school where his theories are taught and he brings up his children—> repressing their imagination. He marries Louisa to a rich banker of the city, who is 30 years older than her, named Bounderby. She accepts to do this in order to help her brother and give him a job in Bounderby’s bank, but she results to be truly unhappy of her life. Her brother, Tom, robs his employer and he is obliged to leave the country. In the end, Mr. Gradgrind understands the damage that he caused to his children and gives up his materialistic philosophy —> he is the only character, in Dickens’ book that evolves. The entire book can be seen as a critic of the English educational system and of utilitarianism. While Mr. Gradgrind teaches that life is dominated only by facts and doesn’t leave any space to creativity, Dickens wants to remind us the importance of imagination. He is convinced that everything needs balance —> the youngest Gradgrind’s daughter, raised both by facts and fancy, represents the best example of a good education. • Comparison between Dickens and Verga Charles Dickens and Giovanni Verga are among the most popular novelist in the history of literature of all time. These two authors have wanted to represent in their works the social realities of their countries, the Industrial England of the Victorian Age, for Dickens and the reality of Verga's Sicily, during the post-unification period. Dickens and Verga attacked the social evils of their time. The themes they have in common are well represented if we compare “Rosso Malpelo” and “Oliver Twist”. These books, indeed, criticize the exploitation of children and the denial of their childhood. The authors also point out how the main social values (family, friendship) are destroyed by a utilitarian concept of life.