Dickens portrait. Charles dickens short biography. The formation of the writer and creative career in the biography of Charles Dickens

English Charles John Huffam Dickens ; pseudonym boz

most popular English-language writer during his lifetime; classic of world literature, one of the greatest prose writers of the 19th century

Charles Dickens

short biography

Charles Dickens(full name Charles John Huffam Dickens) - the famous English realist writer, classic of world literature, the largest prose writer of the 19th century. - lived a rich and difficult life. His homeland was the town of Landport, located near Portsmouth, where on February 7, 1812, he was born into a poor family of a petty official. Parents nurtured Charles as best they could, who was precocious and gifted, but their financial situation did not allow him to develop his abilities and give him a quality education.

In 1822, the Dickens family was transferred to London, where they had to live in extreme need, periodically selling simple home belongings. 12-year-old Charles had to go to work in a wax factory, and although he worked there for only four months, this is the time when he, selfish, not accustomed to physical labor and not shining with good health, was forced to work hard for mere pennies , was a serious moral shock for him, left a huge imprint on his worldview, determined one of his life goals - never again to need and never find himself in such a humiliating position.

The plight of the family, which grew up with six children, was further aggravated when, in 1824, the father was under arrest for several months due to debts. Charles left school and got a job in a law office as a copyist of papers. The next point of his career was the parliament, where he worked as a stenographer, and then he managed to find himself in the field of a newspaper reporter. In November 1828, the young Dickens took over as a freelance reporter at Doctors Commons. Having not received a systematic education in childhood and adolescence, 18-year-old Charles diligently educated himself, becoming a regular in the British museum. At 20, he worked as a reporter for the Parliamentary Mirror and Tru Sun, and stood out from the crowd of most fellow writers.

At the age of 24, Dickens released his debut collection of essays called Boz's Notes (this was his newspaper pseudonym): an ambitious young man realized that it was precisely his studies in literature that would help him enter high society, and at the same time do a good deed for the sake of the same offended by fate and the oppressed as he was. In 1837 he made his debut as a novelist with the Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. The literary fame of Dickens grew as he wrote his next works, his financial position strengthened, and his social status increased. When Dickens, who married back in 1836, sailed to Boston with his wife, he was met in American cities as a very famous person.

From July 1844 to 1845, Dickens lived with his family in Genoa, upon returning to his homeland, he devoted all his attention to founding the Daily News newspaper. 50s became his personal triumph: Dickens achieved fame, influence, wealth, more than offsetting all previous blows of fate. Since 1858, he constantly arranged public readings of his books: in this way, he did not so much increase his fortune as he realized the extraordinary acting abilities that remained unclaimed. Not everything went smoothly in the personal life of the famous writer; he perceived the family with its requests, quarrels with his wife, eight sickly children, rather as a source of constant headache, rather than a safe harbor. In 1857, a love affair with a young actress appeared in his life, which lasted until his death, in 1858 he divorced.

A turbulent personal life was combined with intense writing: during this period of biography, novels also appeared that made a significant contribution to his literary fame - "Little Dorrit" (1855-1857), "A Tale of Two Cities" (1859), "Great Expectations" (1861), Our Mutual Friend (1864). A difficult life did not affect his health in the best way, but Dickens worked, ignoring the numerous “bells”. An extended tour of American cities exacerbated the problems, but he, after a short rest, went to a new one. In April 1869, it came to the point that the writer's left leg and arm were taken away when he finished his next speech. June 8, 1870 in the evening, Charles Dickens, who was at his estate Gadeshill, had a stroke, and the next day he died; buried one of the most popular English writers in Westminster Abbey.

Biography from Wikipedia

Charles John Huffham Dickens(English Charles John Huffam Dickens [ˈtʃɑrlz ˈdɪkɪnz]; February 7, 1812, Portsmouth, England - June 9, 1870, Higham, England) was an English writer, novelist and essayist. The most popular English-language writer during his lifetime. A classic of world literature, one of the greatest prose writers of the 19th century. Dickens's work is classified as the height of realism, but his novels reflected both sentimental and fabulous beginnings. Dickens' most famous novels: The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, Our Mutual Friend, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood".

Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 in Landport, a suburb of Portsmouth. He was the second of eight children of John Dickens (1785-1851) and Elizabeth Dickens née Barrow (1789-1863). His father served as an officer at a naval base in the Royal Navy; in January 1815 he was transferred to London, in April 1817 the family moved to Chatham. Here Charles studied at the school of the Baptist pastor William Giles, even when the family moved to London again. Life in the capital, beyond his means, led his father in 1824 to a debtor's prison. His elder sister continued to study at the Royal Academy of Music until 1827, while Charles worked in a blacking factory ( blacking factory) Warren, where he received six shillings a week. But on Sunday they were in prison with their parents. A few months later, after the death of his paternal grandmother, John Dickens, thanks to the inheritance he received, was released from prison, received a pension in the Admiralty and a place as a parliamentary reporter in one of the newspapers. However, at the insistence of his mother, Charles was left at the factory, which influenced his attitude towards women in later life. Some time later, he was identified Wellington House Academy where he studied until March 1827. In May 1827 he was admitted to the law office of Ellis and Blackmore as a junior clerk, at 13 shillings a week. Here he worked until November 1828. Having studied shorthand according to the T. Garnier system, he began to work as a free reporter, together with his distant relative, Thomas Charlton. In 1830, Charles was invited to " Morning Chronicle". In the same year, Charles Dickens met his first love, Mary Bidnell, the daughter of a bank director. He later left her for Ellen Ternan, whom he later included in his will. Based on this story, Ralph Fiennes made the film The Invisible Woman (2013).

Literary activity

Dickens found himself primarily as a reporter. As soon as Dickens completed - on trial - several reporter assignments, he was immediately noticed by the reading public.

Literature - that's what was now the most important thing for him.

Dickens's first moralistic essays, which he called "Essays of Boz", were published in 1836. Their spirit fully corresponded to Dickens's social position. It was, to some extent, a fictional declaration of the interests of the ruined petty bourgeoisie. Psychological sketches, portraits of Londoners, like all Dickensian novels, also first came out in a newspaper version and already brought enough fame to the young author.

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club

A dizzying success awaited Dickens in the same year as chapters of his The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club were published.

In this novel, he draws old England from its most diverse sides, admiring its good nature and the abundance of lively and attractive features inherent in the best representatives of the English petty bourgeoisie. All these features are embodied in the most good-natured optimist, the noblest old eccentric Mr. Pickwick. This novel by Dickens caused an extraordinary surge of reader interest.

The Life and Adventures of Oliver Twist and Other Writings 1838-1843

Two years later, Dickens performed with Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby ( The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby) 1838-1839.

"The Adventures of Oliver Twist" Oliver Twist; or ,The Parish Boy's Progress), (1838) - the story of an orphan born in a workhouse and living in the slums of London. The boy meets meanness and nobility, criminal and respectable people on his way. Cruel fate recedes before his sincere desire for an honest life.

The pages of the novel depict pictures of the life of English society in the 19th century in all their living splendor and ugliness. A broad social picture from the workhouses and criminal dens of the London bottom to the society of the rich and Dickensian kind-hearted bourgeois benefactors. In this novel, Ch. Dickens acts as a humanist, asserting the power of good in man.

The novel caused a wide public outcry. After its release, a series of scandalous trials took place in the workhouses of London, which, in fact, were semi-prison institutions where child labor was mercilessly used.

Dickens' fame grew rapidly. The liberals saw him as their ally, because they defended freedom, and the conservatives, because they pointed out the cruelty of the new social relationships.

After traveling to America, where the public met Dickens with no less enthusiasm than the English, Dickens writes his "Martin Chuzzlewit" ( The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, 1843). In addition to the unforgettable images of Pecksniff and Mrs. Gump, this novel is remarkable for its parody of Americans. The novel caused violent protests from the overseas public.

In 1843, "A Christmas Carol" was published ( A Christmas Carol), followed by The Bells ( The Chimes), "Cricket on the stove" ( The Cricket on the Hearth), "The Battle of Life" ( The Battle of Life), "Possessed" ( The Haunted Man).

At the same time, Dickens became editor-in-chief of the Daily News. In this newspaper, he got the opportunity to express his socio-political views.

"Dombey and Son"

One of his best novels is Dombey and Son Trading House. Wholesale, retail and export trade" ( Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail and for Exportation, 1848). The endless string of figures and situations in life in this work is amazing. There are few novels in world literature that, in richness of color and variety of tone, can be put on a par with Dombey and Son, apart from some of the later works of Dickens himself. Both petty-bourgeois characters and representatives of the London poor are created by him with great love. All these people are almost all weirdos, but the weirdness that makes you laugh makes these characters even closer and sweeter. True, this friendly, this harmless laughter makes you not notice their narrowness, limitations, difficult conditions in which they have to live; but such is Dickens ... It should be noted, however, that when he turns his thunders and lightnings against the oppressors, against the arrogant merchant Dombey, against scoundrels, like his senior clerk Carker, he finds words of indignation so smashing that they sometimes border on revolutionary pathos.

"David Copperfield"

Even more weakened humor in the next major work of Dickens - "David Copperfield" ( The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account), (1849-1850).

This novel is largely autobiographical. The subject matter is serious and well thought out. The spirit of praising the old foundations of morality and the family, the spirit of protest against the new capitalist England resounds loudly here too. Many connoisseurs of Dickens' work, including such literary authorities as: L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky, Charlotte Bronte, Henry James, Virginia Woolf, considered this novel to be his greatest work.

Personal life

In the 1850s, Dickens reached the zenith of his fame. He was a darling of fate - a famous writer, ruler of thoughts and a wealthy person - in a word, a person for whom fate did not stint on gifts.

The portrait of Dickens of that time is rather well drawn by Chesterton:

Dickens was of average height. His natural liveliness and unrepresentative appearance were the reason that he produced on those around him the impression of a man of short stature, or, in any case, of a very miniature build. In his youth, on his head was too extravagant, even for that era, a hat of brown hair, and later he wore a dark mustache and a thick, lush, dark goatee of such an original shape that it made him look like a foreigner.

The former transparent pallor of his face, the brilliance and expressiveness of his eyes remained with him; “I also note the actor’s moving mouth and his extravagant dressing style.” Chesterton writes about it:

He wore a velvet jacket, some incredible waistcoats, reminiscent of absolutely improbable sunsets in their color, white hats, unprecedented at that time, of an absolutely unusual whiteness that cut the eyes. He willingly dressed up in stunning dressing gowns; they even say that he posed for a portrait in such a dress.

Behind this appearance, in which there was so much posturing and nervousness, lurked a great tragedy.

The needs of Dickens family members exceeded his income. A disorderly, purely bohemian nature did not allow him to introduce any kind of order into his affairs. He not only overworked his rich and fruitful brain, forcing it to overwork creatively, but, being an unusually brilliant reader, he tried to earn decent fees by lecturing and reading passages from his novels. The impression of this purely acting reading was always colossal. Apparently, Dickens was one of the greatest reading virtuosos. But on his trips he fell into the hands of some dubious entrepreneurs and, while earning, at the same time brought himself to exhaustion.

On April 2, 1836, Charles married Katherine Thomson Hogarth (May 19, 1815 – November 22, 1879), the eldest daughter of his friend, the journalist George Hogarth. Catherine was a faithful wife and bore him 10 children: 7 sons - Charles Culliford Boz Dickens Jr. (January 6, 1837 - July 20, 1896), Walter Savage Landor (February 8, 1841 - December 31, 1863), Francis Jeffery (January 15, 1844 - 11 June 1886), Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson (October 28, 1845 - January 2, 1912), Sidney Smith Galdimand (April 18, 1847 - May 2, 1872), Henry Fielding (January 16, 1849 - December 21, 1933) and Edward Bulwer-Lytton (13 March 1852 - January 23, 1902), - three daughters - Mary (March 6, 1838 - July 23, 1896), Catherine Elizabeth Macready (October 29, 1839 - May 9, 1929) and Dora Annie (August 16, 1850 - April 14, 1851). But Dickens' family life was not entirely successful. Quarrels with his wife, some difficult and dark relationship with her family, fear for sickly children made the family for Dickens a source of constant worries and torment. In 1857, Charles met 18-year-old actress Ellen Ternan and immediately fell in love. He rented an apartment for her, visited his love for many years. Their romance lasted until the death of the writer. She never took the stage again. The feature film The Invisible Woman (UK, 2013, directed by Ralph Fiennes) is dedicated to this close relationship.

But all this is not as important as the melancholy thought that overwhelmed Dickens that, in essence, the most serious thing in his works - his teachings, his appeals to the conscience of those in power - remains in vain, that, in reality, there are no hopes for improving that the terrible situation that had arisen in the country, from which he saw no way out, even looking at life through humorous glasses that softened the sharp contours of reality in the eyes of the author and his readers. He writes at this time:

Personal oddities

Dickens often spontaneously fell into a trance, was subject to visions and from time to time experienced states of deja vu. When this happened, the writer nervously fiddled with his hat, which caused the headdress to quickly lose its presentable appearance and become unusable. For this reason, Dickens eventually stopped wearing headdresses.

Another oddity of the writer was told by George Henry Lewis, editor-in-chief of the Fortnightly Review magazine (and a close friend of the writer George Eliot). Dickens once told him that every word, before moving to paper, is first clearly heard by him, and his characters are constantly nearby and communicate with him.

While working on the Antiquities Shop, the writer could neither eat nor sleep: little Nell constantly turned under her feet, demanded attention, appealed for sympathy and was jealous when the author was distracted from her by a conversation with one of the outsiders.

While working on the novel Martin Chuzzlewit, Dickens was annoyed with her jokes by Mrs. Gump: he had to fight her off by force. “Dickens warned Mrs. Gump more than once: if she does not learn to behave decently and does not appear only on call, he will not give her another line at all!” Lewis wrote. That is why the writer loved to roam the crowded streets. “During the day you can somehow still do without people,” Dickens admitted in one of his letters, “but in the evening I am simply not able to get rid of my ghosts until I get lost from them in the crowd.”

“Perhaps only the creative nature of these hallucinatory adventures keeps us from mentioning schizophrenia as a likely diagnosis,” notes parapsychologist Nandor Fodor, author of the essay The Unknown Dickens (1964, New York).

Later works

Dickens's social novel Hard Times (1854) is also permeated with melancholy and hopelessness. This novel was a tangible literary and artistic blow inflicted on nineteenth-century capitalism with its idea of ​​unstoppable industrial progress. In its own way, the grandiose and terrible figure of Bounderby is written with genuine hatred. But Dickens does not spare in the novel the leader of the strike movement - the Slackbridge Chartist, who is ready for any sacrifice in order to achieve his goals. In this work, the author for the first time questioned - undeniable in the past for him - the value of personal success in society.

The end of Dickens' literary activity was marked by a number of other significant works. Behind the novel "Little Dorrit" ( Little Dorrit, 1855-1857) was followed by Dickens' historical novel A Tale of Two Cities ( A Tale of Two Cities, 1859), dedicated to the French Revolution. Recognizing the necessity of revolutionary violence, Dickens turns away from it as from madness. It was quite in the spirit of his worldview, and, nevertheless, he managed to create an immortal book in his own way.

Dickens photographed by Jeremiah Gurney during his New York trip 1867-1868

Great Expectations belong to the same time ( Great Expectations) (1861) - a novel with biographical features. His hero - Pip - rushes between the desire to preserve the petty-bourgeois cosiness, to remain true to his middle peasant position and the desire upward for brilliance, luxury and wealth. Dickens put a lot of his own throwing, his own longing into this novel. According to the original plan, the novel was supposed to end in tears for the protagonist, although Dickens always avoided catastrophic outcomes in his works and, in his own good nature, tried not to upset especially impressionable readers. For the same reasons, he did not dare to bring the "great hopes" of the hero to their complete collapse. But the whole idea of ​​the novel suggests the pattern of such an outcome.

Dickens reaches new artistic heights in his swan song - in a large multifaceted canvas, the novel Our Mutual Friend (English Our Mutual Friend, 1864). In this work, one can guess Dickens' desire to take a break from tense social topics. Fascinatingly conceived, filled with the most unexpected types, all sparkling with wit - from irony to touching gentle humor - this novel, according to the author's intention, should probably come out light, sweet, funny. His tragic characters are drawn as if in halftones and are largely present in the background, and the negative characters turn out to be either ordinary people who have put on a villainous mask, or such small and ridiculous personalities that we are ready to forgive them for their treachery; and sometimes so unfortunate people who are able to arouse in us, instead of indignation, only a feeling of bitter pity. In this novel, Dickens’s appeal to a new style of writing is noticeable: instead of ironic verbosity, parodying the literary style of the Victorian era, there is a laconic manner reminiscent of cursive writing. society.

In this last completed work, Dickens demonstrated all the powers of his humor, shielding himself from the gloomy thoughts that seized him with wonderful, cheerful, sympathetic images of this idyll.

Apparently, gloomy reflections were to find an outlet again in Dickens' detective novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood).

From the very beginning of the novel, one can see a change in Dickens's creative manner - his desire to impress the reader with a fascinating plot, immerse him in an atmosphere of mystery and uncertainty. Whether he succeeded in this to the full extent remains unclear, since the work remained unfinished.

On June 9, 1870, the fifty-eight-year-old Dickens, exhausted by colossal work, a rather hectic life and many troubles, died of a stroke at his home, Gadshill Place, located in the village of Higham (Kent).

After death

Dickens' fame continued to grow after his death. He was turned into a real idol of English literature. His name began to be called next to the name of Shakespeare, his popularity in England in the 1880s-1890s. eclipsed the glory of Byron. But critics and the reader tried not to notice his angry protests, his peculiar martyrdom, his tossing about among the contradictions of life.

They did not understand, and did not want to understand, that humor was often for Dickens a shield against the excessively injuring blows of life. On the contrary, Dickens acquired, first of all, the fame of a cheerful writer of cheerful old England.

Memory

• A crater on Mercury is named after Dickens.
• On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the writer's birth, a postage stamp of the USSR was issued (1962).
• A portrait of Dickens was placed on the English £10 note of the 1993-2000 issue.
• On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Dickens, the Royal Mint of Great Britain is issuing a commemorative two-pound coin with a portrait of Dickens, composed of lines with the titles of his works - from "Oliver Twist" to "David Copperfield" and "Great Expectations".
• Charles Dickens Museum in London.
• There are monuments in the USA, Russia and Australia.
• Despite the fact that in his will the writer asked not to erect monuments to him, in 2012 it was decided to erect a monument on the main square of Portsmouth. The monument was unveiled on June 9, 2013 by Martin Jeggins.

Translations of Dickens' works into Russian

In Russian, translations of Dickens' works appeared in the late 1830s. In 1838, excerpts from The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club appeared in print, and later stories from the Boz Essays cycle were translated. All his great novels have been translated several times, and all small works have been translated, and even those that do not belong to him, but edited by him as an editor.

Among the pre-revolutionary translators of Dickens:

• Vladimir Solonitsyn (“The life and adventures of the English gentleman Mr. Nicholas Nickleby, with a truthful and reliable Description of successes and failures, rises and falls, in a word, the full field of the wife, children, relatives and the whole family of the said gentleman”, “Library for reading”, 1840 ),
• Osip Senkovsky ("Library for Reading"),
• Andrey Kroneberg ("Dickens' Yuletide Tales", "Contemporary", 1847 No. 3 - retelling with translation of excerpts; story "The Battle of Life", there),
• Irinarkh Vvedensky ("Dombey and Son", "Pact with a Ghost", "Grave Papers of the Pickwick Club", "David Copperfield");
• later - Zinaida Zhuravskaya ("The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit", 1895; "No Exit", 1897),
• V. L. Rantsov, M. A. Shishmareva (“Hard Times” and others),
• Elizaveta Beketova (abridged translation of "David Copperfield" and others).

In the 1930s new translations of Dickens were made by Alexandra Krivtsova and Eugene Lann. These translations were later criticized - for example by Nora Gal - as "dry, formalistic, unreadable". Some of the key works of Dickens were in the 1950s and 60s. re-translated by Olga Kholmskaya, Natalia Volzhina, Vera Toper, Evgenia Kalashnikova, Maria Lorie.

Major works

Novels

• The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, published monthly, April 1836 - November 1837
• The Adventures of Oliver Twist, February 1837 - April 1839
• Nicholas Nickleby (The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby), April 1838 - October 1839
• Antiquities Shop (The Old Curiosity Shop), weekly issues, April 1840 - February 1841
• Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of "Eighty", February-November 1841
• Christmas stories (The Christmas books):
  • A Christmas Carol (A Christmas Carol), 1843
  • Bells (The Chimes), 1844
  • The Cricket on the Hearth, 1845
  • The battle of life (The Battle of Life), 1846
  • The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain, 1848
• Martin Chuzzlewit (The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit), January 1843 - July 1844
• Trading house Dombey and Son, wholesale, retail and export (Dombey and Son), October 1846 - April 1848
• David Copperfield May 1849 - November 1850
• Cold House (Bleak House), March 1852 - September 1853
• Hard times (Hard Times: For These Times), April-August 1854
• Little Dorrit, December 1855 - June 1857
• A Tale of Two Cities, April-November 1859
• Great Expectations, December 1860 - August 1861
• Our Mutual Friend, May 1864 - November 1865
• The Mystery of Edwin Drood, April 1870 - September 1870. Only 6 out of 12 issues have been published, the novel is not finished.

Storybooks

• Sketches by Boz, 1836
• The Mudfog Papers, 1837
• The Uncommercial Traveler, 1860-1869

Bibliography of editions of Dickens

• Charles Dickens. Dombey and son. - Moscow.: "State Publishing House"., 1929.
• Charles Dickens. Collected works in 30 volumes .. - Moscow .: "Fiction"., 1957-60.
• Charles Dickens. Collected works in ten volumes .. - Moscow .: "Fiction"., 1982-87.
• Charles Dickens. Collected works in 20 volumes .. - Moscow .: "Terra-Book Club", 2000
• Charles Dickens. David Copperfield .. - "Prapor", 1986
• Charles Dickens. The Secret of Edwin Drood. - Moscow.: "Kostik", 1994 - 286 p.
• Charles Dickens. Bleak House.. - «Wordsworth Editions Limited», 2001.
• Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.. - "Penguin Books Ltd.", 1994.

Screen adaptations

• Scrooge, or Marley's Ghost, directed by Walter Booth. USA, UK, 1901
• Fire Cricket Directed by David Wark Griffith. USA, 1909
• A Christmas Carol directed by Searle Dawley. USA, 1910
• Great Expectations Directed by Robert Vignola. USA, 1917
• Oliver Twist Directed by Frank Lloyd. USA, 1922
• A Tale of Two Cities, directed by Jack Conway, Robert Z. Leonard. USA, 1935
• David Copperfield Directed by George Cukor. USA. 1935
• Mister Scrooge Directed by John Brum, Henry Edwards. UK, 1935
• A Christmas Carol directed by Edwin L. Marin. USA, 1938
• Great Expectations Directed by David Lean. UK, 1946
• Oliver Twist Directed by David Lean. UK, 1948
• Scrooge Directed by Brian Desmond Hurst. UK, 1951
• A Tale of Two Cities Directed by Ralph Thomas. UK, 1958
• Oliver! Directed by Carol Reid. UK, 1968
• David Copperfield Directed by Delbert Mann. UK, 1969
• Scrooge Directed by Ronald Neame. UK, 1970
• Notes of the Pickwick Club, directed by Alexander Proshkin. USSR, 1972
• Dombey and Son, teleplay, directors Galina Volchek, Valery Fokin. USSR, 1974
• Our mutual friend, director Peter Hammond. UK, 1976
• Nicholas Nickleby (TV series), directed by Christopher Barry. UK, 1977
• Curiosity Shop (TV series), directed by Julian Amis. UK, 1979
• The Secret of Edwin Drood Directed by Alexander Orlov. USSR, 1980
• A Tale of Two Cities Directed by Jim Goddard. USA, 1980
• A Tale of Two Cities (TV series), directed by Michael E. Bryant. UK, 1980
• Dombey and Son (TV series), directed by Rodney Bennett. UK, 1983
• A Christmas Carol directed by Clive Donner. USA, UK, 1984
• Oliver Twist (TV series), directed by Gareth Davis. UK, 1985
• The Pickwick Papers Directed by Brian Lighthill. UK, 1985
• Bleak House (TV series), directed by Arthur Hopcraft. UK, 1985
• Little Dorrit Directed by Christine Edzard. UK, 1988
• Martin Chuzzlewit, directed by David Lodge. UK, 1994
• Hard Times Directed by Peter Barnes. UK, 1994
• Antiquities Store Directed by Kevin Connor. USA, 1995
• Oliver Twist directed by Tony Bill. USA, 1997
• Great Expectations Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. USA, 1998 (based on, the action is moved to our time)
• Our mutual friend, director. Julian Farino. UK, 1998
• David Copperfield Directed by Simon Curtis. UK, USA, 1999 The role of young Copperfield is played by Daniel Radcliffe
• Great Expectations Directed by Julian Jarrold. UK, 1999
• Spirits of Christmas Directed by David Hugh Jones. USA, 1999
• David Copperfield Directed by Peter Medak. USA, Ireland, 2000
• Cricket Behind the Hearth Directed by Leonid Nechaev. Russia, 2001
• The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby Directed by Stephen Whittaker. UK, 2001
• Nicholas Nickleby Directed by Douglas McGrath. UK, USA 2002
• Ghosts of Christmas directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman. USA, Hungary, 2004
• Oliver Twist directed by Roman Polanski. Czech Republic, France, UK, Italy, 2005
• Bleak House (TV series) Directed by Justin Chadwick, Susannah White. UK, 2005
• Oliver Twist directed by Koki Gidroik. BBC, UK, 2007
• Little Dorrit Directed by Adam Smith, Darbla Walsh, Diarmuid Lawrence. UK, 2008
• David Copperfield directed by Ambrogio Lo Giudice. Italy, 2009
• In 2007, French director Lauren Jaoui made the film Dombay and Son (Fr. Dombais et fils) based on the novel Dombey and Son with Christophe Malavoie, Deborah François and Denn Martinet in the lead roles.
• Cold Sundries, directed by Ben Fuller, 2011 (based on the works of Dickens)
• Great Expectations (TV series), directed by Brian Kirk. UK, 2011
• High Expectations Directed by Mike Newell. UK, USA, 2012
• The Mystery of Edwin Drood (miniseries), directed by Diarmuid Lawrence. UK, 2012
• Invisible woman. Director R. Fiennes Great Britain, 2013

Animated films.

Charles Dickens (full name Charles John Huffam Dickens) is a famous English realist writer, a classic of world literature, the largest prose writer of the 19th century. - lived a rich and difficult life. His homeland was the town of Landport, located near Portsmouth, where on February 7, 1812, he was born into a poor family of a petty official. Parents nurtured Charles as best they could, who was precocious and gifted, but their financial situation did not allow him to develop his abilities and give him a quality education.

In 1822, the Dickens family was transferred to London, where they had to live in extreme need, periodically selling simple home belongings. 12-year-old Charles had to go to work in a wax factory, and although he worked there for only four months, this is the time when he, selfish, not accustomed to physical labor and not shining with good health, was forced to work hard for mere pennies , was a serious moral shock for him, left a huge imprint on his worldview, determined one of his life goals - never again to need and never find himself in such a humiliating position.

The plight of the family, which grew up with six children, was further aggravated when, in 1824, the father was under arrest for several months due to debts. Charles left school and got a job in a law office as a copyist of papers. The next point of his career was the parliament, where he worked as a stenographer, and then he managed to find himself in the field of a newspaper reporter. In November 1828, the young Dickens took over as a freelance reporter at Doctors Commons. Having not received a systematic education in childhood and adolescence, 18-year-old Charles diligently educated himself, becoming a regular in the British museum. At 20, he worked as a reporter for the Parliamentary Mirror and Tru Sun, and stood out from the crowd of most fellow writers.

At the age of 24, Dickens released his debut collection of essays called Boz's Notes (this was his newspaper pseudonym): an ambitious young man realized that it was precisely his studies in literature that would help him enter high society, and at the same time do a good deed for the sake of the same offended by fate and the oppressed as he was. In 1837 he made his debut as a novelist with the Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. The literary fame of Dickens grew as he wrote his next works, his financial position strengthened, and his social status increased. When Dickens, who married back in 1836, sailed to Boston with his wife, he was met in American cities as a very famous person.

From July 1844 to 1845, Dickens lived with his family in Genoa, upon returning to his homeland, he devoted all his attention to founding the Daily News newspaper. 50s became his personal triumph: Dickens achieved fame, influence, wealth, more than offsetting all previous blows of fate. Since 1858, he constantly arranged public readings of his books: in this way, he did not so much increase his fortune as he realized the extraordinary acting abilities that remained unclaimed. Not everything went smoothly in the personal life of the famous writer; he perceived the family with its requests, quarrels with his wife, eight sickly children, rather as a source of constant headache, rather than a safe harbor. In 1857, a love affair with a young actress appeared in his life, which lasted until his death, in 1858 he divorced.

A turbulent personal life was combined with intense writing: during this period of biography, novels also appeared that made a significant contribution to his literary fame - "Little Dorrit" (1855-1857), "A Tale of Two Cities" (1859), "Great Expectations" (1861), Our Mutual Friend (1864). A difficult life did not affect his health in the best way, but Dickens worked, ignoring the numerous “bells”. An extended tour of American cities exacerbated the problems, but he, after a short rest, went to a new one. In April 1869, it came to the point that the writer's left leg and arm were taken away when he finished his next speech. June 8, 1870 in the evening, Charles Dickens, who was at his estate Gadeshill, had a stroke, and the next day he died; buried one of the most popular English writers in Westminster Abbey.

(Charles Dickens) - one of the most famous English-language novelists, a renowned creator of vivid comic characters and a social critic. Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 at Landport near Portsmouth. In 1805 his father, John Dickens (1785/1786-1851), the youngest son of a butler and housekeeper in Crewe Hall (Staffordshire), received a clerkship in the financial department of the maritime department. In 1809 he married Elizabeth Barrow (1789–1863) and was assigned to the Portsmouth Dockyard. Charles was the second of eight children. In 1816 John Dickens was sent to Chatham (Kent). By 1821 he already had five children. Charles was taught to read by his mother, for some time he attended elementary school, from nine to twelve he went to a regular school. Developed beyond his years, he eagerly read the entire home library of cheap publications.

In 1822 John Dickens was transferred to London. Parents with six children huddled in dire need in Camden Town. Charles stopped going to school; he had to pawn silver spoons, sell the family library, serve as an errand boy. At twelve he began working for six shillings a week in a wax factory at Hungerford Stears in the Strand. He worked there for little more than four months, but this time seemed to him a painful, hopeless eternity and aroused the determination to break out of poverty. On February 20, 1824, his father was arrested for debt and imprisoned in Marshalsea Prison. Having received a small inheritance, he paid off his debts and was released on May 28 of the same year. For about two years, Charles attended a private school called Wellington House Academy.

While working as a junior clerk in one of the law firms, Charles began to study shorthand, preparing himself for the work of a newspaper reporter. By November 1828 he had become a freelance reporter for Doctors Commons. By his eighteenth birthday, Dickens received a library card in the British Museum and began to diligently replenish his education. In early 1832 he became a reporter for The Mirror of Parliament and The True Sun. The twenty-year-old boy quickly stood out among the hundreds of regulars in the reporters' gallery of the House of Commons.

Dickens's love for the daughter of a bank manager, Mary Bidnell, strengthened his ambitious aspirations. But the Bidnell family did not care for a simple reporter whose father had a chance to sit in a debtor's prison. After a trip to Paris "to complete her education," Maria lost interest in her admirer. During the previous year he had begun to write fiction about the life and types of London. The first of these appeared in The Monthly Magazine in December 1833. The next four appeared during January–August 1834, the last being signed by the pseudonym Boz, the nickname of Dickens' younger brother, Moses. Dickens was now a regular reporter for The Morning Chronicle, a newspaper that reported on significant events throughout England. In January 1835, J. Hogarth, publisher of The Evening Chronicle, asked Dickens to write a series of essays on city life. Hogarth's literary connections - his father-in-law J. Thomson was a friend of R. Burns, and he himself - a friend of W. Scott and his legal adviser - made a deep impression on the novice writer. In the early spring of that year, he became engaged to Katherine Hogarth. February 7, 1836, on the twenty-fourth anniversary of Dickens, all his essays, incl. several previously unpublished works, came out as a separate edition called "Essays of Boz" ( Sketches by Boz). In essays, often not fully thought out and somewhat frivolous, the talent of a novice author is already visible; almost all further Dickensian motifs are touched upon in them: the streets of London, courts and lawyers, prisons, Christmas, parliament, politicians, snobs, sympathy for the poor and oppressed.

This publication was followed by an offer by Chapman and Hall to write a story in twenty editions to comic engravings by the famous cartoonist R. Seymour. Dickens objected that the Nimrod Notes, which dealt with the adventures of unfortunate London sportsmen, had become boring; instead, he offered to write about the eccentric club and insisted that he not comment on Seymour's illustrations, but that he make engravings for his texts. The publishers agreed, and on April 2 the first issue of The Pickwick Club was published. Two days before, Charles and Catherine had married and settled in Dickens' bachelor pad. At first, the responses were cool, and the sale did not promise much hope. Even before the release of the second issue, Seymour committed suicide, and the whole idea was in jeopardy. Dickens himself found the young artist H.N. Brown, who became known under the pseudonym Fiz. The number of readers grew; by the end of the Pickwick Papers (published from March 1836 to November 1837) each issue sold forty thousand copies.

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club) represent an intricate comic epic. Her hero, Samuel Pickwick, is a resilient Don Quixote, plump and ruddy, who is accompanied by the dexterous servant Sam Weller, Sancho Panza of the London common people. The freely following episodes allow Dickens to present a number of scenes from the life of England and use all kinds of humor - from crude farce to high comedy, richly seasoned with satire. If Pickwick does not have a strong enough plot to be called a novel, then it undoubtedly surpasses many novels in the charm of gaiety and joyful mood, and the plot in it can be traced no worse than in many other works of the same indefinite genre.

Dickens refused to work at the Chronicle and accepted R. Bentley's offer to head a new monthly, Bentley's Almanac. The first issue of the magazine appeared in January 1837, a few days before the birth of Dickens' first child, Charles Jr. The first chapters of Oliver Twist appeared in the February issue ( Oliver Twist; completed in March 1839), begun by the writer when Pickwick was only half written. Before finishing Oliver, Dickens set to work on Nicholas Nickleby ( Nicholas Nickleby; April 1838 - October 1839), another series in twenty issues for Chapman and Hall. During this period, he also wrote the libretto of a comic opera, two farces and published a book about the life of the famous clown Grimaldi.

From Pickwick, Dickens descended into the dark world of horror, tracing in Oliver Twist (1839) the growth of an orphan, from the workhouse to the criminal slums of London. Although portly Mr. Bumble and even Fagin's thieves' den are amusing, a sinister, satanic atmosphere prevails in the novel. Nicholas Nickleby (1839) mixes Oliver's gloom and Pickwick's sunshine.

In March 1837, Dickens moved to a four-story house at 48 Doughty Street. His daughters Mary and Kate were born here, and his sister-in-law, sixteen-year-old Mary, to whom he was very attached, died here. In this house, he first received D. Forster, the theater critic of the Examiner newspaper, who became his lifelong friend, literary adviser, executor and first biographer. Through Forster, Dickens met Browning, Tennyson and other writers. In November 1839, Dickens leased House No. 1, Devonshire Terrace, for a period of twelve years. With the growth of wealth and literary fame, the position of Dickens in society was also strengthened. In 1837 he was elected a member of the Garrick Club, and in June 1838 a member of the famous Ateneum Club.

Frictions that arose from time to time with Bentley forced Dickens in February 1839 to refuse work in the Almanac. The following year, all his books were concentrated in the hands of Chapman and Hall, with whose assistance he began publishing the threepenny weekly Mr. Humphrey's Hours, in which the Antiquities Store (April 1840 - January 1841) and Barnaby Rudge (February 1841) were printed. - November 1841). Then, exhausted by the abundance of work, Dickens discontinued The Hours of Mr. Humphrey.

Although the "Shop of Antiquities" ( The Old Curiosity Shop), when published, conquered many hearts, modern readers, not accepting the sentimentality of the novel, believe that Dickens allowed himself excessive pathos in describing the bleak wanderings and the sadly long death of little Nell. The grotesque elements of the novel are quite successful.

In January 1842, the Dickens couple sailed to Boston, where a crowded enthusiastic meeting marked the beginning of the writer's triumphal journey through New England to New York, Philadelphia, Washington and on - all the way to St. Louis. But the journey was marred by Dickens's growing resentment of American literary piracy and the inability to fight it, and - in the South - by an openly hostile reaction to his opposition to slavery. "American Notes" ( American Notes), which appeared in November 1842, were met with warm praise and friendly criticism in England, but caused furious irritation overseas. Regarding even sharper satire in his next novel, Martin Chuzzlewit ( Martin Chazzlewit, January 1843 - July 1844), T. Carlyle noted: "The Yankees boiled up like a giant soda bottle".

The first of Dickensian Christmas stories, A Christmas Carol in Prose ( A Christmas Carol, 1843), also exposes selfishness, in particular the desire for profit, reflected in the concept of "economic man". But what often escapes the reader's attention is that Scrooge's desire for enrichment for the sake of enrichment itself is a semi-serious, semi-comic parabola of the soulless theory of perpetual competition. The main idea of ​​​​the story - about the need for generosity and love - pervades the “Bells” that followed it ( The Chimes, 1844), "Cricket behind the hearth" ( The Cricket on the Hearth, 1845), as well as the less successful Battle of Life ( The Battle of Life, 1846) and "Possessed" ( The Haunted Man, 1848).

In July 1844, together with the children, Catherine and her sister Georgina Hogarth, who now lived with them, Dickens went to Genoa. Returning to London in July 1845, he plunged into the care of founding and publishing the liberal newspaper The Daily News. Publishing conflicts with its owners soon forced Dickens to abandon this work. Disappointed, Dickens decided that from now on, books would become his weapon in the struggle for reforms. In Lausanne, he began the novel "Dombey and Son" ( Dombey and Son, October 1846 - April 1848), changing publishers to Bradbury and Evans.

In May 1846 Dickens published a second book of travelogues, Pictures from Italy. In 1847 and 1848, Dickens took part as a director and actor in charitable amateur performances - "Everyone in his own way" by B. Johnson and "The Merry Wives of Windsor" by W. Shakespeare.

In 1849, Dickens began to write the novel "David Copperfield" ( David Copperfield, May 1849 - November 1850), which was a huge success from the very beginning. The most popular of all Dickensian novels, the favorite brainchild of the author himself, "David Copperfield" is most associated with the writer's biography. It would be wrong to assume that "David Copperfield" is just a mosaic of the events of the writer's life, somewhat changed and arranged in a different order. The recurring theme of the novel is the "rebellious heart" of young David, the cause of all his mistakes, including the most serious - an unhappy first marriage.

In 1850, he began publishing a twopence weekly, Household Words. It contained light reading, various information and messages, poems and stories, articles on social, political and economic reforms, published without signatures. Contributors included Elizabeth Gaskell, Harriet Martineau, J. Meredith, W. Collins, C. Lever, C. Reid, and E. Bulwer-Lytton. "Home Reading" immediately became popular, its sales reached, despite episodic declines, forty thousand copies a week. At the end of 1850, Dickens, together with Bulwer-Lytton, founded the Guild of Literature and Art to help needy writers. As a donation, Lytton wrote the comedy We're Not as Bad as We Look, which was premiered by Dickens with an amateur troupe at the London mansion of the Duke of Devonshire in the presence of Queen Victoria. Over the next year, performances were held throughout England and Scotland. By this time, Dickens had eight children (one died in infancy), and another, the last child, was about to be born. At the end of 1851, the Dickens family moved to a larger house in Tavistock Square, and the writer began work on Bleak House ( Black House, March 1852 - September 1853).

In Bleak House, Dickens reaches the heights as a satirist and social critic, the power of the writer manifested itself in all its dark splendor. Although he has not lost his sense of humor, his judgments become more bitter and his vision of the world bleaker. The novel is a kind of microcosm of society: the image of a dense fog around the Chancellery dominates, meaning the confusion of legitimate interests, institutions and ancient traditions; the fog behind which greed hides fetters generosity and obscures vision. It is because of them, according to Dickens, that society has turned into disastrous chaos. The lawsuit "Jarndyce against Jarndyce" fatally leads its victims, and these are almost all the heroes of the novel, to collapse, ruin, despair.

"Hard times" ( hard times, April 1 - August 12, 1854) were published in editions in Home Reading to raise the fallen circulation. The novel was not highly appreciated either by critics or by a wide range of readers. The furious denunciation of industrialism, a small number of nice and reliable characters, the grotesqueness of the satire of the novel unbalanced not only conservatives and people who are completely satisfied with life, but also those who wanted the book to make you cry and laugh, and not think.

Government inaction, mismanagement, and the corruption that became apparent during the Crimean War of 1853–1856, along with unemployment, strike outbreaks, and food riots, reinforced Dickens's conviction that radical reforms were necessary. He joined the Association for Administrative Reforms, and continued to write critical and satirical articles in Home Reading; during a six-month stay in Paris, he observed the hype in the stock market. These themes - bureaucratic obstruction and wild speculation - he reflected in "Little Dorrit" ( Little Dorrit, December 1855 - June 1857).

Summer 1857 Dickens spent in Gadshill, in an old house, which he admired as a child, and now he was able to purchase. His participation in the charity performances of W. Collins's "Frozen Deep" led to a crisis in the family. The years of the writer's tireless work were overshadowed by a growing awareness of the failure of his marriage. While doing theater, Dickens fell in love with the young actress Ellen Ternan. Despite her husband's vows of fidelity, Katherine left his home. In May 1858, after the divorce, Charles Jr. remained with his mother, and the rest of the children with their father, in the care of Georgina as mistress of the house. Dickens enthusiastically set about public readings of excerpts from his books to enthusiastic listeners. Having quarreled with Bradbury and Evans, who took the side of Catherine, Dickens returned to Chapman and Hall. Having ceased publishing Home Reading, he very successfully began publishing a new weekly, All the Year Round, publishing A Tale of Two Cities in it ( A Tale of Two Cities, April 30 - November 26, 1859), and then "Great Expectations" ( Great Expectations, December 1, 1860 - August 3, 1861). A Tale of Two Cities is not one of Dickens' best books. It is based on melodramatic coincidences and violent actions rather than characters. But readers will never cease to be captivated by the exciting plot, the brilliant caricature of the inhuman and refined Marquis d'Evremonde, the meat grinder of the French Revolution and the sacrificial heroism of Sidney Carton, which led him to the guillotine.

In Great Expectations, the protagonist, Pip, tells the tale of a mysterious beneficence that enabled him to leave his son-in-law's rural forge, Joe Gargery, and receive a proper gentleman's education in London. In the image of Pip, Dickens exposes not only snobbery, but also the falsity of Pip's dream of a luxurious life as an idle "gentleman". Pip's great hopes belong to the ideal of the 19th century: parasitism and abundance at the expense of the inheritance received and a brilliant life at the expense of other people's labor.

In 1860, Dickens sold the house in Tavistock Square, and Gadshill became his permanent home. He read his works publicly throughout England and in Paris with success. His last completed novel, Our Mutual Friend ( Our Mutual Friend), was published in twenty issues (May 1864 - November 1865). In the last completed novel of the writer, images reappear and combine, expressing his condemnation of the social system: the thick fog of Bleak House and the huge, crushing prison cell of Little Dorrit. To them, Dickens adds another, deeply ironic image of the London dump - huge piles of garbage that created Harmon's wealth. This symbolically defines the goal of human greed as filth and filth. The world of the novel is the all-powerful power of money, worship of wealth. Fraudsters flourish: a man with a significant surname Veneering (veneer - external gloss) buys a seat in parliament, and the pompous rich man Podsnap is the mouthpiece of public opinion.

The writer's health was deteriorating. Ignoring the threatening symptoms, he undertook another series of tedious public readings, and then went on a major tour of America. The income from the American trip amounted to almost 20,000 pounds, but the trip fatally affected his health. Dickens was overjoyed at the money he had earned, but it was not only it that prompted him to undertake the trip; the ambitious nature of the writer demanded the admiration and delight of the public. After a short summer break, he began a new tour. But in Liverpool in April 1869, after 74 speeches, his condition worsened, after each reading, his left arm and leg were almost taken away.

Having somewhat recovered in the peace and quiet of Gadshill, Dickens began to write The Mystery of Edwin Drood ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood), planning twelve monthly releases, and persuaded his doctor to allow him twelve farewell performances in London. They began on January 11, 1870; The last performance took place on March 15th. Edwin Drood, whose first issue appeared on March 31, was only half written.

On June 8, 1870, after working all day in a chalet in the Gadshill Gardens, Dickens suffered a stroke at dinner and died the next day at about six in the evening. In a private ceremony held on 14 June, his body was interred in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey.

Bio note:

Charles John Huffam Dickens (February 7, 1812 – June 7, 1870) was one of the most famous and prominent English writers, essayist and novelist. Many of his works are called classics of world literature, and the author himself is one of the best prose writers of the 19th century.

Childhood

Charles Dickens was born on February 7 in Landport, located in the suburbs of Portsmouth, in a large family. In addition to Charles, John and Elizabeth Dickens had eight more children, so the financial condition of the family was far from ideal. Charles's father was on a Royal Navy base, but the money given to government officials once a month was barely enough to feed such a large family.

At the age of five, Charles moved with his parents to Chatham, where his father was transferred on duty. Here the boy is placed in a decent Baptist school, where Pastor William Gilles undertakes to teach him. Even after returning to London, William continued to teach the boy everything he needed, at the same time instilling in him a love of literature and art.

But in 1824, the situation of the family worsened so much that Dickens Sr. ended up in a debtor's prison, and his son was forced to go to work at a wax factory, where he worked tirelessly until Friday, and on weekends just like the rest of the family, served his sentence in prison.

Three years later, Charles's grandmother dies, leaving the family a substantial inheritance. The father, taking advantage of the situation and the stabilized financial condition, closes all debts and becomes a free man. Charles hopes that soon he will not have to work at the factory, but his mother decides to leave him there so that money will constantly go to the family. It was this act of the closest and dearest person to Dickens Jr. that determined his future attitude towards absolutely all the women he met in his life.

Youth and writing career

At the age of fifteen, Charles Dickens realizes that he needs to move on. Despite the fact that his family still needs the money he received from the factory, he leaves and goes to work at the law office of Ellis and Blackmore, where he becomes a junior clerk. At the same time, he learns Garnier's shorthand system, which allows him to work as a free reporter, taking Thomas Charlton, one of his father's distant relatives, as his assistant.

It was from this time that Charles Dickens found his calling. In the first days of his work, he was asked to write several essays on various topics in order to make sure of his literacy and see the style of the author. After reading them, the editor not only hired a talented guy, but also allowed all the works he wrote to be published.

The newspaper appeared "Essays of Boz", written by Dickens in 1836. According to bibliographers, many of the works of Charles Dickens have the same image of the main characters - ruined petty aristocrats, whose life gradually becomes poor and boring. The writer describes well the typical Londoners of that time - those whom he saw and felt sorry for, imagining himself in their place.

A few years later, the chapters of The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club come out, which are also published in the newspaper where Dickens works, and bring him the first success in his life. The product comes out alive and positive. In it, the author describes old England with its quiet life and the same petty bourgeoisie, which has now become its main and integral part. The main character is the original and positive Mr. Pickwick - a name that is known today no less than the famous Don Quixote. It is thanks to him that the reader learns about English life, traditions and customs of that time.

In the period 1838-1839, Charles Dickens creates another work that becomes his hallmark. The story "The Adventures of Oliver Twist", which tells about a poor boy from an orphanage who starts an independent life and meets many difficulties on his way, touched the minds of readers, showing the depth of feelings and making him incredibly empathize with the main character throughout his adventure.

Personal oddities

Many people who were familiar with Charles Dickens and saw him while working on his works mentioned several oddities of the author. Dickens himself has repeatedly admitted to friends and relatives that he first hears absolutely all of his works, and then transfers them to paper. The writer talked about a certain voice that is with him all the time and helps to create all the stories and essays.

Another oddity that Charles never mentioned was noticed by his colleagues. Some of them stated that while writing stories, Dickens often argued with the main characters as if they were nearby.

“When he was working on Antiquities, he often complained about little Nell, who prevented him from concentrating, and during the creation of Martin Chuzzlewit, he always argued with Mrs. Gump, telling her in the most aggressive terms that, with her character, he would no longer give she doesn’t have a line of her novel ... ", - editor-in-chief George Henry Lewis admitted in an interview.

Personal life

April 2, 1836 Charles Dickens marries Katherine Hoggart, the daughter of his best journalist friend, with whom they worked together in the editorial office. Katherine was the most faithful wife, she sincerely loved her husband, bore him eight children. But after a couple of months of living together, Dickens changes dramatically. He becomes suspicious, often arranges interrogations for his wife, and even declares a couple of times that she bore him sick children.

In 1857, Dickens met a young theater actress, Ellen Ternan, with whom he began a romantic relationship. Charles is not ready to leave the family, so he decides to rent an apartment for Ternan, where they meet with the writer for the rest of his life.

Dickens Charles (1812-1870)

One of the most famous English-language novelists, a celebrated creator of vivid comic characters and a social critic. Born in Landport near Portsmouth in the family of a clerk of the maritime department. Charles was the second of eight children. He was taught to read by his mother, for some time he attended elementary school, from nine to twelve he went to a regular school. In 1822 his father was transferred to London. Parents with six children huddled in dire need in Camden Town. At twelve, Charles began working for six shillings a week in a wax factory at Hunger Ford Stears on the Strand. On February 20, 1824, his father was arrested for debt and imprisoned in Marshalsea Prison. Having received a small inheritance, he paid off his debts and was released on May 28 of the same year. For about two years, Charles attended a private school called Wellington House Academy.

While working as a junior clerk in one of the law firms, Charles began to study shorthand, preparing himself for the work of a newspaper reporter. Collaborated in several well-known periodicals and began to write fictional essays about the life and characteristic types of London. The first of these appeared in the Mansley Magazine in December 1832. In January 1835, J. Hogarth, publisher of the Evening Chronicle, asked Dickens to write a series of essays on city life. In the early spring of that year, the young writer became engaged to Katherine Hogarth. April 2, 1836 The first issue of The Pickwick Club was published. Two days before, Charles and Catherine were married and settled in Dickens' bachelor apartment. At first, the responses were cool, and the sale did not promise much hope. However, the number of readers grew; by the end of the publication of the Pickwick Papers, each issue sold 40,000 copies.

Dickens accepted R. Bentley's offer to head the new monthly Bentley's Almanac. The first issue of the magazine appeared in January 1837, a few days before the birth of Dickens' first child, Charles Jr. The first chapters of Oliver Twist appeared in the February issue. Before finishing Oliver, Dickens set to work on Nicholas Nickleby, another series in twenty issues for Chapman and Hall. With the growth of wealth and literary fame, the position of Dickens in society was also strengthened. In 1837 he was elected a member of the Garrick Club, in June 1838 a member of the famous Ateneum Club.

The friction with Bentley that arose from time to time forced Dickens in February 1839 to refuse work in the Almanac. Publishes The Antiquities Store and Barnaby Rudge. In January 1842, the Dickens couple sailed for Boston, where a crowded enthusiastic meeting marked the beginning of the writer's triumphant journey through New England to New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and on - all the way to St. Louis.

In 1849, Dickens began writing David Copperfield, which was a huge success from the start. In 1850 he began publishing a twopence weekly, Home Reading. At the end of 1850, Dickens, together with Bulwer-Lytton, founded the Guild of Literature and Art to help needy writers. By this time, Dickens had eight children (one died in infancy), and another, the last child, was about to be born. At the end of 1851, the Dickens family moved into a house in Tavistock Square, and the writer began work on Bleak House.

The years of the writer's tireless work were overshadowed by a growing awareness of the failure of his marriage. While doing theater, Dickens fell in love with the young actress Ellen Ternan. Despite her husband's vows of fidelity, Katherine left his home. In May 1858, after the divorce, Charles Jr. stayed with his mother and the rest of the children with their father. Having ceased publishing Home Reading, he very successfully began publishing a new weekly, All the Year Round, publishing A Tale of Two Cities in it, and then Great Expectations.

His last completed novel was Our Mutual Friend. The writer's health was deteriorating. Having somewhat recovered, Dickens began to write The Secret of Edwin Drood, which was only half written. June 9, 1870 Dickens died. In a private ceremony held on 14 June, his body was interred in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey.