February the 7th, 1812, Charles Dickens is born

Charles John Huffan Dickens, the eminent figure of our childhood Nativity holidays and one of the 19th century literature, was born in February the 7th, 1812 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.

(Charles Dickens Birthplace, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England) Dickens died in June 9, 1870 in Gad's Hill, near Chatham, Kent. Charles Dickens is celebrated as the greatest novelist of the Victorian Era. His stories are set in a grim, sordid and corrupt Victorian backdrop. Satiric scenarios, rotten characters, and the depiction of the human absurdity are frequent motifs of Charles Dickens's stories.

Charles Dickens enjoyed an abundant popularity during his lifetime, more than any previous author. The range, compassion, the intelligence of his apprehension of his Victorian contemporary society and its ills, enriched his novels and rendered him one of the most influential forces of the 19th century literature, as well as a powerful voice of the conscience of his age.

(Charles Dickens as painted by Margaret Gillies in 1843) Charles Dickens immerses the reader into the spirit of Victorian London, which sets the perfect stage for him to weave his fiction. He recurrently sheds light on the atrocities of the system via his novels. The Industrial Revolution that marked the age of his lifetime, signified a transformation, and inevitably a significant division upon London, at least until the turn of the century and Queen Victoria's death in 1901, which sealed the demise of an era. Subsequently, many of the villainies of the 19th century were remedied by force of education, social reformation and the technological advances.

Dickens, during his authoring activity published 15 novels. His most acclaimed fictional works include: "Oliver Twist", 1837-1838. Oliver Twist was Dickens's first novel. Its plot unwinds the story of an abandoned orphan. The rotten background inspiration derived from the author's personal feelings of struggle with poverty and the the need to rely on his own wits to sustain himself in an inhospitable, crude human society. A Christmas Carol, 1843. "Christmas Carol" was released on December the 19th, 1843. The book features the perpetual, miserly villain of Ebener Scrooge, who is destined to discover the Christmas spirit, driven by a ghost. Dickens consistently offers resolutions to his novels "Dealing with the Firm of Dombey and Son", 1846-1848. "Dealing with the Firm of Dombey and Son" was originally serialized, i.e., released in monthly installments from October 1846 to April 1848. The novel was published as a book in 1848. Casting a grim view of England, this is considered a pivotal landmark of Dickensian literary legacy. "David Copperfield" 1848-1850. Published in November of 1850, Dickens derived inspiration from his personal experiences into this novel. "David Copperfield", though never recognized as a masterpiece, was one of Dickens's personal favorites, and it also contributed into the definition of the public's expectation of the Dickensian novel. "Bleak House" , 1852-1853. Following his father's death and the separation from his wife, Dickens's writing obtained a more bleak, darker tone. The hypocrisy of the British society of his age is featured in the "Bleak House" , which was published in installments from 1852 to 1853. "Hard Times", 1854. An industrial urban background established the setting in "Hard Times". "A Tale of Two Cities" , 1859 The historic novel "Tale of Two Cities" is taking place during the French Revolution in the cities of Paris and London. The concepts of sacrifice, the conflict between the inherent evils in oppression and revolution, the notion of resurrection and rebirth are the dominant themes of the novel. "Great Expectations"> , 1861 "Great Expectations" was originally published in serial form, between December, 1860 to August 1861. It was released as a novel in October 1861. The story narrates the lifelong journey of the moral development of Pip, the novel's orphan protagonist. Extreme imagery, vivid characters, the contemporary themes of wealth and poverty, love and rejection, good versus evil comprise the novel's theme and story line.

(Charles Dickens's Handwriting) Other novels, from 1838 to 1842 that Charles Dickens published include: "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" , "The Old Curiosity Shop", "Burnany Rudge", "Little Dorrit" , 1857, "Our Mutual Friend, 1865, which analyzes the psychological impact of the wealth on London's society.

Victorian London, Setting of Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde. References: 1. https://www.biography.com 2. https://charlesdickenspage.com 3. https://www.britannica.com