Charles Dickens / Donald Hawes.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hawes, Donald.

Series:

Writers' lives (Continuum (Firm))

Writers' lives

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.

Dickens, Charles.

Novelists, English--19th century--Biography.

Novelists, English.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

vi, 167 pages ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Continuum, [2007]

Summary:

Charles Dickens is without doubt a literary giant. The most widely read author of his own generation, his works remain incredibly popular today. Often seen as the quintessential Victorian novelist, his texts convey perhaps better than any others the drive for wealth and progress and the social contrasts that characterized the Victorian era. His works are widely studied throughout the world both as literary masterpieces and as classic examples of the nineteenth century novel.

Combining a biographical approach with close reading of the novels, Donald Hawes offers an illuminating portrait of Dickens as a writer and insight into his life and times. This book gives readers and students a short, lively but sophisticated introduction to Dickens's work and the personal and social context in which it was written.

Contents:

1 Why We Read Dickens 3

2 Life of Dickens 10

3 Sketches by Boz, Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist 19

4 Dickens's London 25

5 Social Class in Victorian England 34

6 Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, Barnaby Rudge 39

7 Prison and Crime 44

8 Dickens and Education 50

9 Medicine, Doctors, Nurses and Hospitals 57

10 Martin Chuzzlewit, A Christmas Carol, Dombey and Son 63

11 Women and Children 67

12 Dickens and Animals 76

13 David Copperfield, Bleak House 80

14 Dickens's Comic Characters and Villains 84

15 Hard Times, Little Dorrit, A Tale of Two Cities 96

16 Theatre and Entertainment 101

17 Dickens and Christmas 111

18 Dickens's Public Readings 123

19 Dickens's Friends and Contemporaries 128

20 Great Expectations, Our Mutual Friend, The Mystery of Edwin Drood 144

21 Adaptations and Versions of Dickens's Writings 149.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 157-164) and index.

ISBN:

082648963X

9780826489630

0826489648

9780826489647

OCLC:

73955966