A Charles Dickens Christmas

Introduction

Charles Dickens ( 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime and, by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognized him as a literary genius. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five Christmas novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed readings extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms. Dickens's literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. Within a few years, he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humor, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, a majority published first in monthly or weekly installments, pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, which became the dominant Victorian mode for novel publication. Cliff-hanger endings in his serial publications kept readers in suspense. The installment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audience's reaction, and he often modified his plot and character development based on such feedback. His plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives. Masses of the illiterate poor would individually pay a half penny to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up and inspiring a new class of readers. His 1843 novella A Christmas Carol remains especially popular and inspires adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted and evoke deeply powerful images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities (set in London and Paris) is his best-known work of historical fiction. The most famous celebrity of his era, he undertook, in response to public demand, a series of public reading tours in the later part of his career. © adapted from Wikipedia.com BIOGRAPHY: https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/charles-dickensBIOGRAPHY: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Dickens-British-novelist BIOGRAPHY: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens

Suggested Media

Charles Dickens Christmas Narratives

CHRISTMAS BOOKS: https://www.nypl.org/blog/2014/12/18/charles-dickens-christmas-storiesDICKENS BIBLIOGRAPHY: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens_bibliographyCHRISTMAS SHORT STORIES: https://victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/xmas/cs.html The Five Christmas Books 1. 19 December 1843: A Christmas Carol 2. 16 December 1844: The Chimes3. 20 December 1845: The Cricket on the Hearth4. 19 December 1846: The Battle of Life 5. 19 December 1848: The Haunted Man 1850--66: The Christmas Stories1. "A Christmas Tree" (1850)2. "What Christmas is, as We Grow Older " (1851)3. "The Poor Relation's Story " (1852)4. "The Child's Story" (1852)5. "The Schoolboy's Story" (1853)6. "Nobody's Story" (1853)7. "The Seven Poor Travellers" (1854; collaboration)8. "The Hollyn Tree Inn" (1855; collaboration)9. "The Wreck of the Golden Mary" (1856; collaboration)10. "The Perils of Certain English Prisoners" (1857; collaboration)11. "Going into Society" (1858)12. "A Message from the Sea" (1860; collaboration)13. "Tom Tiddler's Ground" (1861; collaboration)14. "Somebody's Luggage" (1862)15. "Mrs Lirriper's Lodgings" (1863; collaboration)16. "Mrs Lirriper's Legacy" (1864; collaboration)17. "Doctor Marigold's Prescriptions" (1865)18. "The Trial for Murder" (1865; collaboration; a ghost story)19. "Mugby Junction" (1866; collaboration)20. "The Signal-Man" (1866; a ghost story)21. "No Thoroughfare" (1867; collaboration)

Plot Summaries of Five Novellas

"A Christmas Carol" is a novella by Charles Dickens about Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly and bitter man who hates Christmas. On Christmas Eve, he is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, who warns him about the consequences of his selfish ways. Scrooge is then visited by three spirits: the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, who show him visions of his past, present, and potential future. These experiences lead Scrooge to a profound change of heart, transforming him into a kind, generous, and compassionate man. [Study.com] "The Chimes" is a Dickens novella about Toby "Trotty" Veck, a poor ticket porter who loses faith in humanity. On New Year's Eve, spirits visit him through the church bells, revealing how societal structures and attitudes can lead to poverty and despair. The story explores themes of social injustice, the importance of compassion, and the cyclical nature of hardship, ultimately suggesting that hope and positive change can be found even in the bleakest circumstances. The novella concludes with a dreamlike scene where the bells ring in the New Year, and Trotty awakens to a joyous celebration, implying that positive change is possible if people strive to improve the "stern realities" of their world. [Goodreads, Wikipedia] "The Cricket on the Hearth" is a Christmas novella by Charles Dickens, focusing on the Peerybingle family and their domestic life. John, a carrier, suspects his young wife Dot of infidelity, fueled by a mysterious stranger staying with them. The cricket, a symbol of domesticity and happiness, chirps a comforting tune, reassuring John. Ultimately, the stranger is revealed to be Dot's old friend, Edward, who was presumed dead. The story ends with misunderstandings cleared, true love rekindled, and the cricket's chirping signifying renewed domestic harmony. [Living Book Press, Britannica] "The Battle of Life" is a Christmas novella by Charles Dickens about two sisters, Marion and Grace, and their intertwined love for their father's ward, Alfred. Marion is engaged to Alfred, but she disappears, leading everyone to believe she eloped with Michael Warden. Years later, Marion returns, revealing she left to allow Alfred to pursue happiness with her sister, Grace. The story explores themes of love, sacrifice, and the contrast between cynical views of life and idealistic love. [All the (Dickensian) Year Round, Mainlining Christmas] In "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain," Professor Redlaw, a chemist, is haunted by painful memories and a spectral double who offers to remove them. He accepts, but discovers that forgetting his sorrows also makes him lose compassion and empathy, and he spreads this forgetting to others, turning them cruel. Redlaw eventually realizes that even painful memories are essential to human connection and must be embraced, not erased. [Literary Theory and Criticism]

Web Resources: Print

Christmas Carol: https://www.biography.com/news/charles-dickens-a-christmas-carolChristmas Carol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_CarolThe Chimes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_ChimesThe Cricket on the Hearth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cricket_on_the_HearthThe Cricket on the Hearth: https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2017/fall/feature/christmas-carol-was-not-his-best-holiday-novel-charles-dickens-thoughtThe Battle of Life: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_LifeThe Haunted Man: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Haunted_Man_and_the_Ghost%27s_BargainThe Haunted Man: https://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/charles-dickens-final-christmas-novel-the-haunted-man-and-the-ghosts-bargainThe “Other Four” Christmas Books: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/521782/4-dickens-christmas-stories-youve-probably-never-heardDickens and Christmas: https://www.historytoday.com/archive/dickens-and-construction-christmas

Web Resources: Video/Audio

Charles Dickens Timeline

© The Victorian Web. Retrieved 4 November, 2021 https://victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/dickensbio2.html
1812 Born on Friday, 7 February at Landport, a suburb of Portsmouth to John, a clerk in the navy pay-office attached to the dockyard, and Elizabeth Dickens.1814 Father transferred to London with family.1816 Father transferred to Chatham with family.First gets some schooling, although already an avid reader.1821 Reforms in the Admiralty lost his father his post and most of his income. The family moves to a house in Camden Town, London.1824 Father is arrested for debt on February 2 and consigned to the Marshalsea, where family joins him. Separated from family and put to work at Warren's Blacking Factory at Hungerford Market, CD walks four miles to and from lodgings in Camden Town; visits his father on Sundays at prison. Eventually family finds him lodging in Lant Street close to them. After father's release on May 28, the family returns to Camden Town. Attends day school in Hampstead Road, London.1827 Taken from school; becomes office boy of an attorney; decides to become a journalist.1829 Free-lance reporter at Doctor's Commons Courts.1830 Meets and falls in love with Maria Beadnell.1831 Acts as a parliamentary reporter during Reform Bill agitation.1833 His love affair with Maria Beadnell ends. His first published story, "Dinner at Poplar Walk," appears in Monthly Magazine.1834 Working as a newspaper reporter, adopts the pseudonym "Boz." Father once again arrested for debt; Charles comes to his aid.1835 Becomes engaged to Catherine Hogarth, daughter of his friend George Hogarth, an editor.1836 (24 years old)• His first series of Sketches by Boz published; receives 150 pounds for the copyright.• First number of Pickwick Papers appears on 30 March.• Marries Catherine Hogarth on 2 April.• Becomes editor of Bentley's Miscellany. Publishes in December the second series of Sketches by Boz.• Meets John Forster, who will become a close friend and his first biographer. 1837 • Begins Oliver Twist, continues in monthly parts in Bentley's Miscellany.• Catherine's younger sister Mary, whom he idolizes, dies.• Catherine bears a son Charles, the first of seven sons and three daughters.• Pickwick Papers finishes.1838 Begins Nicholas Nickleby1839 Resigns as editor of Bentley's Miscellany. Last part of Oliver Twist appears in April. Nicholas Nickleby finishes in October.1840 First number of Master Humphrey's Clock appears. Begins The Old Curiosity Shop.1841 Finishes The Old Curiosity Shop in February. Begins Barnaby Rudge, which continues through November.1842 Travels through Canada and the United States. American Notes appears in October, creating a furor in America.1843 Begins Martin Chuzzlewit. A Christmas Carol, the first of his Christmas books, appears in December (age 31)1844 Tours Italy with family. Returns to London in December, when The Chimes is published. Leaves London for Genoa.1845 Debut of his amateur theatrical company. The Cricket and the Hearth published. Returns to England in July.1846 Begins Dombey and Son, which runs until April 1848. With family travels to Lausanne, then Paris. The Battle of Life appears in December.1847 Returns to England.1848 Writes autobiographical fragment. Directs and acts in amateur theatricals. Publishes final Christmas book, The Haunted Man, in December.1849 David Copperfield begins running.1850 David Copperfield finishes in November. Founds and edits the weekly Household Words.1851 Begins work on Bleak House.1852 Bleak House begins to appear monthly.1853 Bleak House ends in September. Tours Italy with Augustus Egg and Wilkie Collins. Returns to England. Gives the first of many public readings from his own works. Summers in Boulogne.1854 Hard Times appears weekly in Household Words until August. With family spends summer and fall in Boulogne.1855 With family travels to Paris in October. Little Dorrit begins to appear monthly.1856 Collaborates with Wilkie Collins on a play, The Frozen Deep. Purchases Gad's Hill, an estate he had admired as a child.1857 Little Dorrit ends in June. With family spends summer at renovated Gad's Hill. Hans Christian Anderson, whose fairy tales Dickens admires greatly, visits. His theatrical company performs The Frozen Deep for the Queen. Falls in love with Ellen Ternan, a young actress.1858 In London, undertakes his first public readings for pay. Quarrels with Thackeray. Separates from Catherine.1859 His London readings continue. Begins new weekly, All the Year Round. A Tale of Two Cities appears, continues through November.1860 His family takes up residence at Gad's Hill. Burns many personal letters. Great Expectations begins to appear weekly.1861 Embarks on yet another series of public readings in London. Great Expectations finishes in August.1862 His public readings continue.1863 Continues public readings in Paris and London. Reconciles with Thackeray just before the latter's death.1864 Our Mutual Friend begins to appear monthly. Health begins to fail, much because of over work.1865 Railway accident badly shakes him and Ellen Ternan. Our Mutual Friend ends in November.1866 Continues public readings in England and Scotland.1867 Continues public readings in England and Ireland. Unwell but carries on, against doctor's advice. Embarks on an American reading tour.1868 Finishes his American reading tour. His health worsens, but takes additional duties at All the Year Round.1869 Continues readings in England, Scotland, and Ireland. Shows symptoms of mild stroke; provincial readings canceled. Begins The Mystery of Edwin Drood.1870 His final public readings take place in London. Suffers a stroke on June 8 at Gad's Hill, after a full day's work. Dies on June 9, and is buried at Westminster Abbey on June 14. Last of his unfinished Mystery of Edwin Drood appears in September.