Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known characters in fiction and is considered the Victorian era's greatest novelist. During his lifetime, his works enjoyed unprecedented popularity, and he was recognized as a literary genius by the critics and scholars of the twentieth century. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity. When his father was imprisoned in a debtors prison, ... Dickens left school to work in a factory. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a 20-year weekly newspaper, wrote 15 novels, five novels, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable writer of letters, and vigorously campaigned for the rights of children, education, and other social reforms. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and in every artistic genre continues to inspire adaptations. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also often adapted and evoke pictures of early Victorian London, like many of his novels. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, is his best-known historical fiction work in London and Paris. Fellow writers from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton praised Dickens' creative genius for their realism, comedy, prose style, unique features, and social criticism. Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf, on the other hand, complained about a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentality. The term Dickensian is used to describe something reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters. On June 8, 1870, after a full-day work on Edwin Drood, Dickens suffered another stroke at home. He never regained consciousness, and he died on Gads Hill Place the following day. Contrary to his desire to be buried "in a cheap, unostentatious, and strictly private manner" at Rochester Cathedral, he was laid to rest at Westminster Abbey's Poets Corner. At the time of the funeral, a printed epitaph reads: "To the memory of Charles Dickens (the most popular author in England) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, June 9, 1870, at the age of 58. He was a sympathizer with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world by his death." His last words were: "On the ground," in response to his sister-in-law Georginas' request to lie down.READ MORE