OLIVER TWIST

WHO IS CHARLES DICKENS?

• Charles Dickens was born on February 7th, 1812, in Portsea, England
• Parents were middle-class, but they suffered financially
• They lived beyond their means
• Dickens had to quit school
• Dickens was forced to work in a blacking factory (where shoe polish is made)

Who is Charles Dickens?

• Within weeks, his father was put in debtor's prison
• His mother and siblings later joined him
• Dickens lived on his own and continued to work at the factory
• Horrific conditions in the factory haunted him for the rest of his life
• Dickens never forgot a more senior boy in the workhouse (Bob Fagin)

Who is Charles Dickens?

• The name Fagin is given to one of the characters in Oliver Twist
• After Dickens' father got out of prison and Charles went back to school
• As a young adult he worked as a law clerk and later a journalist
• His work as a journalist kept him in close contact with to the dark social conditions
• The Pickwick Paper was his first novel and kick-started his name to fame

Who is Oliver Twist?

• 1837: the first instalment of Oliver Twist appeared in Bently's Miscellany
• There was great appreciation for Oliver Twist by contemporary readers
• It was very successful, as the novel was a thinly veiled protest against the Poor Law
• The Poor Law: dictates public charity and must be channeled through workhouses
• Dickens married Catherine Hogarth and had 10 children