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1、CHARLES DICKENS: THE AUTHOR AND HIS TIMESDickens is one of the worlds best-loved writers, and GreatExpectations may be Dickens most autobiographical work. Although anearlier novel, David Copperfield, followed the facts of Dickenslife more closely, the narrator David seems a little too good to betrue
2、. The narrator of Great Expectations, Pip, is, in contrast, aman of many faults, who hides none of them from the reader. If Pipis a self-portrait, Dickens must have been a reservoir ofinferiority complexes, guilt, and shame.Many other aspects of Great Expectations are autobiographical, too.The begin
3、ning of the novel is set shortly after Dickens birthdate(1812) in the country of his childhood-the Kentish countryside bythe sea (the nearest large town is Rochester, where Miss Havishamlives). Dickens wasnt an orphan, as Pip is, but he may well havefelt like one. His parents, John and Elizabeth Dic
4、kens, weresociable, pleasant people, but Mrs. Dickens was a carelesshousekeeper and Mr. Dickens, a minor civil servant always spent moremoney than he made. When Charles, who was the eldest boy, was nine,the Dickenses pulled up roots and moved to London to try to livemore cheaply. Charles was appalle
5、d by the cramped, grubby house theylived in there, and even more ashamed when his father was arrestedand taken to debtors prison. The rest of the Dickenses were allowedto move into prison with their father, but twelve-year-old Charleshad to live on his own outside.His mother arranged for him to get
6、a job in a filthy, rat-infestedwarehouse, pasting labels on bottles of boot blacking (a kind ofshoe polish). This time of his life was so miserable that he nevertold anyone, not even his own wife or children, about it. He wascalled the young gentleman by the other boys at the factory, whoresented hi
7、s air of being better than they were. But he did feelthat hed come down in life, and he developed a bitter sense ofambition and self-reliance: he vowed never to let himself be poor orin debt again. This situation lasted only a few months; then JohnDickens received an inheritance from a rich aunt (a
8、windfall ofmoney also crops up in Great Expectations) and the family moved outof prison. After much pleading, Charles was allowed to quit his job,but he never forgave his parents for making him take it. Yet later,when he grew up and became wealthy, his irresponsible parentsblithely sponged off him,
9、until he basically had to disown them.Its no wonder that his books are full of inadequate parents whohave warped their children.After leaving the warehouse, Charles was allowed to return to school,but the schoolmaster was so cruel and malicious that the boy learnedalmost nothing (his books are full
10、of terrible schools and teachers,too). He felt cheated because he never did get the classicaleducation of an English gentleman; instead, he had to pick up whathe could himself, mostly by reading novels and by going to thetheater, which he loved his whole life long. For a while he thoughtabout becomi
11、ng an actor, but acting wasnt a respectable career backthen, and Charles desperately wanted to be respectable. Instead, hetook a job as a law clerk (lawyers and the complex legal system areoften satirized in his novels). From there he went on to become acourt reporter, then a newspaper reporter assi
12、gned to coverParliament. This brought him his first reputation, as a politicalcommentator. His talent was obvious and, coupled with his amazingcapacity for hard work, fueled by fierce ambition, he rose quicklyin the world of journalism. Eventually, he was asked to write hisfirst book of fiction, The
13、 Pickwick Papers, a loose series ofcomical sketches which made him an overnight sensation. He was only25, but from then on everything he did was golden. His novels werealways best-sellers, and he was a celebrity, as a movie idol or popstar would be today.His personal life, however, was not so magica
14、l. The first girl hehad fallen in love with, Maria Beadnell, teased and flirted with himfor a year before she suddenly refused to see him again; on therebound, desperate to be married, he proposed to Catherine Hogarth,just before his first big success. Catherine was probably a goodwoman, but she was
15、 dull and never understood her brilliant, insecurehusband. Although they had ten children, they were never happytogether. Twenty-two years later, they finally separated-scandalousbehavior for those times, especially for such a public figure asDickens had become. To add to the scandal, the middle-age
16、d Dickenshad fallen in love with a coy, cold young actress named Ellen Ternan,who apparently strung him along heartlessly.Perhaps this is why Dickens was so eager to hold onto his readingpublic; he felt closer to them than to his own family and friends.At least his readers always adored him. In the nineteenth century,before radio or television or movies, novels were the main form ofpopular entertainment. Families read them together by the firesideat night, and even poor people
