Introduction to Charles Dickens,
Great Expectations, and the
Victorian Era in England
What do you know about Charles Dickens?
What do you know about the Victorian Era in England?
As you learn, listen for connections
to Great Expectations!
Who was Charles Dickens?
Charles Dickens, 1812-1870
Literary Period:
Victorian Period, 1837-1901
Literary Movement:
The 'Condition of England' Writers
Dickens’s Life

When Charles Dickens was twelve, his father, unable to manage the family's financial
affairs, was sent to debtors' prison. Young Dickens was forced to leave school and work in
a factory. During his several months there, he developed a deep hatred of factory work
and an abiding sympathy for the poor. Upon his father's release from prison, Dickens was
able to resume his schooling.

Dickens completed his formal studies at fifteen and found work first as a law clerk and
then as a legal reporter. He later worked as a journalist and began to pen sketches and
anecdotes about daily life in London. These pieces, published in weekly journals, brought
him some early recognition. When he was twenty-four, he serialised his first novel,
Pickwick Papers. The novel was very successful and popular. From that point on, Dickens
wrote continually. Oliver Twist began to appear in serial form immediately after
Pickwick, and Nicholas Nickleby emerged before Twist was finished. In 1843, he wrote A
Christmas Carol, for which he is perhaps best remembered.

Dickens married in 1836; he and his wife had nine children. A dedicated and responsible
father, the writer devoted much time and energy to his family. Dickens, who at one time
had wanted to become an actor, gained renown as a lecturer and speaker, touring widely
with readings from his own works. He also threw himself back into journalism with a
passion, editing and reporting for a number of newspapers, including the Daily News,
which he founded, Household Words, and All the Year Round.
Resource: Proquest Learning Literature Database
Dickens’s Life
 As he aged, his immense expenditure of energy and many obligations began to
wear him down. George Bernard Shaw, in an introduction to a 1937 edition of
Great Expectations, wrote that Dickens 'killed himself prematurely to pile up
money for that excessive family of his' (631). In 1869, Dickens embarked on a
grueling reading and speaking tour of America. It was his final trip outside of
England. He died while in the middle of his latest serialisation, The Mystery of
Edwin Drood, which was published unfinished in 1870.
 One of the greatest novelists in the English language, Dickens conferred on the
genre a clarity of vision, a depth of character analysis, and a sense of drama
that attracted legions of readers at a time in which educated readers preferred
poetry over prose and the novel was viewed as a lesser art form. The single
clearest indication of his scope is indicated by the word Dickensian, which is
often used to describe characters and situations similar to those Dickens
crafted in his exceptional novels.
Resource: Proquest Learning Literature Database
Life in Victorian England (1837 – 1901):
Literature

The novel is the most popular form of literature!

The modern-day novel is shaped by the efforts of authors like Charles Dickens, Emily
Bronte, Wuthering Heights (1847) and George Elliot, Silas Marner (1861), Charlotte
Bronte (Emily's sister), Jane Eyre (1847)

These works were also highly ironic and satirical, and they typically probed
or questioned many of the conventions of the Victorian class system.

“Social criticism novel” - very popular with middle-class readers during the
Victorian Age. These works were highly realistic and had a didactic purpose:
to teach their primarily middle-class readers about certain social problems
and to motivate society to do something to solve these problems.

Notable examples of such works include Dickens’ David Copperfield (1850), Hard Times
(1854), and A Tale of Two Cities (1859); Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton: A Tale of
Manchester Life (1848); George Eliot's Silas Marner (1861); and Thackeray's Vanity Fair
(1847–48).

Victorian poets: Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning
Resource: Proquest Learning Literature Database
Life in Victorian England (1837 – 1901):
Governments and Politics
 Queen Victoria 1837- 1901
 67-year reign–the longest of any English monarch–
 Great social, scientific, and political change in England.
 During this time, the country became one of the world's—and one
of history's—great imperial powers.



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Scientific advancements and rapid industrialism also brought enormous
wealth and commercial success to England.
During the period, the country was transformed from a mostly rural,
agricultural society to an urban, industrial nation, with a growing middle
class.
The modern-day railroad system, the telephone, electricity, and the radio
were all introduced during the Victorian Age.
There was also a growing population of poor citizens as the gap widened
between the well-off and the impoverished and as more and more people
moved to the cities to make a living.
Resource: Proquest Learning Literature Database
Life in Victorian England: Social Class System
What is a social class system?
People don’t often like to talk about the existence of social classes, but
they do exist and are distinguished by inequalities in such areas as
power, authority, wealth, working and living conditions, life-styles, lifespan, education, religion, and culture.
What kind of class system existed in Victorian England?
“Upper classes"
“Middle classes"
“Working Classes"
"Under Class"
Life in Victorian England: Social Class
System, Employment and Politics
“Upper classes" : men and women who did not work – income came from
inherited land and investments - old hereditary
aristocracy and new gentry who owed their success
to their formal university education, commerce, industry,
and the professions - politically involved
“Middle classes” : men who performed mental or "clean" work, paid
monthly or annually- merchants, bankers, ship owners,
doctors, teachers – kept out of political process until
Reform Act of 1837 which gave them the right to vote.
“Working Classes”: men and women who performed physical labor, paid
daily or weekly wages - skilled and unskilled laborers –
carpenters, blacksmiths, sailors, soldiers
kept out of political process until the Reform Act of 1867
which gave them the right to vote.
"Under Class”: very poor – beggars, thieves, criminals –
More info: Victorian Occupations: Life and Labor in the Victorian Period
Life in Victorian England: Education
 Education was not equal - not between the sexes, and not
between the classes.
 Gentlemen - educated at home by a governess or tutor until they were
old enough to attend Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester, Westminster,
Charterhouse, or a small handful of lesser schools (public high schools).
- curriculum: the classics - the languages and literature of
Ancient Greece and Rome.
 After that, they would attend Oxford or Cambridge University
- curriculum: mathematics, law, philosophy, and modern
history.
Life in Victorian England: Education
 However, it was not compulsory, either legally or socially, for a
gentleman to attend school at all. He could, just as easily, be taught
entirely at home. However, public school and University were the great
staging grounds for public life, where you made your friends and
developed the connections that would aid you later in life.
 A lady's education was taken, almost entirely, at home. There were
boarding schools, but no University, and the studies were very
different. She learned French, drawing, dancing, music, and the use of
globes. If the school, or the governess, was interested in teaching any
practical skills, she learned plain sewing as well as embroidery, and
accounts.
Life in Victorian England:
Children and Education
Children and Schooling
 BBC - Victorians - Flash Page
Charity Schools
Dame Schools
Ragged Schools
Workhouse Schools
Public Schools / Boarding Houses
Life in Victorian England:
Children and Work and Play
Children and Work
BBC - Victorians - Flash Page
Children and Play
BBC - Victorians - Flash Page
Life in Victorian England:
House work
Who did the house work in the Victorian Era?
Working class women!
What other role did a woman play?
cook
house keeper
hostess
seamstress
mother
wife
baker
accountant
moral guide
Life in Victorian England:
House work
Laundry
tools: soap bars, scrub brushes,
washtub, washboard, wringer,
clothesline
method: The laundry was placed
into a huge tub of boiling, soapy
water for 20 minutes and moved
back and forth to a tub of cold
water with a wooden fork . Then
there was a final rinse with clean
water. The clothes were then
hung on the line to dry.
Life in Victorian England:
House work
Other household tasks:
Cooking
Baking
Ironing
Sewing
Shopping
Housecleaning –
dusting, sweeping, polishing,
mopping, scrubbing, washing –
every surface and piece of furniture
Life in Victorian England: Apprenticeship
What is an apprentice?
 A person who works for another in order to learn a
trade.
 Dependent on a master for food, clothing, money
 Many youngsters less than 10 years old whose
parents could not support them were indentured to
masters who agreed to teach them a trade.
 Apprentices were usually bound to masters until they
were 21 years old. An apprenticeship could last
anywhere from 10-12 years.
Life in Victorian England: The Legal System
 Punishments
Alternative – probation
Capital – execution
Juvenile – tried as adults
 Prisons – unsanitary, proliferation of disease,
men, women and children
all different kinds of criminals
Ex: Newgate Prison in London
all locked up
together
Life in Victorian England: The Legal System
 Prison Reform
Gaols Act of 1823 – makes prisons safe, clean, and
separates men, women, and children, also separates
types of criminals
 Few thought criminals could be rehabilitated. The
public viewed criminals as animals; the lowest form
of life.
Life in Victorian England: The Legal System
 Police Officers
People believed communities should police
themselves rather than having a government system
that could oppress the people.
 Lawyers
Lawyers were very important and respected.
Winning a case likely meant saving someone from
death. Talented lawyers were well-paid.
Unfortunately, injustices were common in the courts.
Life in Victorian England: Architecture
 Home
of a
wealthy
person
 1899
Life in Victorian England: Architecture
 Housing
for the poor
 Pre -1860
Life in Victorian England: Architecture
 Typical
Victorian
Architecture
 An English
country
house
Life in Victorian England: Fashion
 Formal dress for upper and
middle class English men
and women 1870s
Life in Victorian England: Fashion
 What to
wear at a
ball
Life in Victorian England: Fashion
 Formal
wear
 1901
Life in Victorian England: Fashion
 Smocks,
jackets, and
wide brim
hats were
common
among
agricultural
workers
Chimney sweeper
and Victorian lady
Victoria Era Dress
Victorian Era Dress
Victoria Era Dress
Victorian Era Dress
The End
Questions?