Charles Dickens Essays

Charles Dickens uses the motif of doubles throughout his novel, A Tale of Two Cities. In fact, Dickens? very first line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” (Dickens, 3) illustrates this motif. The entire first paragraph introduces the motif of doubles, which sets the precedent for the entire novel. […]

Important ideas and feelings don’t die easily and even survive the transition from one generation to another. Two authors from two different centuries try to communicate the same ideas through their books; they are Charles Dickens, from the 19th century, and James Watson from the 20th century. Both of these authors wrote a book that […]

In this essay I will be examining how Charles Dickens, in the Victorian period, ensured that his readers would continue to read Great Expectations after the first instalment. Dickens made the strategic decision to release his novel in instalments, and therefore, the success and engagement of the opening instalment were crucial for the novel’s profitability. […]

We will be examining how tension and suspense are created in two short stories. I will analyse the use of language, setting, characters and plot to see where tension has been created for he reader. We are looking at ‘The Signalman’, which is a pre-1990 Dickens’ story and ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’, a more modern […]

For our chosen text we read “The Signalman” by Charles Dickens. This short story was written about one hundred and fifty years ago, therefore it was written for a purpose that we would not write for today. Dickens would have written this story to be read out to a public audience. This was because it […]

“The Signalman” by Charles Dickens is the first story I will discuss. It was written in the 1840’s or 1850’s, during a time when people believed in rational explanations for everything. However, Dickens challenges this belief by presenting a ghost story without a clear explanation, allowing readers to engage their imaginations. The story centers around […]

The tradition of the mystery story begins with Gothic writing, around 1810. From the Gothic story sub-categories were then created through a progression of stories. These further categories were ghost story, horror and detective. Each different category has some common key features which help to distinguish them and some other, now well known, stereotypical characteristics. […]

a) Based upon Massaud Moisés’ definition, we can affirm “The Signalman”, by Charles Dickens, belongs to the Gothic Fiction genre. For it has most of the elements that belongs to Gothic writing, such as mystery and horror in the plot, the presence of the supernatural, and the absence of light in a gloomy setting, which […]

In this assignment I will be looking at two stories from this century and the last. I will examine the similarities and differences between them in content, style and language and I will talk about how the writers’ backgrounds influenced their stories and their way of writing. The opening page of both of the stories […]

The stories are set in slightly different eras – ‘the signalman’ is set in the Victorian era, written by Charles Dickens, whilst ‘the Darkness out there’ is set a more recent 20th century, and written by Penelope Lively. Although both stories are set in different times, both of the script writers build up tension using […]

I have been studying the life of Charles Dickens and the times of the Victorian era that began with the coronation of Queen Victoria. Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth. His parents were John and Elizabeth Dickens. Charles was the second of their eight children; he later left school at the […]

Explore the significance of representations of the city and/or the countryside in two nineteenth-century novels. During the nineteenth century, many Victorians aspired towards a life in the city where the opportunities were abundant and wealth and success were the dominant prospects, whereas country life was regarded as laborious and limited. ‘In the last twenty years […]

Two Very Different Marriage Proposals Both the first passage from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and the second from a novel written by Charles Dickens are marriage proposals made by men. Even though the explicit purpose of these proposals is to persuade, the two essays reveal two very different assumptions each of the writers have […]

Cities are places which enable the realization of the self, or conversely cities separate the self from creativity and Imagination In spaces of alienation and estrangement’ (Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson). Discuss the city as a site of self- enhancement and/or ‘alienation and estrangement’ In the texts on the unit. Our surroundings manipulate the way […]

Charles Dickens’ classic novella A Christmas Carol, focuses on the social responsibility of the wealthy to help the poor and less fortunate. Dickens, having lived in poverty as a child, knew of the many struggles of the lower class of London. As an author, he made it his goal to reform England as best he […]

Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 in Landport, Portsmouth, England. During his early childhood, he resided in London and Chatham with his father, who worked as a naval clerk. At the tender age of 12, his father’s imprisonment for debt forced Dickens to abandon school and start working at the Blacking […]