English 308W Lecture: Dickens and Great Expectations From: Introduction: Biographical and Historical Contexts, by Janice Carlisle Dickens was 48 in 1860, when he began writingGreat Expectations As the Introduction to our edition of the novel emphasizes, he had led a very full life already, Filled with suffering, hard work, and unprecedented success And this was a period of a particularly important juncture in his life He had begun publishing 30 years earlier, at the age of 18 He had published all twelve of his previous novels, in an inexpensive format And he had begun giving public readings of his fiction for large, enthusiastic crowds By Victorian standards, he was a wealthy man He was the epitome of the Victorian success story: Self-made man, entrepreneur of the imagination, and family man In GE, he draws upon his own success story, though indirectly The main action of the novel spans the years 1812 (the year that Dickens was born), when Pip is about 7, and 1829, when Pip is 24 – the year when Dickens, aged 18 was deciding upon a career path -so, the early part of the century and the high Victorian Period Pip’s success story is Dickens’ own success story, which is, in a sense, Britain’s success story
Dickens’ early life Many disadvantages to be overcome Epitomized by the famous story that he hid from everyone expect his best friend About the time that he spent working in a factory when he was twelve He had been born into a relatively prosperous family While his father’s parents had been mere servants, they were servants of a superior sort, since his father (Dickens’ grandfather) was a butler and his mother rose to be the housekeeper. Dickens’ father, John Dickens thus rose in status, as the son of servants, when he became a clerk in the Navy Pay Office in various ports on the coast of England In marrying his boss’s daughter, in 1809, he was rising further in society When Charles Dickens was born in 1812, the second child and first son, his family was prosperous enough that the birth was listed in the local paper He grew up in the town of Kent, where his family was considered one of the best
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