Charles Dickens Caricature

Charles Dickens Caricature, circa 1858, age 48. Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the 20th century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.

Dickens’s literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of “The Pickwick Papers”. Within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society.

Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, “A Christmas Carol”, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. “Nicholas Nickleby”, “David Copperfield”, “Oliver Twist” and “Great Expectations” are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, “A Tale of Two Cities”, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction.

Dickensian characters are amongst the most memorable in English literature, especially so because of their typically whimsical names. The likes of Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley, Bob Cratchit, Oliver Twist, The Artful Dodger, Fagin, Bill Sikes, Pip, Miss Havisham, Sydney Carton, Charles Darnay, David Copperfield, Mr. Micawber, Abel Magwitch, Daniel Quilp, Samuel Pickwick, Wackford Squeers, and Uriah Heep are so well known.

Charles Dickens died on June 9, 1870 from a stroke at age 58.