Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Michelle writes:
Reading the novel, “Great Expectations” had me wondering what Charles Dickens’ life had been like while he had written it. Researching his life gave me the chance to see what might have inspired him to include certain characters and events. Dickens was born on February 7th, 1812 in Portsmouth, England. Known as a congenial man, his father, John Dickens was financially threatened due to his hospitality and generosity. Eventually, the expenses caught up to him and he was imprisoned in 1824 for his debts. Because Charles was twelve at the time, he’d gone to work at a shoe-blacking factory to support the imprisoned family. The early, harsh labour he endured as a child played well into his stories, inspiring some of his characters – such as ‘Pip’ from “Great Expectations,” for example. His father had arranged for his son to attend the Wellington House Academy in London from 1824-1827, possibly sealing his fate to become a writer rather than suffer through more years of hard work. Dickens’ first book went by the name, “Sketches by Boz,” published in 1836, coincidentally the same year he’d married his wife, Catherine Hogart and had become editor for “Bentley’s Miscellany” – all in all, a very eventful year for Charles. A succession of novels followed promptly, starting with “Dombey And Son” (1846) and “David Copperfield” (1849), etc. After having collaborated with the author, Wilkie Collins on the drama, “No Thoroughfare,” and acting in his play, “The Frozen Deep” in 1857, he and his opposing actress (Ellen Ternan) had fallen in love, resulting in his divorce to Catherine. Now renowned throughout Europe, he’d begun to set off on public readings in 1858, following the publication/serialization of “Great Expectations” in 1860. Just as life seems to be at its highest climax for Charles, it had fallen to a disastrous end as Dickens, his mother and Ellen were involved in the Staplehurst train crash on their way back from Paris. Though escaping with minor injuries, he’d suffered post-traumatic trauma that he had never quite recovered from. Sadly, his life ended by a cerebral hemorrhage on June 9th, 1870. Buried in Poet’s Corner in London, Thomas Carlyle had described Dickens as “A sympathiser to the poor, the suffering and the oppressed.” Greatly missed he was, but his spirit lives on forever in the beloved novels he’d left in his wake.