At a Glance

"Literature always anticipates life. It does not copy it, but moulds its purpose."
                              - Oscar Wilde, English Author

Charles Dickens, one of the most popular writers in the history of literature presented his life in form of novels and made the world ponder on the child’s upbringing. ‘Pip’, an orphan in Great Expectation is Charles’ own autobiographical sketch, where the dark secret of his life became a source, both for creative energy and for the preoccupation with the themes of alienation and betrayal.

Emerging from trying circumstances, Dickens was exposed to the dark side of the life and society at a very young age. His masterpiesces like Tale of Two Cities, Bleak House and Oliver Twist reflect the contemporary English society. Charlse Dickens was perhaps the first English novelist to depict the life and struggle of lower middle strata of the society. His own childhood and adolasance tought him the facts of life in the surroundings which believed in the Jungle Rule of 'Survival of the fittest'.

It was his hard work and self-taught skills that enabled him to reach finally his goal and beyond. The world got and author who wrote books which mirrored a layman. His life and struggle for recognition are tales that may be straight out of Dickens. In fact, some say that Dickens was himself a Dickens character.