Charles Dickens has become widely renowned as one of the greatest writers in British history, and this year, fans all over the world are celebrating his 200th birthday. Dickens rose to fame with the publication of The Pickwick Papers in 1836, engaging a wider fan base than any other novelist before him. He remains an icon in the 21st century, with his works still as popular as ever. Dickens’ comedy, realism, remarkable prose and characterisation have been heralded as the makers of his success, drawing praise from writers such as Tolstoy, Gissing and Chesterton. His work has been the cause of amusement of hosts of English students in seminars, snorting into the back of their hands at the mention of the name Master Charlie Bates. During the Christmas break, over seven million people tuned in to watch the BBC adaptation of Great Expectations after the enduring success of productions such as Oliver
Twist (2008), Bleak House (2009) and Little Dorrit (2011). The stage musical Oliver!, has been running in the theatres of the West End for over 50 years, and with five of his novels appearing in the Big Read’s Top 100 list of 2003, Dickens was the most popular voted author ever.
In Victorian society, Dickens held the status of a celebrity, travelling many times to the USA, engaging in dinners with writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Washington Irving as well as the President John Tyler. Dickens remained very close to Hans Christian Anderson, who stayed at his house for such a long time that Dickens printed a sign on the guestroom mirror joking that he had surpassed his welcome. Many of his novels were published serially, in weekly or monthly installments, which Dickens popularised by his use of consistent cliffhangers. When the ship carrying the last installment of The Old Curiosity Shop drew towards New York, 6,000 fans waited onshore, calling out such things as, “does Little Nell die?” with a fervour bordering on the psychosis of Twi-hard fans.
Despite being so much in the public eye, there are many aspects of Dickens’ life still unknown to the general public. Dickens suffered from epilepsy and was, more than anything else, an eccentric, referring to himself the ‘Bard of Avon’ and obsessively seeking to arrange his furniture. He combed his hair over a hundred times a day, was almost an expert in hypnotherapy, and was so preoccupied with magnetic fields that he arranged all his beds to align north-south. He made sure to touch certain objects three times for luck and went by the nickname of “Boz”, giving each of his ten children nicknames such as “Skittles” and “Plorn”. He invested in a fake bookcase which was actually a secret door from his study and had his favourite pet, a raven called Grip, stuffed after its death in 1841. Dickens promoted himself and became a great social commentator, echoing his promise to “strike a sledgehammer blow” for the poor masses. And strike it he did, raising awareness through his literature on the plight of workhouse labourers and the aid he administered in institutions, including those to rehabilitate ‘fallen women’ back into society. Dickens embodied the figure of the author, the rhetorician, the therapist, the anthropologist, the humanitarian, the lawyer, the politician and the poet, striking his prose into the hearts of his fellow country with a intensity which prevails 200 years later.