Creative activities of Charles

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Senior Lecturer: Sartbayeva E.K.

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Lecture 11. Creative activities of Charles
Dickens & William Makepeace Thackeray
1. Creative activities of Charles Dickens
1.1 Analysis of Ch. Dickens’s novel “Dombey and Son”
2. Satirical novels of William Makepeace Thackeray
2.1 Analysis of W.M. Thackeray’s novel “Vanity Fair”
• The main concepts: Christmas, philanthropy, satirical novel

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Charles Dickens
• Dickens received a small sum of money after the
death of a relative, so all the debts were paid. Charles
got a chance to go to school again. But he left school
when he was twelve. He had to continue his
education by himself visiting regularly the British
Museum reading-room. Then he first got a job as a
newspaper reporter, then as a parliamentary reporter.
He started writing funny street sketches. Thus he
discovered his writing abilities almost accidentally.
Charles Dickens emerged on the literary scene in the
late 1830s. One of his most popular works to this day
is A Christmas Carol (1843). He is also admired for his
later novels, such as Dombey and Son (1846–48),
Little Dorrit (1855–57), Great Expectations (1860–61).

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Charles Dicken’s Literary Style
• Dickens loved the literary style of the 18th century Gothic
romance. His literary style is a mixture of fantasy and realism.
His writing style is florid and poetic, with a strong comic touch.
His satires of British aristocratic snobbery are colourful and
memorable. Comparing orphans to stocks and shares, people
to tug boats, or dinner-party guests to furniture are just some
of Dickens's acclaimed flights of fancy. Many of his characters'
names provide the reader with a hint as to the roles played in
advancing the storyline, such as Mr. Murdstone in the novel
David Copperfield, which is clearly a combination of "murder"
and stony coldness.

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Characters
• As for Dickens’s characters, one "character" vividly drawn throughout his novels is
London itself. From the coaching inns on the outskirts of the city to the lower
reaches of the Thames, all aspects of the capital are described in his work. Dickens is
famed for his depiction of the hardships of the working class, his intricate plots, and
his sense of humour. But he is perhaps most famed for the characters he created, for
his ability to capture the everyday man and thus create characters to whom readers
could relate. Dickensian characters-especially their typically whimsical names-are
among the most memorable in English literature. The likes of Ebenezer Scrooge,
Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley, Oliver Twist, The Artful Dodger, Bill Sikes, Pip, Miss
Havisham, David Copperfield, Samuel Pickwick, and 48 many others are so well
known and can be believed to be living a life outside the novels that their stories
have been continued by other authors. Often these characters were based on people
he knew. In a few instances Dickens based the character too closely on the original,
as in the case of Harold Skimpole in Bleak House, based on Leigh Hunt, and Miss
Mowcher in David Copperfield, based on his wife's dwarf chiropodist.

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Autobiographical elements
• All authors might be said to incorporate autobiographical elements in
their fiction, but with Dickens this is very noticeable, even though he took
pains to mask what he considered his shameful, lowly past. David
Copperfield is one of the most clearly autobiographical. The scenes from
Bleak House of court cases and legal arguments are drawn from the
author's brief career as a court reporter. Dickens's own father had been
sent to prison for debt, and this became a common theme in many of his
books (e.g. Little Dorrit). Dickens may have drawn on his childhood
experiences, but he was also ashamed of them. Very few knew the details
of his early life until six years after his death when John Forster published a
biography on which Dickens had collaborated.

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Charles Dickens’s novel “Dombey and Son”
• “Dombey and Son” is a novel by Charles Dickens, first
published in monthly installments from 1846 to 1848. It is a
complex and multilayered work that explores the themes
of family, social class, gender, and the role of money in
society. Set in mid-19th century England, the novel tells
the story of Paul Dombey, a wealthy businessman who is
obsessed with his legacy and the continuation of his family
name.
• The plot of “Dombey and Son” revolves around the
Dombey family, specifically Paul Dombey Sr. and his son
Paul Jr. After the death of his wife, Dombey becomes
fixated on his son as the sole heir to his business and
fortune, neglecting his daughter Florence. He hires a
nursemaid named Susan Nipper to take care of Paul, and
eventually marries Edith Granger, a beautiful but distant
woman who has her own secrets and motives.

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• As the story progresses, Dickens introduces a cast of memorable
characters who interact with the Dombey family in various ways.
These include Captain Cuttle, a retired seaman who befriends
young Paul; Mr. Carker, a conniving employee of Dombey’s who has
his own designs on Edith; and the Toodles, a working-class family
who become allies of Florence.
• Throughout the novel, Dickens uses rich and evocative language to
describe the settings and characters, as well as to convey his social
commentary. He depicts the stark differences between the wealthy
and the poor and highlights the struggles of women and children in
a society that values them only in relation to their usefulness to
men.

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• The novel is also notable for its exploration of the theme of death and
legacy. Paul Dombey Sr. is obsessed with his own legacy and the
continuation of his family name, while young Paul’s premature death
serves as a powerful reminder of the transience of life and the
impermanence of human accomplishments.
• In conclusion, “Dombey and Son” is a masterful work of literature that is
both richly detailed and socially relevant. It is a complex and nuanced
exploration of the human experience and a powerful critique of the social
and economic systems of 19th-century England. Its vivid characters,
evocative language, and timeless themes make it a must-read for fans of
classic literature.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsV81IbUFWA - trailer

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William Makepeace Thackeray
• Thackeray presents a strong contrast with Dickens, both
as man and as a writer. Thackeray, the son of an East India
Company official, was born at Calcutta in 1811. His father
died while he was a child and he was taken to England for
his education; he was a student at Cambridge. Next, on the
Continent, he studied drawing, and though his
unmethodical and somewhat idle habits prevented him
from ever really mastering the technique of the art, his real
knack for it enabled him later on to illustrate his own books
in a semi−grotesque but effective fashion. His study of the
law was interrupted when he came of age by the
inheritance of a comfortable fortune, which he managed to
lose within a year or two by gambling, speculations, and an
unsuccessful effort at carrying on a newspaper.

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• The appearance of his masterpiece, 'Vanity
Fair', in 1847 (the year before Dickens' 'David
Copperfield') brought him sudden fame and
made him a social lion. Within the next ten
years he produced his other important novels,
of which the best are 'Pendennis,' 'Henry
Esmond,' and 'The Newcomes'. All his novels
except were published serially, and he
generally delayed composing each installment
until the latest possible moment, working
reluctantly except under the stress of
immediate compulsion. He died in 1863 at the
age of fifty−two, of heart failure.

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• On the title page of 'Vanity Fair' he proclaims that it is a novel
without a hero; and here most of the characters are either altogether
bad or worthless and the others very largely weak or absurd, so that
the impression of human life which the reader apparently ought to
carry away is that of a hopeless chaos of selfishness, hypocrisy, and
futility. One word, which has often been applied to Thackeray, best
expresses his attitude—disillusionment. The last sentences of 'Vanity
Fair' are characteristic: 'Oh! Vanitas Vanitatum! which, of us is happy
in this world? Which of us has his desire? or, having it, is satisfied?—
Come, children, let us shut the box and the puppets, for our play is
played out.'

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• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDlt5aCDBnk