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CHARLES
DICKENS (1812-1870)
Charles Dickens, a famous English writer, was born in 1812 into
a poor family in London. When Charles was
ten his father was taken to prison and the
boy stopped going to school. Dickens had to work hard to earn
money for his family. Later he described this period of life in
his book David Copperfield.
This novel is a
biographical one. At the age of 12 he started going to school
again.
In 1829 Dickens became a reporter, and in 1830 he met and fell
in love with Maria Beadnell, the daughter of a banker. In 1833
their relationship ended because Maria's parents did not think
Dickens a suitable man for their daughter.
When Dickens was twenty-five he became one of the best newspaper
reporters in London. He liked the job a lot.
In 1838 he
published his novel Oliver Twist which had a great success. His
books show how hard life was in Victorian England, especially
for poor people and children. Dickens' s father was taken to
prison again and Charles had to pay to help him. Later the
family asked Dickens to give them money again and again. In 1835
Charles met and became engaged to Catherine Hogarth.
Charles Dickens
spent much of his adult life abroad travelling with his family
in France, Spain, Switzerland, but died suddenly at Gadshill
near Rochester in 1870.
His novels are
still popular and people read them with pleasure. Some of his
works are: Little Dorrit, A Tale of Two Cities, Great
Expectations and other wonderful novels.
Vocabulary:
adult life ['агёлкДагГ] взрослая жизнь
be taken to prison [bt'teiknta'prrzn] быть арестованным
describe ['dis'kraib] описывать
newspaper ['nju:s,peip3 ri,po:t3] журналист
reporter
Victorian [vik'toinariingland] Викторианская Англия
England (эпоха королевы
Виктории)
with pleasure [wi6 'р1езэ] с удовольствием
Questions:
1. Where and when was Charles Dickens born?
2. Was his life in childhood easy?
3. What was Dickens's private life like?
4. What was Dickens at the age of 25?
5. What are his famous works? Why are they popular?
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