Buchara state university m. Bakoeva, E. Muratova, M. Ochilova english literature

(1812 - 1870)
Charles Dickens, the first novelist o f the trend of Critical 
Realism, was bom in 1812 near Portsmouth on the southern coast 
o f England. His father was a clerk and the family lived on his 
small salary. They belonged to the lower middle class. The father 
was often transferred from place to place. First they moved to the 
ancient town o f Rochester, then, in 1822 to London. In Rochester 
Charles began to attend school. He continued his studies in 
London as well. But soon his father lost his jo b and was 
imprisoned for debt. Charles had to begin to work at a factory. In 
about a year the Dickenses received a small sum o f money after 
the death of a relative, so all the debts were paid. Charles got a

---

chance to go to school again. Dickens left school when he was 
twelve. He had to continue his education by himself. His father 
sent him to a lawyer’s office to study law. He did not stay there 
long, but he learned the ways and manners o f lawyers, as many 
ofhis books show.
In 1832 Dickens became a parliamentary reporter. Dickens’s 
first efforts at writing were little stories about the ordinary 
Londoners he saw. He signed them Boz (the nickname given to 
him by his youngest brother). At the age of 24 Dickens married 
Catherine Hogarth. Later he discovered his ability as a novelist 
and devoted himself to literary work. Twice he visited the USA. 
Besides Dickens was a master of reading. He had invented the 
theatre for one actor. From 1858 to 1868 he had give i dramatic 
readings o fhis novels in England and America. An audience to 
Dickens was like a potent wine, he delighted in the applause. 
Dickens knew more than he revealed. His own nature was 
involved in a high emotionalism, which prevented him from 
reaching the sense of tragedy o f Dostoyevsky, or that full vision 
of life, which makes Tolstoy supreme among novelists of the 
world. Short of this he had eveiything. In 1867-186 8 Dickens 
made a triumphant reading tour in the United States during his 
second visit, which was a great strain on him and undermined his 
health. He died suddenly on June 9, 1870. Dickens was buried in 
Westminster Abbey. When Dickens died something had gone out 
o f English life that was irreplaceable, a bright light thal had shone 
upon the drab commercialism of the century, calling men back to 
laughter and kindliness, and the disruption of the cruelties in which 
they were entangling themselves. Like all great artists he saw the 
world as if it was an entirely fresh experience seen for the first 
time, and he had an extraordinary range o f language, from comic 
invention to great eloquence. He invented character and situation 
with a range that had been unequalled since Shakespeare. So 
deeply did he affect his audiences that the view o f life behind his 
novels has entered into the English tradition. Reason and theory 
he distrusted, but compassion and cheerfulness o f heart he el­
evated into the supreme virtues. He knew in his more reflective

---

moments that cheerfulness alone would not destroy the 
Coketowns of the world. This reflection he kept mainly to himself, 
and his inlense emotionalism helped him to obscure it.
Dickens’s Creative Work
Dickers was the greatest novelist ofh is age. He wrote a tre­
mendous number of works. He created a new type o f novel - a 
social novel. The great contrast between rich and poor Dickens 
considered abnormal in a civilized society. Dickens put all his 
hopes in the good qualities of human nature. To the end o fh is 
life he hoped to find means to better the world he lived in. But 
while painting hard reality, Dickens changed his attitude as years 
went by, as to the causes of poverty and exploitation. His creative 
work has been divided into four periods.
I. The works written between the years 1833-1841 belong to 
the first period. They are: “Sketches by Boz” (1833-1836), “The 
Posthumous Papers o f the Pickwick Club”, “Oliver Twist”, 
“Nicholas Nickleby”, “Barnaby Rudge”, “The Old Curiosity 
Shop”. Dickens’s heroes and heroines of the first period are 
remarkable for their fortitude. They never hesitate to take the 
wisest way and remain true to the principles of honor. They pre­
fer to live in poverty and work hard. Finally virtue conquers evil. 
Humor and optimism are characteristic of the first period in 
Dickens’s writings.
II. The following books, written between the years 1842-1848, 
belong to the second period in the w riter’s creative work: 
’’American Notes”, “Martin Chuzzlewit”, “The Christmas 
Books”, “Dombey and Son”. In the works o f the second period 
Dickens begins, to describe the crimes that arise from the existing 
system itself.
III. During the third period (1850-1859) he wrote “ David 
Copperfield”, “Bleak House”, “HardTimes”, “Little Dorrit”, “A 
Tale ofTwo Cities”. These novels are the strongest for the social 
criticism expressed in them. Dickens describes in detail the social

---

institutions of the day and draws a vivid picture of the English 
people life.
IY. The fourth period in Dickens’s creative work was the six­
ties. During those years he wrote only 2 novels: “Great Expecta­
tions”, and “Our Mutual Friend”. These works are written in a 
spirit o f disillusionment. Now he feels that a better future is too 
far off and he only allows himself, as a writer, to dream o f that 
future. His heroes show the moral strength and patience of the 
common people.
“Dom bey and Son”
In this novel, the writer turns away for the first time from the 
world o f little people to that of the high bourgeoisie.
The full title o f the novel is: “Dealings with the Firm of 
Dombey and Son, Wholesale, Retail and for Exportation.” It tells 
the story o f a rich family, the Dombeys. Mr Dombey is a merchant 
and his only interest in life is the prosperity ofhis family firm.
Mrs. Dombey dies at the close of Chapter 1, after giving 
birth to her only son, which is depicted as glacial and cavernous. 
Little Paul Dombey is a sickly, sensitive child, whose father adopts 
toward him the attitude of ihe prince consort to an eldest son; he 
must be made “the most perfect man”, and to that end he is starved 
of the affection he needs, and sent, at the age o f five, to Mrs. 
Pipchin’s establishment in Brighton. If he has received little, his 
sister Florence, older than he by six years, gets even less. As a 
daughter, she is of no consequence to her father, or to anyone 
else except her faithful and outspoken attendant, Susan Nipper.
The machinery of the plot is comparatively simple in contrast 
to the richness of its orchestration. Dombey, distressed by the 
death o fh is son and the foundering o fh is hopes, increasingly 
rejects his daughter Florence, in spite of her attempts to win his 
affection. Dombey marries again, this time choosing a beauty of 
superior social standing to his own. Edith Dombey is instantly 
drawn to Florence, who in her teens, not only takes warmly to 
her stepmother but counts on her help to overcome her father’s hos

---

tility. However, Edith has her own kind of pride. She sets up in 
flat opposition to her husband, whom her one aim is to humiliate. 
For Florence’s sake, she begins to keep the little girl at arm’s 
length until, after a final scene, she leaves for France with 
Dombey’s trusted manager.
Dickens considers all blows that have fallen upon Mr. Dombey 
as punishment deserved. Mr. Dombey is the symbol of all that 
was cruel and far from human in the upper middle class in 
Dickens’s time.
But the character of Mr. Dombey changes unexpectedly at 
the end o f the novel. Misfortunes soften his character and he 
becomes a good man. Old Mr. Dombey lives in the happy home 
of Florence, who is now married to Walter Gay. Now Mr. Dombey 
loves his daughter and grandchildren.
The author of the book, Charles Dickens, always wanted to 
reconcile people with one another, and the end o f the book is a 
vivid example o f it.
Questions and Tasks
1. Speak about the 19,h century England?
2. What poets are considered to be the two great pillars o f the 
literature of the Victorian Age?
3. What forced Tennyson to leave Cambridge without 
completing his education?
4. When did Robert Browning become famous and Tennyson’s 
equal among Victorian readers?
5. Name the greatest English critical realists you know.