Content I. Introduction: Charles Dickens was a great comic artist and a great entertainer. Chapter I

Education in Charles Dickens’ works

Charles Dickens’ works greatly attacked the workhouse system because of its exploitation of the poor. As the number of the bourgeoisie increased, the number of the poor also increased and the government assigned church parishes to give aid to the poor. The introduction of the workhouse system meant that all those who needed aid had to live at the workhouses where they were required to work so that they would receive some money. However, as confirmed by Dickens’ works and other historical works consulted for this research, the workhouses were horrible hell holes of exploitation. Moreover, children were the most vulnerable as they were separated from their families, underfed and could be sold into child labour as evidenced through Oliver in Oliver Twist. Authors like Charles Dickens used literary art as a weapon to expose such social ills which subjugated minors to severe injuries and even premature death. His works are instrumental in implementing social reforms which saw the Poor Laws revised as well as factory acts which prohibited the employment of children. This research has shown that through a realistic portrayal of characters who represent the underprivileged in society, Dickens’ works played a major role in the British social reformation.
Dickens also criticised society for its deprivation of education to the poor and he sympathised with children because of their vulnerability and lack of access to education. His characters such as Pip in Great Expectations, Oliver in Oliver Twist, and Jo in Bleak House are all deprived of education. Unfortunately, Jo dies without receiving an opportunity to be educated unlike his counterparts Oliver and Pip. Oliver is rescued from a criminal life by the benevolent Mr. Brownlow and the Maylies who are related to his late mother. On the other hand, Pip is granted the opportunity to be educated by the criminal Magwitch and they both receive middle class education. Through educating Pip who belongs to the lower class, Dickens challenges the Victorian ideology that children from middle class families were the only ones who should receive proper education, taught to be gentlemen and all forms of manners and decorum. On the other hand, the reader also assumes that Oliver will also be educated through the help of his new middle class family. Through the transformation of Pip and Oliver’s lives, Charles Dickens has given the reader conflicting views of how social change can be implemented in the lives of the poor. Due to hard work and a generous heart, the lower class members can improve their own lives as evidenced by Magwitch who is Pip’s benefactor. However, Dickens also suggests that it is the role of the middle class to give a helping hand to the poor. In other words, Dickens suggests that social reform lies in the hands of each and every individual, whether from the lower class or the middle class. His active involvement in sponsoring the Ragged Schools also shows that he takes what he says theoretically and puts it into practice, further substantiating the point that Dickens’ novels were not just works of fiction, but they actually played a major role in the enactment of social reforms such as the reformation of the education system²⁰.
Apart from the deprivation of education to the poor child, Dickens has also shown sympathy towards orphaned and neglected children. Most of his child characters are neglected children for whom the reader is compelled to feel compassion. Pip in Great Expectations, Jo in Bleak House and Oliver in Oliver Twist are all orphans. On the other hand, there are abandoned children such as Estella in Great Expectations, Esther in Bleak House and Sissy Jupe in Hard Times. Pip and Oliver endure abuse from their guardians, Mrs. Joe Gargery and the workhouse authorities respectively. Unfortunately, Jo is a street urchin and he has no one to take care of him. The incompleteness of the child characters’ lives and the fragmented family system is a reflection of the disintegration of the Victorian society due to industrialisation. Dickens’ compassion for the plight of children has been extended to his involvement in charities that sponsor orphaned children.