Victorian writers and their work (Document). By Arnau López, Erin Soto and Clàudia Loro

 Victorian writers and their work                              Arnau López, Erin Soto, Clàudia Loro

Charles Dickens (Arnau)

Biography:

Charles Dickens was a british novelist, journalist, editor, illustrator and social commentator who is remembered as one of the most important writers of the 19th century.

He was born the 7th of February 1812 in Portsmouth, one of the southern coasts of England, 117 kilometers from London.

Dickens was the second of the eight children. His father, John Dickens, was a naval clerk. HIs mother, Elizabeth Barrow, wanted to be a teacher and a school director. Despite it, they were poor.

In 1816 they moved to Chatham. In 1822, the Dickens family moved to Camden Town, a poor neighborhood in London.

Charles Dickens’s father went to prison. Then, he started working at a boot-blacking factory earning 0,3 pounds a week.

At this moment, Charles was more conscient and he was feeling abandoned by the adults. These sentiments would later become a recurring theme in his writing.

Because of an inheritance his father went free.

Then he returned to studying but he left the school once again. He started working as an office employee. This job became a launching point for his writing career.

A Christmas carol

is a short novel published in 1843. 

Its plot tells the story of a greedy and selfish man named Ebenezer Scrooge and his psychological transformation after being visited by ghosts and the tree spirits of Christmas on Christmas Eve. He hated all that produced happiness. BUt those tree spirits showed the passed Christmas, the actual Christmas and the future christmas. That made him think about his death and his infancy. That made him change and his personality changed abruptement.

Oliver twist 

It’s his second novel which he published in 1837.

Oliver is an orphaned kid. He is kind and honest and helps those in need.

At the orphanage he was always hungry so one day, after his normal ration of food, he went to ask the director for more. The director offered him as an employee. Oliver gets angry with another employee and he decides to escape to London where he meets the scoundrel. He becomes a pickpocketer. After so many events, Oliver ends up living in a house on the meadow.

Lewis Carroll (Erin)

Biography:

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was born the 27th of January of 1832 in Daresbury, Cheshire in the UK, he was the older brother of his 4 brothers and 7 sisters.  He first started studying at home where he could read some really advanced books for a little boy like The Pilgrim’s Progress which he read at the early age of 7 years.

He was sent to a school in Richmond, at the age of 12, where he seemed to adapt pretty well. 

Later in 1845 he was sent to Rugby School. 

In 1851 he moved to the Christ Church college form the Oxford University where after finishing his studies reminded as a math teacher for about 25 years. Lewis never got married and evidently he never had kids.

He died the 14th of January of 1898 in Guilford, Surrey in the UK because of a neumonia.

Highlighted work:

• Poetry:

• Jabberwocky: included in his novel Alice through the looking glass

• The hunting of the snark(1875)

• Novels:

• Alice’s adventures in Wonderland (1865) became his best well known book, nowadays famous all around the world.

• Alice through the looking glass(1872)

• He also wrote a couple of logic and maths books that never succeed. 

Alice in wonderland:

Alice’s adventures in wonderland is a tale that tells the story of a girl whose name is Alice that falls into a whole that takes her to a magic world full of weird creatures called Wonderland. This book was a story that Lewis would once invent for Alice Liddell and her sisters in one of their usual walks to the river inspired by Alice, and the girls liked it so much that he would eventually publish it in 1865 and it would become his best book. This book plays with all the limits of the logic. It is considered one of the best novels of the Nonsense genre. This book has been adapted to the big screen several times by the film company Walt disney studios, the first one in 1951. And also years later to the real human version of the first book and it’s sequel Alice through the looking glass.

The Brontë Sisters (Clàudia)

Biography

The Brontë Sisters were three sisters. They were born between 1816 and 1820, in Thornton, Yorkshire.Charlotte was the older sister, the middle sister was Emily and the youngest one was Anne. Even though they attended different schools, most of their education was at home. They spent a lot of time on their own, so they started writing stories.

They were employed at various times as teachers and governesses.

In 1846 they published their first volume of poetry. They used male names, because women weren’t allowed to publish anything. Charlotte as Currer, Emily as Ellis, and Anne as Acton, their surname was Bell.

They published several novels on their own, some had more success than others. Emily died of tuberculosis in 1848 and Anne the same way next year.

Charlotte continued writing and got married. She died the same way as her sisters, in 1855.

Highlighted work 

• Anne's work: Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which sold well.
• Emily’s work: Wuthering heights, that didn’t have great success.
• Charlotte’s work: Jane Eyre, was a best seller book that year,Villete and Shirley.

Jane Eyre

The novel starts with Jane Eyre, who is an orphan girl, living in her aunt’s house. There, she is abused by her aunt and her cousins. She leaves her aunt’s house and goes to a girls school, named Lowood school. She spends eight years there becoming a teacher. One day she decides to leave and find a job as a governess. She starts living there, in Thornfield Hall when she falls in love with the house owner, Mr. Rochester. They plan to marry but it doesn’t end well and Jane goes away. She has a rough time living on the street, but she is lucky and finds a family that welcomes her. Later she finds out that this family are their cousins, and she is actually rich. Eventually she realises that she is still in love with Mr.Rochester, comes back and they finally get married.