What do you know about Charles
Dickens? What else would you like
to know about him? Write three
questions. Read the biography and
see if you can answer your
questions.
Charles Dickens
(1812-1870)
was born in
Hampshire, England,
and is considered to
be one of the greatest
British authors of all
time. During his lifetime,
he used his great influence
to comment on the social
wrongs of the Victorian era, particularly
those related to the poor in London. In
fact, Dickens was no stranger to
hardship himself. As a teenager, he was
forced to finish school and work in a
factory, while his family were in a
debtors’ prison. This had a profound
effect on Dickens and his later writings.
Some of Charles Dickens’ most well-
known and loved novels include Oliver
Twist (1839), David Copperfield (1850) and A Tale of Two Cities (1859).
In Great Expectations, a poor 10-year-old orphan named Pip is confronted by a prisoner. This encounter would have a huge impact on Pip’s future.
