History Creator / CharlesDickens

Many of his works were first published as multi-part serials, complete with cliffhangers. A typical 'Dickensian' scenario features hordes of memorable -- often CatchPhrase-spouting -- characters tumbling through even more outrageously contrived plots. They would be delivered to the subscribing public in small bound monthly installments of three or four chapters at a time (rather like the modern comic-book industry) over the course of two or three years. Nowadays, the instalments generally mark chapter breaks in the larger novel.

Many of his works were first published as multi-part serials, complete with cliffhangers. A typical 'Dickensian' scenario features hordes of memorable -- often CatchPhrase-spouting -- characters tumbling through even more outrageously contrived plots. They would be delivered to the subscribing public in small bound monthly instalments of three or four chapters at a time (rather like the modern comic-book industry) over the course of two or three years. Nowadays, the instalments generally mark chapter breaks in the larger novel.

'''Charles John Huffham Dickens''' (1812 - 1870) was the foremost English novelist of the 19th century, and is to this day one of the most famous authors in the English language.

* ''Literature/TheOldCuriosityShop'' - Containing the renowned Death of Little Nell (no, not [[Series/NCISLosAngeles that one]]), by reader acclaim the most tragic deathbed scene in English literature to that point...and these were ''Victorian'' readers, so you know the competition had to be stiff. Although {{Oscar Wilde}} said that you'd need a heart of stone to read it without dissolving in tears of laughter.

* {{Padding}}: Getting paid by the word while spending a lot of time in financial difficulties naturally led to a good deal of it.

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Many of his works were first published as multi-part serials, complete with cliffhangers. A typical 'Dickensian' scenario features hordes of memorable -- often CatchPhrase-spouting -- characters tumbling through even more outrageously contrived plots. They would be delivered to the subscribing public in small bound monthly installments of three or four chapters at a time (rather like the modern comic-book industry) over the course of two or three years. Nowadays, the installments generally mark chapter breaks in the larger novel.

This setup resulted in the books serving as the the soap operas of the day, and the subsequent need to keep reader interest alive accounts for the convoluted nature of much of Dickens' plotting. The more readers, the more subscription fees; a very direct connection to the fanbase, so to speak. If sales dropped over the latest plot twist, Dickens would sometimes be forced to undo months of careful pre-planning.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/62908_o_4735.jpg]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/62908_o_4735.jpg

Thus it's perhaps not altogether surprising that his writing style can be best described as "barely controlled chaos." It mirrored [[VictorianBritain the society he lived and wrote in]] -- sentimental and satirical, melodramatic and priggish, exuberantly credulous and narrowly sceptical. These novels are stuffed full of literary flourishes that are not SnarkBait today only because their author was an undisputed genius. As in a modern SoapOpera, there are usually about four or five interwoven plots on the go in any single Dickens novel, not counting many more side-issues and [[AuthorFilibuster random authorial digressions.]] The whole was often leavened substantially with social criticism, most famously in ''Literature/OliverTwist'', ''Literature/NicholasNickleby'', and ''Literature/LittleDorrit''.

His direct descendant Harry Lloyd is now an actor, whose work includes an adaptation of Dickens' ''Bleak House''.

[[quoteright:261:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/62908_o_4735.jpg]]

** Actually, even though [[CommonKnowledge everyone assumes]] Nell's death was drawn out and melodramatic, Nell had no deathbed scene, and the passage dealing with her death is quite brief.

* ''Literature/TheOldCuriosityShop'' - Containing the renowned Death of Little Nell (no, not [[NCISLosAngeles that one]]), by reader acclaim the most tragic deathbed scene in English literature to that point...and these were ''Victorian'' readers, so you know the competition had to be stiff. Although {{Oscar Wilde}} said that you'd need a heart of stone to read it without dissolving in tears of laughter.

** Actually, even though [[CommonKnowledge everyone assumes]] Nell's death was drawn out and melodramtic, Nell had no deathbed scene, and the passage dealing with her death is quite brief.

* ''Literature/TheOldCuriosityShop'' - Containing the renowned Death of Little Nell (no, not[[NCISLosAngeles that one]]), by reader acclaim the most tragic deathbed scene in English literature to that point...and these were ''Victorian'' readers, so you know the competition had to be stiff. Although {{Oscar Wilde}} said that you'd need a heart of stone to read it without dissolving in tears of laughter.

* AuthorTract: Much of Dickens' work includes some sort of strong social commentary. His most frequent targets include poverty and the plight of children. His ''American Notes'' also features his commentary on American systems, such as insane asylums (where he praised American efforts) and slavery (where he condemned the practice).

* ''Literature/TheOldCuriosityShop'' - Containing the renowned Death of Little Nell, by reader acclaim the most tragic deathbed scene in English literature to that point...and these were ''Victorian'' readers, so you know the competition had to be stiff. Although {{Oscar Wilde}} said that you'd need a heart of stone to read it without dissolving in tears of laughter.

* ''Literature/TheOldCuriosityShop'' - Containing the renowned Death of Little Nell, by reader acclaim the most tragic deathbed scene in English literature to that point...and these were ''Victorian'' readers, so you know the competition had to be stiff.

* ''Literature/BleakHouse'' - A long running court case over a disputed {{will}}, includes an early example of the police detective.

* ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' - "Marley was dead, to begin with..." This book is credited with playing a major role, not only in the celebration Christmas, but also ''creating'' the modern version of the holiday. And you'll be hard-pressed to find a tale that's spawned more [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol adaptations]].

* SignatureLine: ''A Tale of Two Cities'' may have the most famous set of opening & closing lines in Western literature. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."/"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done..."

* ''Literature/ATaleOfTwoCities'' - "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

** The title itself could be a LampshadeHanging.

* ''Literature/ThePickwickPapers''. Containing the best known fictional description of a British by-election before the 1832 Great Reform Act and a major pop-culture phenomenon at the time (especially Cockney comedy relief Sam Weller), it catapulted Dickens to celebrity.
** The Dingley Dell-Old Muddleton cricket match appeared on a British bank note for a while.

He defined VictorianLondon, but actually started writing before Queen Victoria came to the throne. In fact, several of his works are set in the Georgian period (''ThePickwickPapers'' 1827-8, ''Little Dorrit'' around 1826, ''Barnaby Rudge'' 1780)

Thus it's perhaps not altogether surprising that his writing style can be best described as "barely controlled chaos." It mirrored [[VictorianBritain the society he lived and wrote in]] -- sentimental and satirical, melodramatic and priggish, exuberantly credulous and narrowly sceptical. These novels are stuffed full of literary flourishes that are not SnarkBait today only because their author was an undisputed genius. As in a modern SoapOpera, there are usually about four or five interwoven plots on the go in any single Dickens novel, not counting many more side-issues and [[AuthorFilibuster random authorial digressions.]] The whole was often leavened substantially with social criticism, most famously in ''Oliver Twist'', ''Nicholas Nickleby'', and ''Little Dorrit''.

Tropes he rather heavily relied on to get these effects included [[LukeIAmYourFather hidden connections between established characters]] and the ContrivedCoincidence. A number of the crucial plot twists in ''DavidCopperfield'', for instance, depend on characters just happening to walk past doors or meet on the street (in the heart of London!) ''ATaleOfTwoCities'' only happens to begin with thanks to the intersection of a [[BackStory fortuitous marriage]], a highly coincidental co-passage on a boat, and an IdenticalStranger.

* ''ThePickwickPapers''. Containing the best known fictional description of a British by-election before the 1832 Great Reform Act and a major pop-culture phenomenon at the time (especially Cockney comedy relief Sam Weller), it catapulted Dickens to celebrity.

* ''AChristmasCarol'' - "Marley was dead, to begin with..." This book is credited with playing a major role, not only in the celebration Christmas, but also ''creating'' the modern version of the holiday. And you'll be hard-pressed to find a tale that's spawned more [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol adaptations]].
* ''GreatExpectations'' - despite a similar setup to many of his other works, [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] many of his usual plot twists.

* ''TheOldCuriosityShop'' - Containing the renowned Death of Little Nell, by reader acclaim the most tragic deathbed scene in English literature to that point...and these were ''Victorian'' readers, so you know the competition had to be stiff.
* ''BarnabyRudge'', a fictionalized account of the Gordon Riots with a notably [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} oddball]] title character.
* ''OliverTwist'' - Considerably darker than most of its adaptations, with more beatings and less [[CrowdSong spontaneous multi-part harmony.]]
* ''ATaleOfTwoCities'' - "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."
* ''DavidCopperfield'' - Dickens' 'favourite child' of his works. Semi-autobiographical tale of a young writer's rise from poverty and abuse, notable for drawing on certain dark incidents in Dickens' own past. And, on a much lighter note, introducing the Micawbers, Uriah Heep and Aunt Betsey Trotwood to the world.
* ''LittleDorrit'' - Recently the subject of a well-received BBC miniseries, a scathing indictment of society vs. human nature that pits gentle Amy Dorrit, Child of the Marshalsea (debtor's) prison, against the challenges first of poverty, then wealth.

* ''BleakHouse'' - A long running court case over a disputed {{will}}, includes an early example of the police detective.
* ''HardTimes''
* ''MartinChuzzlewit''

* SignatureLine: ''ATaleOfTwoCities'' may have the most famous set of opening & closing lines in Western literature. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."/"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done..."