Name	David Copperfield
Title orig	The Personal History, Adventures,Experience and Observationof David Copperfieldthe Youngerof Blundeston Rookery (which he never meant to publish on any account)
Author	Charles Dickens
Illustrator	Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz)
Cover artist	Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz)
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Series	Monthly: May 1849 – November 1850
Genre	FictionSocial criticism
Publisher	Bradbury & Evans
Release date	1850
Media type	Print (Serial, Hardback, and Paperback)
Pages	721
Preceded by	Dombey and Son
Followed by	Bleak House

The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account), commonly referred to as David Copperfield, is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a novel in 1850. Like most of his works, it originally appeared in serial form a year earlier. Many elements within the novel follow events in Dickens' own life, and it is probably the most autobiographical of all of his novels. In the preface to the 1867 Charles Dickens edition, he wrote, "… like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is David Copperfield."

Plot summary

The story deals with the life of David Copperfield from childhood to maturity. David is born in England in 1820. David's father had died six months before he was born, and seven years later, his mother marries Mr. Edward Murdstone, who is born in 1775. David is given good reason to dislike his stepfather and has similar feelings for Mr Murdstone's sister Jane (born in 1780), who moves into the house soon afterwards. Mr Murdstone thrashes David for falling behind with his studies. Following one of these thrashings, David bites him and is sent away to a boarding school, Salem House, with a ruthless headmaster, Mr. Creakle. Here he befriends James Steerforth and Tommy Traddles, both of whom he meets again later on.

David returns home for the holidays to find out that his mother has had a baby boy. Soon after David goes back to Salem House, his mother and her baby die and David has to return home immediately. Mr Murdstone sends him to work in a factory in London, of which Murdstone is a joint owner. The grim reality of hand-to-mouth factory existence echoes Dickens' own travails in a blacking factory. His landlord, Mr Wilkins Micawber, is sent to a debtor's prison (the King's Bench Prison) after going bankrupt, and is there for several months before being released and moving to Plymouth. David now has nobody left to care for him in London, and decides to run away.

He walks all the way from London to Dover, to find his only relative, his aunt Miss Betsey. The eccentric Betsey Trotwood agrees to bring him up, despite Mr Murdstone visiting in a bid to regain custody of David. David's aunt renames him 'Trotwood Copperfield', soon shortened to "Trot", and for the rest of the novel he is called by either name, depending on whether he is communicating with someone he has known for a long time, or someone he has only recently met.

The story follows David as he grows to adulthood, and is enlivened by the many well-known characters who enter, leave and re-enter his life. These include Peggotty, his faithful former housekeeper for his mother, her family, and their orphaned niece Little Em'ly who lives with them and charms the young David. David's romantic but self-serving schoolfriend, Steerforth, seduces and dishonors Little Em'ly, triggering the novel's greatest tragedy; and his landlord's daughter and ideal "angel in the house," Agnes Wickfield, becomes his confidante. The two most familiar characters are David's sometime mentor, the constantly debt-ridden Mr Wilkins Micawber, and the devious and fraudulent clerk, Uriah Heep, whose misdeeds are eventually discovered with Micawber's assistance. Micawber is painted as a sympathetic character, even as the author deplores his financial ineptitude; and Micawber, like Dickens's own father, is briefly imprisoned for insolvency.

In typical Dickens fashion, the major characters get some measure of what they deserve, and few narrative threads are left hanging. Dan Peggotty safely transports Little Em'ly to a new life in Australia; accompanying these two central characters are Mrs. Gummidge and the Micawbers. Everybody involved finally finds security and happiness in their new lives in Australia. David first marries the beautiful but naïve Dora Spenlow, but she dies after failing to recover from a miscarriage early in their marriage. David then does some soul-searching and eventually marries and finds true happiness with the sensible Agnes, who had secretly always loved him. They have several children, including a daughter named in honor of Betsey Trotwood.

Analysis

The story is told almost entirely from the point of view of the first person narrator, David Copperfield himself, and was the first Dickens novel to be written as such a narration.

Critically, it is considered a Bildungsroman, i.e., a novel of self-cultivation, and would be influential in the genre which included Dickens's own Great Expectations (1861), Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, published only two years prior, Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure, Samuel Butler's The Way of All Flesh, H. G. Wells's Tono-Bungay, D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers, and James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Tolstoy regarded Dickens as the best of all English novelists, and considered Copperfield to be his finest work, ranking the "Tempest" chapter (chapter 55, LV – the story of Ham and the storm and the shipwreck) the standard by which the world's great fiction should be judged. Henry James remembered hiding under a small table as a boy to hear instalments read by his mother. Dostoyevsky read it enthralled in a Siberian prison camp. Franz Kafka called his first book Amerika a "sheer imitation". James Joyce paid it reverence through parody in Ulysses. G.K.Chesterton wrote that he considered Copperfield "the best of all Dickens's books". Virginia Woolf, who normally had little regard for Dickens, confessed the durability of this one novel, belonging to "the memories and myths of life". It was Freud's favourite novel.

Characters in David Copperfield

David Copperfield – An optimistic, diligent, and persevering character, he is the protagonist. He is later called "Trotwood Copperfield" by some ("David Copperfield" is also the name of the hero's father, who dies before David is born). He has many nicknames: James Steerforth nicknames him "Daisy", Dora calls him "Doady", and his aunt refers to him, as a reference to his would-be sister (if he had been born a girl), in and on "Trot" – as in Betsey Trotwood Copperfield.

Clara Copperfield – David's kind mother, described as being innocently childish, who dies while David is at Salem House. She dies just after the birth of her second child (a son, Edward Murdstone junior), who dies along with her.

Peggotty – The faithful servant of the Copperfield family and a lifelong companion to David (referred to at times as Mrs. Barkis after her marriage to Mr. Barkis). Inherits £3,000—a large sum in the mid-19th century—when Mr. Barkis dies. After his death, she becomes Betsey Trotwood's servant.

Betsey Trotwood – David's eccentric and temperamental yet kindhearted great-aunt; she becomes his guardian after he runs away from Grinby and Murdstone's warehouse  in Blackfriars (London). She is present on the night of David's birth but leaves after hearing that Clara Copperfield's child is a boy instead of a girl, and is not seen until David is older and flees to her house in Dover from London.

Mr. Chillip – A shy, elderly, doctor who assists at David's birth and faces the wrath of Betsey Trotwood after he informs her that Clara's baby is a boy instead of a girl.

Mr. Barkis – An aloof carter who declares his intention to marry Peggotty. He says to David: " Tell her, 'Barkis is willin'! ' Just so." He is a bit of a miser, and hides his surprisingly vast liquid wealth in a plain box labelled "Old Clothes". He bequeaths to his wife the then astronomical sum of £3,000 when he dies about ten years later.

Edward Murdstone – Young David's cruel stepfather, who beats him for falling behind in his studies. David reacts by biting Mr Murdstone, who then sends him to Salem House, the private school owned by his friend Mr. Creakle. After David's mother dies, Mr Murdstone sends him to work in his factory in London, where he has to clean wine bottles. He appears at Betsey Trotwood's house after David runs away. Mr Murdstone appears to show signs of repentance when confronted with Copperfield's aunt about his treatment of Clara and David, but later in the book we hear he has married another young woman and applied his old principles of "firmness".

Jane Murdstone – Mr. Murdstone's equally cruel spinster sister, who moves into the Copperfield house after Mr. Murdstone marries Clara Copperfield. She is the "Confidential Friend" of David's first wife, Dora Spenlow, and encourages many of the problems that occur between David Copperfield and Dora's father, Mr. Spenlow. Later, she rejoins her brother and his new wife in a relationship very much like the one they had with David's mother.

Daniel Peggotty – Peggotty's brother; a humble but generous Yarmouth fisherman who takes his nephew Ham and niece Emily into his custody after each of them has been orphaned. After Emily's departure, he travels around the world in search of her. He eventually finds her in London, and after that they emigrate to Australia.

Emily (Little Em'ly) – A niece of Mr. Peggotty. She is a childhood friend of David Copperfield, who loves her in his childhood days. She leaves her cousin and fiancé, Ham, for Steerforth, but returns after Steerforth deserts her. She emigrates to Australia with Mr. Peggotty after being rescued from a London brothel.

Ham Peggotty – A good-natured nephew of Mr. Peggotty and the fiancé of Emily before she leaves him for Steerforth. He later loses his life while attempting to rescue a sailor, who happens to be Steerforth (and also drowns), from a shipwreck. His death is hidden from his family due to the fact that David does not want them to worry on the brink of their journey.

Mrs. Gummidge – The widow of Daniel Peggotty's partner in a boat. She is a self-described "lone, lorn creetur" who spends much of her time pining for "the old 'un" (her late husband). After Emily runs away from home with Steerforth, she changes her attitude to better comfort everyone around her and tries to be very caring and motherly. She too emigrates to Australia with Dan and the rest of the surviving family.

Martha Endell – A young woman of a bad reputation who helps Daniel Peggotty find his niece after she returns to London. She has worked as a prostitute, and been victim to the idea of suicide.

Mr. Creakle – The harsh headmaster of young David's boarding school, who is assisted by Tungay. Mr. Creakle is a friend of Mr. Murdstone. He singles out David for extra torment. Later he becomes a Middlesex magistrate, and is considered enlightened for his day.

.]]

James Steerforth – A close friend of David, he is of a romantic and charming disposition and has known David ever since his first days at Salem House. Although well liked by most, he proves himself to be lacking in character by seducing and later abandoning Little Em'ly. He eventually drowns at Yarmouth with Ham Peggotty, who had been trying to rescue him.

Tommy Traddles – David's friend from Salem House. They meet again later and become eventual lifelong friends. Traddles works hard but faces great obstacles because of his lack of money and connections. He eventually succeeds in making a name and a career for himself.

Wilkins Micawber – A gentle man who befriends David as a young boy. He suffers from much financial difficulty and even has to spend time in a debtor's prison, before moving to Plymouth. As an adult, Copperfield meets him again in London and eventually he emigrates to Australia where he enjoys a successful career as a sheep farmer and becomes a magistrate. He is based on Dickens' father, John Dickens.

Mr. Dick (Richard Babley) – A slightly deranged, rather childish but amiable man who lives with Betsey Trotwood; they are distant relatives. His madness is amply described in as much as that he claims to have the "trouble" of King Charles I in his head. He befriends David when he arrives at the Trotwood household.

Dr. Strong – The headmaster of David's Canterbury school, whom he visits on various occasions.

Anne Strong – The young wife of Dr. Strong. Although she remains loyal to him, she fears that he suspects that she is involved in an affair with Jack Maldon.

Jack Maldon – A cousin and childhood sweetheart of Anne Strong. He continues to bear affection for her and tries to seduce her into leaving Dr. Strong.

Mr. Wickfield – The widower father of Agnes Wickfield and lawyer to Betsey Trotwood. He is prone to alcoholism.

Agnes Wickfield – Mr. Wickfield's mature and lovely daughter and close friend of David since childhood. She later becomes David's second wife and mother of their children.

Uriah Heep – A wicked young man who serves first as secretary, and then as partner to Mr. Wickfield. He is finally discovered - by Wilkins Micawber - to have stolen money, and cheated Mr. Wickfield, while Mr. Wickfield was intoxicated. Uriah Heep is forced to return the money, but is not prosecuted by the Wickfields. He is later imprisoned for an (unrelated) attempted fraud on the Bank of England. He always talks of being "'umble" (humble) and nurtures a deep hatred of David Copperfield and many others.

Mrs. Steerforth – The wealthy widowed mother of James Steerforth. She herself is incredibly like her son.

Miss Dartle – A strange, vitriolic, spinster woman who lives with Mrs. Steerforth. She has a secret love for Steerforth and blames others such as Emily and even Steerforth's own mother for corrupting him. She is described as being extremely skinny and displays a visible scar on her lip caused by Steerforth in one of his violent rages as a child. She is also Steerforth's cousin.

Mr. Spenlow – An employer of David's during his days as a proctor and the father of Dora Spenlow. He dies suddenly of a heart attack while driving his phaeton home.

Dora Spenlow – The adorable but foolish daughter of Mr. Spenlow who becomes David's first wife. She is described as being impractical and with many similarities to David's mother. She dies after a long illness on the same day as her ageing dog, Jip.

Mr.Sharp – He was the chief teacher of Salem House and had more authority than Mr.Mell.He looked weak,both in health and character;his head seemed to be very heavy for him:he walked on one side.He had a big nose.

Mr.Mell – A tall, thin young man with hollow cheeks.His hair was dusty and dry too,with rather short sleeves and legs.

Film, TV, and theatrical adaptations

David Copperfield has been filmed on several occasions:

1911, directed by Theodore Marston

1913, directed by Thomas Bentley

1922, directed by A.W. Sandberg

1935, directed by George Cukor

1969, directed by Delbert Mann, featuring a who's who of English classical actors.

1974, directed by Joan Craft

1986, directed by Barry Letts, shown on BBC 1986/87

1999, shown on BBC – 25/26 December 1999

2000, directed by Peter Medak

David Copperfield (2006), play adaptation. Shown in theatres.

The numerous television adaptations of the novel include a 1966 version with Ian McKellen as David and a 1999 version with Daniel Radcliffe (of the Harry Potter film series) playing the younger David and Ciaran McMenamin as the older David. In this latter version, McKellen returns, this time playing the horrendous schoolmaster Creakle. There was a musical animated version in 1993, where the cast was animorphic animals (similar to Disney's Robin Hood) and starred Julian Lennon as the voice of David (a cat). A 2000 American TV film version featured Sally Field, Anthony Andrews, Paul Bettany, Edward Hardwicke, Michael Richards and Nigel Davenport with Hugh Dancy and Max Dolbey as the adult and boy Copperfield, respectively.

A play adaptation by Andrew Halliday was warmly approved by Dickens himself, and enjoyed a long run at Drury Lane. The novel was adapted for the unsuccessful musical Copperfield in 1981. Other versions were played in the early-twentieth century by the actor-managers Evelyn Millard and Bransby Williams (1923).

Publication

Like most of Charles Dickens's novels, David Copperfield was published in 19 monthly one-shilling instalments, containing 32 pages of text and two illustrations by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"), with the last being a double-number:

I – May 1849 (chapters 1–3);

II – June 1849 (chapters 4–6);

III – July 1849 (chapters 7–9);

IV – August 1849 (chapters 10–12);

V – September 1849 (chapters 13–15);

VI – October 1849 (chapters 16–18);

VII – November 1849 (chapters 19–21);

VIII – December 1849 (chapters 22–24);

IX – January 1850 (chapters 25–27);

X – February 1850 (chapters 28–31);

XI – March 1850 (chapters 32–34);

XII – April 1850 (chapters 35–37);

XIII – May 1850 (chapters 38–40);

XIV – June 1850 (chapters 41–43);

XV – July 1850 (chapters 44–46);

XVI – August 1850 (chapters 47–50);

XVII – September 1850 (chapters 51–53);

XVIII – October 1850 (chapters 54–57);

XIX-XX – November 1850 (chapters 58–64).

Release details

1850, UK, Bradbury & Evans ?, Pub date 1 May 1849 and 1 November 1850, Serial (first publication as serial)

1850, UK, Bradbury & Evans ?, Pub date ? ? 1850, Hardback (first book edition)

1981 (Reprinted 2003) UK, Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-812492-9 Hardback, Edited by Nina Burgis, The Clarendon Dickens (considered the definitive editions of Dickens's works) 781 pages

1990, USA, W W Norton & Co Ltd ISBN 0-393-95828-0, Pub date 31 January 1990, Hardback (Jerome H. Buckley (Editor), Norton Critical Edition – contains annotations, introduction, critical essays, bibliography and other material.)

1994, UK, Penguin Books Ltd ISBN 0-14-062026-5, Pub date 24 February 1994, Paperback

1999, UK, Oxford Paperbacks ISBN 0-19-283578-5, Pub date 11 February 1999, Paperback

:and many others

Notes

References

David Copperfield (Major Literary Characters series). Edited and with an Introduction by Harold Bloom. 255 pages. 1992 New York: Chelsea House Publishers

Graham Storey: David Copperfield – Interweaving Truth and Fiction (Twayne's Masterworks Studies). 111 pages. 1991 Boston: Twayne Publishers

Approaches to Teaching Dickens' David Copperfield. Edited by Richard J. Dunn. 162 pages. 1984 New York: The Modern Language Association of America

Barry Westburg: The Confessional Fictions of Charles Dickens. See pages 33 to 114. 1977 DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press

Catcher in The Rye, J.D. Salinger; Penguin 1951

Black Books -TV Series/DVD – Assembly Film and Television/Channel 4, 2002; Episode 2, Series 1 – 'Manny's First Day.'

External links

Online editions

David Copperfield at Internet Archive.

David Copperfield at Project Gutenberg.

David Copperfield, at Bartleby.com (HTML w/ additional commentary)

David Copperfield, at Librivox (audiobook)

Other

Information and analysis, Illustrations, Forums, and Select Resources on the novel

Analysis of the theme of David Copperfield and its characters.

List of over 50 characters.

David Copperfield: Cummings Study Guides

David Copperfield: Lectures d'une Oeuvre

David Copperfield: General Concordances

Category:1849 novels Category:Novels by Charles Dickens Category:British autobiographical novels Category:Novels first published in serial form Category:British bildungsromans Category:English novels Category:Victorian novels Category:England in fiction

Name	Uriah Heep
Series	David Copperfield
Caption	Drawing by Fred Barnard
Creator	Charles Dickens
Gender	Male
Occupation	Moneylender
Nationality	British

Uriah Heep is a fictional character created by Charles Dickens in his novel David Copperfield.

The character is notable for his cloying humility, obsequiousness, and insincerity, making frequent references to his own "'umbleness". His name has become synonymous with being a yes man. He is the central antagonist of the later part of the book.

In book

David first meets the 15-year-old Heep when he is living with Mr. Wickfield and his daughter Agnes, in chapter 15: :[Uriah's face] was quite as cadaverous as it had looked in the window, though in the grain of it there was that tinge of red which is sometimes to be observed in the skins of red-haired people. It belonged to a red-haired person—a youth of fifteen, as I take it now, but looking much older—whose hair was cropped as close as the closest stubble; who had hardly any eyebrows, and no eyelashes, and eyes of a red-brown, so unsheltered and unshaded, that I remember wondering how he went to sleep. He was high-shouldered and bony; dressed in decent black, with a white wisp of a neckcloth; buttoned up to the throat; and had a long, lank, skeleton hand, which particularly attracted my attention, as he stood at the pony's head, rubbing his chin with it, and looking up at us in the chaise.

Uriah has been employed as clerk to Wickfield for four years, since he was eleven. Uriah's father, who instilled him with the need to be humble, died when Uriah was ten, and for the first part of the novel he lives alone with his mother in their "umble abode". Copperfield takes an immediate and permanent dislike to Uriah, in spite of the latter's persistent, if insincere attempts to win his friendship. Uriah addresses Copperfield as "Master Copperfield" well into their adulthood, an indication of his true patronising view.

Uriah is repeatedly mentioned as ugly and repulsive, even in his youth - tall, lank and pale with red hair and lashless eyes. He may be albino, according to frequent mentions of his pale skin and red eyes, though this is never clearly stated. Dickens negatively emphasizes Uriah's movements as well, described as jerking and writhing; this leads some literary scholars to believe Dickens is describing a form of dystonia, a muscular disorder, to increase Uriah's snakelike character. Uriah explains in another part of the book that his ambition and greed are fueled by resentment from the double-standard of his schooling and from his treatment as a child, and by encouragement from his parents. As Uriah works for Wickfield for the next five or so years, he teaches himself law at night, and by blackmailing Mr. Wickfield, gains control over his business.

He eventually succeeds in having himself made a full partner in the business. His eventual ambition is to marry Agnes and gain control of the Wickfield fortune. Like most of Dickens' villains, greed is his main motivation. Heep is eventually stymied by Mr. Micawber and Tommy Traddles, with help from David and Agnes. Once his fraud and treachery are unmasked, he persists in hounding Micawber and Copperfield. Towards the end of the novel, he is last seen in Mr. Creakle’s prison where we find that he has returned to his "umble" ways, and puts himself forward as a model prisoner. He is said to be sentenced for transportation for life, which likely means he will eventually be sent to one of the penal colonies in Australia.

Origins

Much of David Copperfield is autobiographical and some scholars believe Heep's mannerisms and physical attributes to be based on Hans Christian Andersen whom Dickens met shortly before writing the novel. Uriah Heep's schemes and behaviour are more likely based on Thomas Powell, employer to a friend of Dickens, Thomas Chapman. Powell "...ingratiated himself into the Dickens household" and was discovered to be a forger and a thief, having embezzled £10,000 from his employer. He later attacked Dickens in pamphlets, calling particular attention to Dickens' social class and background. Powell was later deemed a lunatic.

The characteristics of grasping manipulation and insincerity can lead to a person being labelled "a Uriah Heep" as Lyndon Johnson is called in Robert Caro's biography. Seymour Fleming, a character in the play Babes in Arms, is also called thus. Author Philip Roth once compared President Richard Nixon to Uriah Heep. More recently, the historian Tony Judt used the term to describe Marshall Petain of French Vichy government shame.

Film and television

In film and television adaptations, the character has been played by, amongst others, Roland Young (1935), Colin Jeavons (1966), Ron Moody (1970), Martin Jarvis (1974), Paul Brightwell (1986), Nicholas Lyndhurst (1999), Frank MacCusker (2000) and Simon Pegg (2009).

Cultural references

The British rock band Uriah Heep is named after the character.

In the BBC television series Blake's 7, the computer character Slave was described by Peter Tuddenham, who voiced it, as "...a Uriah Heep type of character...."

References

External links

Information, Illustrations, Analysis, Select Resources on the novel

Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1850 Heep Heep

Name	Charles Dickens
Birth name	Charles John Huffam Dickens
Birth date	February 07, 1812
Birth place	Landport, Portsmouth, England
Death date	June 09, 1870
Death place	Gad's Hill Place, Higham, Kent, England
Death cause	Stroke
Resting place	Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey
Resting place coordinates
Nationality	British
Citizenship	UK
Other names	Boz
Notable works	Sketches by Boz, The Old Curiosity Shop, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, Barnaby Rudge, A Christmas Carol, Martin Chuzzlewit, A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, Hard Times, Our Mutual Friend, The Pickwick Papers
Occupation	Writer
Years active	1833–1870
Spouse	Catherine Thomson Hogarth
Children	Charles Dickens, Jr., Mary Dickens, Kate Perugini, Walter Landor Dickens, Francis, Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens, Sydney Smith Haldimand Dickens, Henry Fielding Dickens, Dora Annie Dickens, and Edward Dickens
Parents	John DickensElizabeth Dickens
Signature	Charles Dickens Signature.svg

Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was the most popular English novelist of the Victorian era, and he remains popular, responsible for some of English literature's most iconic characters.

Many of his novels, with their recurrent concern for social reform, first appeared in magazines in serialised form, a popular format at the time. Unlike other authors who completed entire novels before serialisation, Dickens often created the episodes as they were being serialised. The practice lent his stories a particular rhythm, punctuated by cliffhangers to keep the public looking forward to the next installment. The continuing popularity of his novels and short stories is such that they have never gone out of print.

His work has been praised for its realism, mastery of prose, comic genius and unique personalities by writers such as George Gissing, Leo Tolstoy, and G. K. Chesterton; though others, such as Henry James and Virginia Woolf, criticised it for sentimentality and implausibility.

Life

Early years

, Dickens's home 1817–1822]] Charles Dickens was born in 1812. Having spent the first three years of his life in Portsmouth, Hampshire, the family moved to London in 1815. His early years seem to have been idyllic, although he thought himself as a "very small and not-over-particularly-taken-care-of boy". He spent time outdoors, but also read voraciously, especially the picaresque novels of Tobias Smollett and Henry Fielding. He spoke, later in life, of his poignant memories of childhood, and of his near-photographic memory of the people and events, which he used in his writing. His father's brief period as a clerk in the Navy Pay Office afforded Charles a few years of private education at William Giles's School, in Chatham.

This period came to an abrupt end when John Dickens spent beyond his means and was imprisoned in the Marshalsea debtor's prison in Southwark, London. Shortly afterwards, the rest of his family joined him – except Charles, who boarded with family friend Elizabeth Roylance in Camden Town. Mrs. Roylance was "a reduced old lady, long known to our family", whom Dickens later immortalised, "with a few alterations and embellishments", as "Mrs. Pipchin", in Dombey and Son. Later, he lived in a "back-attic...at the house of an insolvent-court agent...in Lant Street in The Borough...he was a fat, good-natured, kind old gentleman, with a quiet old wife"; and he had a very innocent grown-up son; these three were the inspiration for the Garland family in The Old Curiosity Shop. around 1897, after it had closed]]

On Sundays, Dickens and his sister Fanny were allowed out from the Royal Academy of Music and spent the day at the Marshalsea. (Dickens later used the prison as a setting in Little Dorrit). To pay for his board and to help his family, Dickens began working ten-hour days at Warren's Blacking Warehouse, on Hungerford Stairs, near the present Charing Cross railway station. He earned six shillings a week pasting labels on shoe polish. The strenuous – and often cruel – work conditions made a deep impression on Dickens, and later influenced his fiction and essays, forming foundation of his interest in the reform of socio-economic and labour conditions, the rigors of which he believed were unfairly borne by the poor. As told to John Forster (from The Life of Charles Dickens):

The blacking-warehouse was the last house on the left-hand side of the way, at old Hungerford Stairs. It was a crazy, tumble-down old house, abutting of course on the river, and literally overrun with rats. Its wainscoted rooms, and its rotten floors and staircase, and the old grey rats swarming down in the cellars, and the sound of their squeaking and scuffling coming up the stairs at all times, and the dirt and decay of the place, rise up visibly before me, as if I were there again. The counting-house was on the first floor, looking over the coal-barges and the river. There was a recess in it, in which I was to sit and work. My work was to cover the pots of paste-blacking; first with a piece of oil-paper, and then with a piece of blue paper; to tie them round with a string; and then to clip the paper close and neat, all round, until it looked as smart as a pot of ointment from an apothecary's shop. When a certain number of grosses of pots had attained this pitch of perfection, I was to paste on each a printed label, and then go on again with more pots. Two or three other boys were kept at similar duty down-stairs on similar wages. One of them came up, in a ragged apron and a paper cap, on the first Monday morning, to show me the trick of using the string and tying the knot. His name was Bob Fagin; and I took the liberty of using his name, long afterwards, in Oliver Twist. "I had no advice, no counsel, no encouragement, no consolation, no assistance, no support, of any kind, from anyone, that I can call to mind, as I hope to go to heaven!" The Wellington House Academy was not a good school. 'Much of the haphazard, desultory teaching, poor discipline punctuated by the headmaster's sadistic brutality, the seedy ushers and general run-down atmosphere, are embodied in Mr. Creakle's Establishment in David Copperfield.' This education informed works such as Nicholas Nickleby, Dombey and Son, and especially Bleak House—whose vivid portrayal of the machinations and bureaucracy of the legal system did much to enlighten the general public, and was a vehicle for dissemination of Dickens's own views regarding, particularly, the heavy burden on the poor who were forced by circumstances to "go to law".

In 1830, Dickens met his first love, Maria Beadnell, thought to have been the model for the character Dora in David Copperfield. Maria's parents disapproved of the courtship and effectively ended the relationship by sending her to school in Paris.

Journalism and early novels

In 1833, Dickens' first story, A Dinner at Poplar Walk was published in the London periodical, Monthly Magazine. The following year he rented rooms at Furnival's Inn becoming a political journalist, reporting on parliamentary debate and travelling across Britain to cover election campaigns for the Morning Chronicle. His journalism, in the form of sketches in periodicals, formed his first collection of pieces Sketches by Boz, published in 1836. This led to the serialisation of his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, in March 1836. He continued to contribute to and edit journals throughout his literary career.

In 1836, Dickens accepted the job of editor of Bentley's Miscellany, a position he held for three years, until he fell out with the owner. At the same time, his success as a novelist continued, producing Oliver Twist (1837–39), Nicholas Nickleby (1838–39), The Old Curiosity Shop and, finally, Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty as part of the Master Humphrey's Clock series (1840–41)—all published in monthly instalments before being made into books. During this period Dickens kept a pet raven named Grip, which he had stuffed when it died in 1841. (it is now at the Free Library of Philadelphia).

On 2 April 1836, he married Catherine Thomson Hogarth (1816 – 1879), the daughter of George Hogarth, editor of the Evening Chronicle. After a brief honeymoon in Chalk, Kent, they set up home in Bloomsbury. They had ten children:

Charles Culliford Boz Dickens (C. C. B. Dickens), later known as Charles Dickens, Jr., editor of All the Year Round, and author of the Dickens's Dictionary of London (1879).

Mary Dickens

Kate Macready Dickens

Walter Landor Dickens

Francis Jeffrey Dickens

Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens

Sydney Smith Haldimand Dickens

Sir Henry Fielding Dickens

Dora Annie Dickens

Edward Dickens

Dickens and his family lived at 48 Doughty Street, London, (on which he had a three year lease at £80 a year) from 25 March 1837 until December 1839. Dickens's younger brother Frederick and Catherine's 17-year-old sister Mary moved in with them. Dickens became very attached to Mary, and she died in his arms after a brief illness in 1837. She became a character in many of his books, and her death is fictionalised as the death of Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop.

First visit to America

In 1842, Dickens and his wife made his first trip to the United States and Canada, a journey which was successful in spite of his support for the abolition of slavery. It is described in the travelogue American Notes for General Circulation and is also the basis of some of the episodes in Martin Chuzzlewit. Dickens includes in Notes a powerful condemnation of slavery, with "ample proof" of the "atrocities" he found. He called upon President John Tyler at the White House.

During his visit, Dickens spent a month in New York City, giving lectures, raising support for copyright laws, and recording many of his impressions of America. He met such luminaries as Washington Irving and William Cullen Bryant. On 14 February 1842, a Boz Ball was held in his honour at the Park Theater, with 3,000 guests. Among the neighbourhoods he visited were Five Points, Wall Street, The Bowery, and the prison known as The Tombs. At this time Georgina Hogarth, another sister of Catherine, joined the Dickens household, now living at Devonshire Terrace, Marylebone, to care for the young family they had left behind. She remained with them as housekeeper, organiser, adviser and friend until her brother-in-law's death in 1870.

Shortly thereafter, he began to show interest in Unitarian Christianity, although he remained an Anglican for the rest of his life. Dickens's work continued to be popular, especially A Christmas Carol written in 1843, which was reputedly a potboiler written in a matter of weeks to meet the expenses of his wife's fifth pregnancy. After living briefly abroad in Italy (1844) and Switzerland (1846), Dickens continued his success with Dombey and Son (1848) and David Copperfield (1849–50).

Philanthropy

In May 1846, Angela Burdett Coutts, heir to the Coutts banking fortune, approached Dickens about setting up a home for the redemption of "fallen" women. Coutts envisioned a home that would differ from existing institutions, which offered a harsh and punishing regimen for these women, and instead provide an environment where they could learn to read and write and become proficient in domestic household chores so as to re-integrate them into society. After initially resisting, Dickens eventually founded the home, named Urania Cottage, in the Lime Grove section of Shepherds Bush. He became involved in many aspects of its day-to-day running, setting the house rules, reviewing the accounts and interviewing prospective residents, some of whom became characters in his books. He would scour prisons and workhouses for potentially suitable candidates and relied on friends, such as the Magistrate John Hardwick to bring them to his attention. Each potential candidate was given a printed invitation written by Dickens called ‘An Appeal to Fallen Women’, which he signed only as ‘Your friend’. If the woman accepted the invitation, Dickens would personally interview her for admission. All of the women were required to emigrate following their time at Urania Cottage. In research published in 2009, the families of two of these women were identified, one in Canada and one in Australia. It is estimated that about 100 women graduated between 1847 and 1859. , 1855. Dickens wrote to John Forster of the experience: "I can scarcely express how uneasy and unsettled it makes me to sit, sit, sit, with Little Dorrit on my mind."]] In late November 1851, Dickens moved into Tavistock House where he would write Bleak House (1852–53), Hard Times (1854) and Little Dorrit (1857). It was here he got up the amateur theatricals which are described in Forster's Life.

Middle years

In 1856, his income from his writing allowed him to buy Gad's Hill Place in Higham, Kent. As a child, Dickens had walked past the house and dreamed of living in it. The area was also the scene of some of the events of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 and this literary connection pleased him.

In 1857, Dickens hired professional actresses for the play The Frozen Deep, which he and his protégé Wilkie Collins had written. With one of these, Ellen Ternan, Dickens formed a bond which was to last the rest of his life. He then separated from his wife, Catherine, in 1858 – divorce was still unthinkable for someone as famous as he was.

During this period, whilst pondering about giving public readings for his own profit, Dickens was approached by Great Ormond Street Hospital to help it survive its first major financial crisis through a charitable appeal. Dickens, whose philanthropy was well-known, was asked to preside by his friend, the hospital's founder Charles West. He threw himself into the task, heart and soul (a little known fact is that Dickens reported anonymously in the weekly The Examiner in 1849 to help mishandled children and wrote another article to help publicise the hospital's opening in 1852). On 9 February 1858, Dickens spoke at the hospital's first annual festival dinner at Freemasons' Hall and later gave a public reading of A Christmas Carol at St. Martin-in-the-Fields church hall. The events raised enough money to enable the hospital to purchase the neighbouring house, No. 48 Great Ormond Street, increasing the bed capacity from 20 to 75.

That summer of 1858, after separating from his wife, Dickens undertook his first series of public readings in London for pay which ended on 22 July. After 10 days rest, he began a gruelling and ambitious tour through the English provinces, Scotland and Ireland, beginning with a performance in Clifton on 2 August and closing in Brighton, more than three months later, on 13 November. Altogether he read eighty-seven times, on some days giving both a matinée and an evening performance. Major works, A Tale of Two Cities (1859); and Great Expectations (1861) soon followed and would prove resounding successes. During this time he was also the publisher and editor of, and a major contributor to, the journals Household Words (1850–1859) and All the Year Round (1858–1870).

In early September 1860, in a field behind Gad's Hill, Dickens made a great bonfire of nearly his entire correspondence. Only those letters on business matters were spared. Since Ellen Ternan burned all of his letters as well, the dimensions of the affair between the two were unknown until the publication of Dickens and Daughter, a book about Dickens's relationship with his daughter Kate, in 1939. Kate Dickens worked with author Gladys Storey on the book prior to her death in 1929, and alleged that Dickens and Ternan had a son who died in infancy, though no contemporary evidence exists. On his death, Dickens settled an annuity on Ternan which made her a financially independent woman. Claire Tomalin's book, The Invisible Woman, set out to prove that Ternan lived with Dickens secretly for the last 13 years of his life, and was subsequently turned into a play, Little Nell, by Simon Gray.

In the same period, Dickens furthered his interest in the paranormal, so much that he was one of the early members of The Ghost Club.

Franklin incident

A recurring theme in Dickens's writing reflected the public's interest in Arctic exploration: the heroic friendship between explorers John Franklin and John Richardson gave the idea for A Tale of Two Cities, The Wreck of the Golden Mary and the play The Frozen Deep.

After Franklin died in unexplained circumstances on an expedition to find the North West Passage, Dickens wrote a piece in Household Words defending his hero against the discovery in 1854, some four years after the search began, of evidence that Franklin's men had, in their desperation, resorted to cannibalism. Without adducing any supporting evidence he speculates that, far from resorting to cannibalism amongst themselves, the members of the expedition may have been "set upon and slain by the Esquimaux ... We believe every savage to be in his heart covetous, treacherous, and cruel."

Last years

On 9 June 1865, while returning from Paris with Ternan, Dickens was involved in the Staplehurst rail crash. The first seven carriages of the train plunged off a cast iron bridge under repair. The only first-class carriage to remain on the track was the one in which Dickens was travelling. Dickens tried to help the wounded and the dying before rescuers arrived. Before leaving, he remembered the unfinished manuscript for Our Mutual Friend, and he returned to his carriage to retrieve it. Typically, Dickens later used this experience as material for his short ghost story The Signal-Man in which the central character has a premonition of his own death in a rail crash. He based the story around several previous rail accidents, such as the Clayton Tunnel rail crash of 1861.

Dickens managed to avoid an appearance at the inquest, to avoid disclosing that he had been travelling with Ternan and her mother, which would have caused a scandal. Although physically unharmed, Dickens never really recovered from the trauma of the Staplehurst crash, and his normally prolific writing shrank to completing Our Mutual Friend and starting the unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Much of his time was taken up with public readings from his best-loved novels. Dickens was fascinated by the theatre as an escape from the world, and theatres and theatrical people appear in Nicholas Nickleby. The travelling shows were extremely popular. In 1866, a series of public readings were undertaken in England and Scotland. The following year saw more readings in England and Ireland. , New York, 1867]]

Second visit to America

On 9 November 1867, Dickens sailed from Liverpool for his second American reading tour. Landing at Boston, he devoted the rest of the month to a round of dinners with such notables as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his American publisher James Thomas Fields. In early December, the readings began and Dickens spent the month shuttling between Boston and New York. Although he had started to suffer from what he called the "true American catarrh", he kept to a schedule that would have challenged a much younger man, even managing to squeeze in some sleighing in Central Park. In New York, he gave 22 readings at Steinway Hall between 9 December 1867 and 18 April 1868, and four at Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims between 16 January and 21 January 1868. During his travels, he saw a significant change in the people and the circumstances of America. His final appearance was at a banquet the American Press held in his honour at Delmonico's on 18 April, when he promised to never denounce America again. By the end of the tour, the author could hardly manage solid food, subsisting on champagne and eggs beaten in sherry. On 23 April, he boarded his ship to return to Britain, barely escaping a Federal Tax Lien against the proceeds of his lecture tour. After further provincial readings were cancelled, he began work on his final novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. In an opium den in Shadwell, he witnessed an elderly pusher known as "Opium Sal", who subsequently featured in his mystery novel. dated 4 Feb. 1869; two months before he suffered a mild stroke]] When he had regained sufficient strength, Dickens arranged, with medical approval, for a final series of readings at least partially to make up to his sponsors what they had lost due of his illness. There were to be twelve performances, running between 11 January and 15 March 1870, the last taking place at 8:00 pm at St. James's Hall in London. Although in grave health by this time, he read A Christmas Carol and The Trial from Pickwick. On 2 May, he made his last public appearance at a Royal Academy Banquet in the presence of the Prince and Princess of Wales, paying a special tribute to the passing of his friend, illustrator Daniel Maclise.

Death

On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home, after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. The next day, on 9 June, and five years to the day after the Staplehurst crash, he died at Gad's Hill Place never having regained consciousness. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner", he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." Dickens's last words, as reported in his obituary in The Times were alleged to have been:

Be natural my children. For the writer that is natural has fullfilled all the rules of art.

On Sunday, 19 June 1870, five days after Dickens's interment in the Abbey, Dean Arthur Penrhyn Stanley delivered a memorial elegy, lauding "the genial and loving humorist whom we now mourn", for showing by his own example "that even in dealing with the darkest scenes and the most degraded characters, genius could still be clean, and mirth could be innocent." Pointing to the fresh flowers that adorned the novelist's grave, Stanley assured those present that "the spot would thenceforth be a sacred one with both the New World and the Old, as that of the representative of literature, not of this island only, but of all who speak our English tongue."

Dickens's will stipulated that no memorial be erected to honour him. The only life-size bronze statue of Dickens, cast in 1891 by Francis Edwin Elwell, is located in Clark Park in the Spruce Hill neighbourhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. The couch on which he died is preserved at the Dickens Birthplace Museum in Portsmouth.

Literary style

Dickens loved the style of the 18th century picturesque or Gothic romance novels, although it had already become a target for parody. One "character" vividly drawn throughout his novels is London itself. From the coaching inns on the outskirts of the city to the lower reaches of the Thames, all aspects of the capital are described over the course of his body of work.

His writing style is florid and poetic, with a strong comic touch. His satires of British aristocratic snobbery—he calls one character the "Noble Refrigerator"—are often popular. Comparing orphans to stocks and shares, people to tug boats, or dinner-party guests to furniture are just some of Dickens's acclaimed flights of fancy. Many of his characters' names provide the reader with a hint as to the roles played in advancing the storyline, such as Mr. Murdstone in the novel David Copperfield, which is clearly a combination of "murder" and stony coldness. His literary style is also a mixture of fantasy and realism.

Characters

, portraying Dickens at his desk at Gads Hill Place surrounded by many of his characters]]

Dickens is famed for his depiction of the hardships of the working class, his intricate plots, and his sense of humour. But he is perhaps most famed for the characters he created. His novels were heralded early in his career for their ability to capture the everyday man and thus create characters to whom readers could relate. Beginning with The Pickwick Papers in 1836, Dickens wrote numerous novels, each uniquely filled with believable personalities and vivid physical descriptions. Dickens's friend and biographer, John Forster, said that Dickens made "characters real existences, not by describing them but by letting them describe themselves."

Dickensian characters—especially their typically whimsical names—are among the most memorable in English literature. The likes of Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley, Bob Cratchit, Oliver Twist, The Artful Dodger, Fagin, Bill Sikes, Pip, Miss Havisham, Charles Darnay, David Copperfield, Mr. Micawber, Abel Magwitch, Daniel Quilp, Samuel Pickwick, Wackford Squeers, Uriah Heep and many others are so well known and can be believed to be living a life outside the novels that their stories have been continued by other authors.

The author worked closely with his illustrators supplying them with a summary of the work at the outset and thus ensuring that his characters and settings were exactly how he envisioned them. He would brief the illustrator on plans for each month's instalment so that work could begin before he wrote them. Marcus Stone, illustrator of Our Mutual Friend, recalled that the author was always "ready to describe down to the minutest details the personal characteristics, and ... life-history of the creations of his fancy."

Autobiographical elements

All authors might be said to incorporate autobiographical elements in their fiction, but with Dickens this is very noticeable, even though he took pains to mask what he considered his shameful, lowly past. David Copperfield is one of the most clearly autobiographical but the scenes from Bleak House of interminable court cases and legal arguments are drawn from the author's brief career as a court reporter. Dickens's own father was sent to prison for debt, and this became a common theme in many of his books, with the detailed depiction of life in the Marshalsea prison in Little Dorrit resulting from Dickens's own experiences of the institution. Childhood sweethearts in many of his books (such as Little Em'ly in David Copperfield) may have been based on Dickens's own childhood infatuation with Lucy Stroughill. Dickens may have drawn on his childhood experiences, but he was also ashamed of them and would not reveal that this was where he gathered his realistic accounts of squalor. Very few knew the details of his early life until six years after his death when John Forster published a biography on which Dickens had collaborated.

Episodic writing

As noted above, most of Dickens's major novels were first written in monthly or weekly installments in journals such as Master Humphrey's Clock and Household Words, later reprinted in book form. These instalments made the stories cheap, accessible and the series of regular cliff-hangers made each new episode widely anticipated. American fans even waited at the docks in New York, shouting out to the crew of an incoming ship, "Is little Nell dead?" Part of Dickens's great talent was to incorporate this episodic writing style but still end up with a coherent novel at the end. The monthly numbers were illustrated by, amongst others, "Phiz" (a pseudonym for Hablot Browne). Among his best-known works are Great Expectations, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, Bleak House, Nicholas Nickleby, The Pickwick Papers, and A Christmas Carol. , 7 December 1867]]

Dickens's technique of writing in monthly or weekly instalments (depending on the work) can be understood by analysing his relationship with his illustrators. The several artists who filled this role were privy to the contents and intentions of Dickens's instalments before the general public. Thus, by reading these correspondences between author and illustrator, the intentions behind Dickens's work can be better understood. These also reveal how the interests of the reader and author do not coincide. A great example of that appears in the monthly novel Oliver Twist. At one point in this work, Dickens had Oliver become embroiled in a robbery. That particular monthly instalment concludes with young Oliver being shot. Readers expected that they would be forced to wait only a month to find out the outcome of that gunshot. In fact, Dickens did not reveal what became of young Oliver in the succeeding number. Rather, the reading public was forced to wait two months to discover if the boy lived.

Another important impact of Dickens's episodic writing style resulted from his exposure to the opinions of his readers. Since Dickens did not write the chapters very far ahead of their publication, he was allowed to witness the public reaction and alter the story depending on those public reactions. A fine example of this process can be seen in his weekly serial The Old Curiosity Shop, which is a chase story. In this novel, Nell and her grandfather are fleeing the villain Quilp. The progress of the novel follows the gradual success of that pursuit. As Dickens wrote and published the weekly instalments, his friend John Forster pointed out: "You know you're going to have to kill her, don't you?" Why this end was necessary can be explained by a brief analysis of the difference between the structure of a comedy versus a tragedy. In a comedy, the action covers a sequence "You think they're going to lose, you think they're going to lose, they win". In tragedy, it is: "You think they're going to win, you think they're going to win, they lose". The dramatic conclusion of the story is implicit throughout the novel. So, as Dickens wrote the novel in the form of a tragedy, the sad outcome of the novel was a foregone conclusion. If he had not caused his heroine to lose, he would not have completed his dramatic structure. Dickens admitted that his friend Forster was right and, in the end, Nell died.

Social commentary

Dickens's novels were, among other things, works of social commentary. He was a fierce critic of the poverty and social stratification of Victorian society. Dickens's second novel, Oliver Twist (1839), shocked readers with its images of poverty and crime and was responsible for the clearing of the actual London slum, Jacob's Island, that was the basis of the story. In addition, with the character of the tragic prostitute, Nancy, Dickens "humanised" such women for the reading public; women who were regarded as "unfortunates", inherently immoral casualties of the Victorian class/economic system. Bleak House and Little Dorrit elaborated expansive critiques of the Victorian institutional apparatus: the interminable lawsuits of the Court of Chancery that destroyed people's lives in Bleak House and a dual attack in Little Dorrit on inefficient, corrupt patent offices and unregulated market speculation.

Literary techniques

Dickens is often described as using 'idealised' characters and highly sentimental scenes to contrast with his caricatures and the ugly social truths he reveals. The story of Nell Trent in The Old Curiosity Shop (1841) was received as incredibly moving by contemporary readers but viewed as ludicrously sentimental by Oscar Wilde. "You would need to have a heart of stone", he declared in one of his famous witticisms, "not to laugh at the death of little Nell." (although her death actually takes place off-stage). In 1903 G. K. Chesterton said, "It is not the death of little Nell, but the life of little Nell, that I object to."

In Oliver Twist Dickens provides readers with an idealised portrait of a boy so inherently and unrealistically 'good' that his values are never subverted by either brutal orphanages or coerced involvement in a gang of young pickpockets. While later novels also centre on idealised characters (Esther Summerson in Bleak House and Amy Dorrit in Little Dorrit), this idealism serves only to highlight Dickens's goal of poignant social commentary. Many of his novels are concerned with social realism, focusing on mechanisms of social control that direct people's lives (for instance, factory networks in Hard Times and hypocritical exclusionary class codes in Our Mutual Friend).Dickens also employs incredible coincidences (e.g., Oliver Twist turns out to be the lost nephew of the upper class family that randomly rescues him from the dangers of the pickpocket group). Such coincidences are a staple of eighteenth century picaresque novels such as Henry Fielding's Tom Jones that Dickens enjoyed so much. But, to Dickens, these were not just plot devices but an index of the humanism that led him to believe that good wins out in the end and often in unexpected ways.

Legacy

, Pennsylvania]]A well-known personality, his novels proved immensely popular during his lifetime. His first full novel, The Pickwick Papers (1837), brought him immediate fame, and this success continued throughout his career. Although rarely departing greatly from his typical "Dickensian" method of always attempting to write a great "story" in a somewhat conventional manner (the dual narrators of Bleak House constitute a notable exception), he experimented with varied themes, characterisations, and genres. Some of these experiments achieved more popularity than others, and the public's taste and appreciation of his many works have varied over time. Usually keen to give his readers what they wanted, the monthly or weekly publication of his works in episodes meant that the books could change as the story proceeded at the whim of the public. Good examples of this are the American episodes in Martin Chuzzlewit which Dickens included in response to lower-than-normal sales of the earlier chapters. Dickens continues to be one of the best known and most read of English authors, and his works have never gone out of print. Many of his works were adapted for the stage during his own lifetime and as early as 1913 a silent film of The Pickwick Papers was made. His characters were often so memorable that they took on a life of their own outside his books. Gamp became a slang expression for an umbrella from the character Mrs. Gamp and Pickwickian, Pecksniffian, and Gradgrind all entered dictionaries due to Dickens's original portraits of such characters who were quixotic, hypocritical, or emotionlessly logical. Sam Weller, the carefree and irreverent valet of The Pickwick Papers, was an early superstar, perhaps better known than his author at first. It is likely that A Christmas Carol stands as his best-known story, with new adaptations almost every year. It is also the most-filmed of Dickens's stories, with many versions dating from the early years of cinema. This simple morality tale with both pathos and its theme of redemption, sums up (for many) the true meaning of Christmas. Indeed, it eclipses all other Yuletide stories in not only popularity, but in adding archetypal figures (Scrooge, Tiny Tim, the Christmas ghosts) to the Western cultural consciousness. A prominent phrase from the tale, 'Merry Christmas', was popularised following the appearance of the story. The term Scrooge became a synonym for miser, with 'Bah! Humbug!' dismissive of the festive spirit. Novelist William Makepeace Thackeray called the book "a national benefit, and to every man and woman who reads it a personal kindness". Some historians claim the book significantly redefined the "spirit" and importance of Christmas, and initiated a rebirth of seasonal merriment after Puritan authorities in 17th century England and America suppressed pagan rituals associated with the holiday. According to the historian Ronald Hutton, the current state of the observance of Christmas is largely the result of a mid-Victorian revival of the holiday spearheaded by A Christmas Carol. Dickens sought to construct Christmas as a family-centred festival of generosity, in contrast to the community-based and church-centred observations, the observance of which had dwindled during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Superimposing his secular vision of the holiday, Dickens influenced many aspects of Christmas that are celebrated today among Western nations, such as family gatherings, seasonal food and drink, dancing, games, and a festive generosity of spirit. A Christmas Carol rejuvenated his career as a renowned author. A Tale of Two Cities is Dickens best selling novel. Since its inaugural publication in 1859, the novel has sold over 200 million copies, and is among the most famous works of fiction.

in Tavistock Square, London, commemorating Dickens and Tavistock House]] At a time when Britain was the major economic and political power of the world, Dickens highlighted the life of the forgotten poor and disadvantaged at the heart of empire. Through his journalism he campaigned on specific issues—such as sanitation and the workhouse—but his fiction probably demonstrated its greatest prowess in changing public opinion in regard to class inequalities. He often depicted the exploitation and repression of the poor and condemned the public officials and institutions that not only allowed such abuses to exist, but flourished as a result. His most strident indictment of this condition is in Hard Times (1854), Dickens's only novel-length treatment of the industrial working class. In this work, he uses both vitriol and satire to illustrate how this marginalised social stratum was termed "Hands" by the factory owners; that is, not really "people" but rather only appendages of the machines that they operated. His writings inspired others, in particular journalists and political figures, to address such problems of class oppression. For example, the prison scenes in The Pickwick Papers are claimed to have been influential in having the Fleet Prison shut down. As Karl Marx said, Dickens, and the other novelists of Victorian England, "...issued to the world more political and social truths than have been uttered by all the professional politicians, publicists and moralists put together...". The exceptional popularity of his novels, even those with socially oppositional themes (Bleak House, 1853; Little Dorrit, 1857; Our Mutual Friend, 1865) underscored not only his almost preternatural ability to create compelling storylines and unforgettable characters, but also ensured that the Victorian public confronted issues of social justice that had commonly been ignored.

His fiction, with often vivid descriptions of life in nineteenth century England, has inaccurately and anachronistically come to symbolise on a global level Victorian society (1837 – 1901) as uniformly "Dickensian", when in fact, his novels' time span spanned from the 1770s to the 1860s. In the decade following his death in 1870, a more intense degree of socially and philosophically pessimistic perspectives invested British fiction; such themes stood in marked contrast to the religious faith that ultimately held together even the bleakest of Dickens's novels. Dickens clearly influenced later Victorian novelists such as Thomas Hardy and George Gissing; their works display a greater willingness to confront and challenge the Victorian institution of religion. They also portray characters caught up by social forces (primarily via lower-class conditions), but they usually steered them to tragic ends beyond their control.

Novelists continue to be influenced by his books; for instance, such disparate current writers as Anne Rice, Tom Wolfe, and John Irving evidence direct Dickensian connections. Humorist James Finn Garner even wrote a tongue-in-cheek "politically correct" version of A Christmas Carol, and other affectionate parodies include the Radio 4 comedy Bleak Expectations. Matthew Pearl's novel The Last Dickens is a thriller about how Charles Dickens would have ended The Mystery of Edwin Drood. In the UK survey entitled The Big Read carried out by the BBC in 2003, five of Dickens' books were named in the Top 100, featuring alongside Terry Pratchett with the most.

Although Dickens's life has been the subject of at least two TV miniseries, a television film The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens in which he was portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, and two famous one-man shows, he has never been the subject of a Hollywood big screen biography.

Allegations of anti-Semitism and racism

waits to be hanged.]] Paul Vallely writes in The Independent that Dickens's Fagin in Oliver Twist —the Jew who runs a school in London for child pickpockets—is widely seen as one of the most grotesque Jews in English literature, and the most vivid of Dickens's 989 characters.

The mud lay thick upon the stones, and a black mist hung over the streets; the rain fell sluggishly down, and everything felt cold and clammy to the touch. It seemed just the night when it befitted such a being as the Jew to be abroad. As he glided stealthily along, creeping beneath the shelter of the walls and doorways, the hideous old man seemed like some loathsome reptile, engendered in the slime and darkness through which he moved, crawling forth by night in search of some rich offal for a meal.

The character is thought to have been partly based on Ikey Solomon, a 19th century Jewish criminal in London, who was interviewed by Dickens during the latter's time as a journalist. Nadia Valdman, who writes about the portrayal of Jews in literature, argues that Fagin's representation was drawn from the image of the Jew as inherently evil, that the imagery associated him with the Devil, and with beasts.

The novel refers to Fagin 257 times in the first 38 chapters as "the Jew", while the ethnicity or religion of the other characters is not mentioned. In 1868, alluding to the then poor intellectual condition of the black population in America, Dickens railed against "the mechanical absurdity of giving these people votes", which "at any rate at present, would glare out of every roll of their eyes, chuckle in their mouths, and bump in their heads." is a "double-dyed traitor, and a most infernal villain" who takes part in a massacre of women and children, in an allusion to the Cawnpore Massacre. Dickens was much incensed by the massacre, in which over a hundred English prisoners, most of them women and children, were killed, and on 4 October 1857 wrote in a private letter to Baroness Burdett-Coutts: "I wish I were the Commander in Chief in India. ... I should do my utmost to exterminate the Race upon whom the stain of the late cruelties rested ... proceeding, with all convenient dispatch and merciful swiftness of execution, to blot it out of mankind and raze it off the face of the earth."

Perils greatly influenced the cultural reaction from English writers to the mutiny, by attributing guilt so as to portray the British as victims, and the Indians as villains. Contemporary literary critic Arthur Quiller-Couch praised Dickens for eschewing any real-life depiction of the incident, for fear of inflaming his "raging mad" readership further, in favour of a romantic story "empty of racial or propagandist hatred". A modern inference is that it was his son's position in India, there on military service, at the mercy of inept imperial leaders who misunderstood conquered people, that may have influenced his reluctance to set Perils in India, for fear that his criticism may antagonise the son's superiors.

Names: 'Dickens' and 'Boz'

, Sketches by Boz, written by Dickens with illustrations by George Cruikshank, 1837.]] Charles Dickens had, as a contemporary critic put it, a "queer name". The name Dickens was used in interjective exclamations like "What the Dickens!" as a substitute for "devil". It was recorded in the OED as originating from Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. It was also used as a substitute for "deuce" as in the phrase "to play the Dickens" in the meaning "to play havoc/mischief".

'Boz' was Dickens' occasional pen-name, but was a familiar name in the Dickens household long before Charles became a famous author. It was actually taken from his youngest brother Augustus Dickens' family nickname 'Moses', given to him in honour of one of the brothers in The Vicar of Wakefield (one of the most widely read novels during the early 19th century). When playfully pronounced through the nose 'Moses' became 'Boses', and was later shortened to 'Boz' – pronounced through the nose with a long vowel 'o'.

Siblings

Frances (Fanny) Elizabeth Dickens 1810–1848

Letitia Dickens 1816–1893

Harriet Dickens 1819–1824

Frederick Dickens

Alfred Lamert Dickens

Augustus Newnham Dickens

Adaptations of readings

There have been several performances of Dickens readings by Emlyn Williams, Bransby Williams, Clive Francis performing the John Mortimer adaptation of A Christmas Carol and also Simon Callow in the Mystery of Charles Dickens by Peter Ackroyd. Entertainer Mike Randall re-enacts Dickens's readings (in character as Dickens) for a series of shows known as "Charles Dickens Presents A Christmas Carol," primarily in his home region in Western New York.

Museums and festivals

in Broadstairs, Kent, where Dickens wrote some of his novels]] , Cumbria.]]

There are museums and festivals celebrating Dickens's life and works in many of the towns with which he was associated.

The Charles Dickens Museum, in Doughty Street, Holborn is the only one of Dickens's London homes to survive. He lived there only two years but in that time wrote The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby. It contains a major collection of manuscripts, original furniture and memorabilia.

Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum in Portsmouth is the house in which Dickens was born. It has been re-furnished in the likely style of 1812 and contains Dickens memorabilia.

The Dickens House Museum in Broadstairs, Kent is the house of Miss Mary Pearson Strong, the basis for Miss Betsey Trotwood in David Copperfield. It is visible across the bay from the original Bleak House (also a museum until 2005) where David Copperfield was written. The museum contains memorabilia, general Victoriana and some of Dickens's letters. Broadstairs has held a Dickens Festival annually since 1937.

The Charles Dickens Centre in Eastgate House, Rochester, closed in 2004, but the garden containing the author's Swiss chalet is still open. The 16th century house, which appeared as Westgate House in The Pickwick Papers and the Nun's House in Edwin Drood, is now used as a wedding venue. The city's annual Dickens Festival (summer) and Dickensian Christmas celebrations continue unaffected. Summer Dickens is held at the end of May or in the first few days of June, it commences with an invitation only ball on the Thursday and then continues with street entertainment, and many costumed characters, on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Christmas Dickens is the first weekend in December- Saturday and Sunday only. Dickens World themed attraction, covering , and including a cinema and restaurants, opened in Chatham on 25 May 2007. It stands on a small part of the site of the former naval dockyard where Dickens's father had once worked in the Navy Pay Office.

Dickens festivals are also held across the world. Four notable ones in the United States are:

The Riverside Dickens Festival in Riverside, California, includes literary studies as well as entertainments.

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair has been held in San Francisco, California, since the 1970s. During the four or five weekends before Christmas, over 500 costumed performers mingle with and entertain thousands of visitors amidst the recreated full-scale blocks of Dickensian London in over of public area. This is the oldest, largest, and most successful of the modern Dickens festivals outside England. Many (including the Martin Harris who acts in the Rochester festival and flies out from London to play Scrooge every year in SF) say it is the most impressive in the world.

Dickens on The Strand in Galveston, Texas, is a holiday festival held on the first weekend in December since 1974, where bobbies, Beefeaters and the "Queen" herself are on hand to recreate the Victorian London of Charles Dickens. Many festival volunteers and attendees dress in Victorian attire and bring the world of Dickens to life.

The Greater Port Jefferson-Northern Brookhaven Arts Council holds a Dickens Festival in the Village of Port Jefferson, New York each year. In 2009, the Dickens Festival was 4 December, 5 December and 6 December. It includes many events, along with a troupe of street performers who bring an authentic Dickensian atmosphere to the town.

Other memorials

Charles Dickens was commemorated on the Series E £10 note issued by the Bank of England which was in circulation in the UK between 1992 and 2003. Dickens appeared on the reverse of the note accompanied by a scene from The Pickwick Papers.

Notable works

Charles Dickens published over a dozen major novels, a large number of short stories (including a number of Christmas-themed stories), a handful of plays, and several non-fiction books. Dickens's novels were initially serialised in weekly and monthly magazines, then reprinted in standard book formats.

Novels

{| |- | valign="top" | The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (Monthly serial, April 1836 to November 1837)

The Adventures of Oliver Twist (Monthly serial in Bentley's Miscellany, February 1837 to April 1839)

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Monthly serial, April 1838 to October 1839)

The Old Curiosity Shop (Weekly serial in Master Humphrey's Clock, 25 April 1840, to 6 February 1841)

Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty (Weekly serial in Master Humphrey's Clock, 13 February 1841, to 27 November 1841)

The Christmas books:

* A Christmas Carol (1843)

* The Chimes (1844)

* The Cricket on the Hearth (1845)

* The Battle of Life (1846)

* The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain (1848)

The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (Monthly serial, January 1843 to July 1844)

| valign="top" |

Dombey and Son (Monthly serial, October 1846 to April 1848)

David Copperfield (Monthly serial, May 1849 to November 1850)

Bleak House (Monthly serial, March 1852 to September 1853)

Hard Times: For These Times (Weekly serial in Household Words, 1 April 1854, to 12 August 1854)

Little Dorrit (Monthly serial, December 1855 to June 1857)

A Tale of Two Cities (Weekly serial in All the Year Round, 30 April 1859, to 26 November 1859)

Great Expectations (Weekly serial in All the Year Round, 1 December 1860 to 3 August 1861)

Our Mutual Friend (Monthly serial, May 1864 to November 1865)

The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Monthly serial, April 1870 to September 1870. Only six of twelve planned numbers completed)

|}

Short story collections

Sketches by Boz (1836)

The Mudfog Papers (1837) in Bentley's Miscellany magazine

Reprinted Pieces (1861)

The Uncommercial Traveller (1860–1869)

{| |- | valign="top" | Christmas numbers of Household Words magazine:

What Christmas Is, as We Grow Older (1851)

A Round of Stories by the Christmas Fire (1852)

Another Round of Stories by the Christmas Fire (1853)

The Seven Poor Travellers (1854)

The Holly-Tree Inn (1855)

The Wreck of the "Golden Mary" (1856)

The Perils of Certain English Prisoners (1857)

A House to Let (1858)

| valign="top" | Christmas numbers of All the Year Round magazine:

The Haunted House (1859)

A Message From the Sea (1860)

Tom Tiddler's Ground (1861)

Somebody's Luggage (1862)

Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings (1863)

Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy (1864)

Doctor Marigold's Prescriptions (1865)

Mugby Junction (1866)

No Thoroughfare (1867)

|}

Selected non-fiction, poetry, and plays

{| |- | valign="top" |

The Village Coquettes (Plays, 1836)

The Fine Old English Gentleman (poetry, 1841)

Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi (1838)

American Notes: For General Circulation (1842)

Pictures from Italy (1846)

| valign="top" |

The Life of Our Lord: As written for his children (1849)

A Child's History of England (1853)

The Frozen Deep (play, 1857)

Speeches, Letters and Sayings (1870)

|}

Notes

References

Ackroyd, Peter, Dickens, (2002), Vintage, ISBN 0099437090

Drabble, Margaret (ed.), The Oxford Companion to English Literature, (1997), Oxford University Press

Glavin, John. (ed.) Dickens on Screen,(2003), New York: Cambridge University Press.

Kaplan, Fred. Dickens: A Biography William Morros, 1988

Lewis, Peter R. Disaster on the Dee: Robert Stephenson's Nemesis of 1847, Tempus (2007) for a discussion of the Staplehurst accident, and its influence on Dickens.

Meckier, Jerome. Innocent Abroad: Charles Dickens' American Engagements University Press of Kentucky, 1990

Moss, Sidney P. Charles Dickens' Quarrel with America (New York: Whitson, 1984).

Patten, Robert L. (ed.) The Pickwick Papers (Introduction), (1978), Penguin Books.

Slater, Michael. "Dickens, Charles John Huffam (1812 – 1870)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004

Slater, Michael. Charles Dickens: A Life Defined by Writing, 2009 New Haven/London: Yale University Press ISBN 978-0-300-11207-8

Further reading

Douglas-Fairhurst, Robert, "Becoming Dickens 'The Invention of a Novelist'", London: Harvard University Press , 2011

Johnson, Edgar, Charles Dickens: his tragedy and triumph, New York : Simon and Schuster, 1952. In two volumes.

External links

Online works

, HTML and plain text versions.

Works by or about Charles Dickens at Internet Archive and Google Books. Scanned books.

Works by Charles Dickens at EveryAuthor, HTML versions.

Works by Charles Dickens at Dickens Literature, HTML versions.

Works by Charles Dickens at Penn State University Electronic Classics Series, PDF versions.

Websites

Charles Dickens Biography, Context, Interactive Timeline – Crossref-it.info

A Charles Dickens Journal Timeline of Dickens's Life

David Perdue's Charles Dickens Page

David Perdue's Charles Dickens Page – Dickens's London (Interactive Map)

Hints to Collectors of Original Editions

The Dickens Fellowship, an international society dedicated to the study of Dickens and his Writings

A Dickens web page with both original content and links to many other Dickens pages

The Dickens Page, a comprehensive Dickens portal.

Charles Dickens — Gad's Hill Place Daily Dickens information.

Museums

Dickens Museum Situated in a former Dickens House, 48 Doughty Street, London, WC1

Dickens Museum Virtual Tour

Dickens Birthplace Museum Old Commercial Road, Portsmouth

Other

Category:1812 births Category:1870 deaths Category:19th-century English people Category:19th-century novelists Category:British newspaper founders Category:Burials at Westminster Abbey Category:English Anglicans Category:English historical novelists Category:English journalists Category:English novelists Category:English prisoners and detainees Category:English short story writers

Category:People associated with the Royal Society of Arts Category:People from Camden Town Category:People from Chatham, Kent Category:People from Portsmouth Category:People illustrated on sterling banknotes Category:Victorian novelists

Caption	Grint at the premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in Toronto, Canada, 2007
Birth date	August 24, 1988
Birth place	Harlow, Essex, England, United Kingdom
Birth name	Rupert Alexander Lloyd Grint
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2001–present

Rupert Alexander Lloyd Grint (born 24 August 1988) is an English actor best known for portraying Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films. In December 2007, Grint was ranked #16 in the list of Forbes top twenty earners under 25 with an annual earning of $4 million (US).

Early life

Grint was born in Harlow, Essex and grew up in Hertfordshire. His mother, Joanne Grint (née Parsons), is a housewife, and his father, Nigel Grint, is a memorabilia dealer. He has one brother, James (born in 1990), and three sisters: Georgina (born in 1993), Samantha (born in 1995) and Charlotte (born in 1998). Before being cast in the Harry Potter franchise, he had only appeared in plays for school and his local theatre group, Top Hat Stage School, which is still running now in Hertford run by Warren Bacci. As a young child, he was once cast as a fish in a play based on the story of Noah's Ark. He also played Rumpelstiltskin in another school play. As a child, he also used to voluntarily help out in his local church as a bellringer.

He attended St Josephs Primary School in Hertford, a Roman Catholic primary school, prior to enrolling at Richard Hale School, a boys' state comprehensive school in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire, followed by the Top Hat Stage School, also in Hertford. In fact Top Hat Stage School operates at his old Primary school, St Josephs now.

Career

A fan of the Harry Potter book series, young Grint was interested in getting a role in the film. For his audition, he sent a video he made of himself, in which he dressed as his drama teacher while rapping about how much he wanted the part; Grint won the casting selection with the video. After completing the first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, he appeared as science-whiz Alan A. Allen in the British film Thunderpants (2002). In 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2010, he again starred as Ron Weasley in the Potter sequels Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Grint also starred in Driving Lessons, which was released in the summer of 2006. Grint got excellent reviews for his first leading role: the critics praised the realism he brought into the role of shy teenager Ben Marshall, as well as his "riotous comedic timing" and "fantastic screen chemistry" with Walters.

Also known for his radio and television voice-over work, he appeared as Nigel Molesworth in the Baggy Trousers series for BBC Radio 4 and voiced Peter Pan in a BBC documentary.

On 9 July 2007, Grint and fellow cast-mates Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson left imprints of their hands, feet and wands in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

On 2 July 2008, it was announced that Grint would star in gritty thriller Cherrybomb alongside Robert Sheehan and Kimberley Nixon. Filming was wrapped up in late August 2008; the film opened in the UK on 23 Apr 2010.

In August 2008, it was announced that Grint is to star in comedy remake of 1993 French film Cible Emouvante, titled Wild Target, alongside Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt. Grint's character is called Tony. The filming for Wild Target wrapped up on 27 September 2008 and the film opened in the UK on 18 June 2010.

While directing Prisoner of Azkaban, director Alfonso Cuarón said Grint is "the likely future star out of the Hogwarts trio".

He voiced Ron Weasley in the video game of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as well as in the video game of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Rupert Grint was also praised by critics for his performance in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Michael McGuire, a writer for the Examiner, had this to say about him:

I appreciated Rupert Grint for the first time. To me, he’s always been “that other guy” in the Potter movies, but he truly steps forward in this edition and, if he keeps it up, he could be the one of the three getting the best parts a decade from now.

Rupert Grint appeared as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car in Episode Three of Series Fifteen of Top Gear, setting a lap new record in the Kia Cee'd, although the record was broken two weeks later by both Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise.

On 6 January 2011, Grint made a guest appearance in Come Fly with Me.

Personal life

In July 2004, Grint finished Richard Hale School, taking his GCSE examinations. When not working, he enjoys learning to ride the unicycle, drawing/sketching, watching Tottenham Hotspur and playing golf. He has stated that, like the character he portrays, Ron Weasley, he has arachnophobia.

Grint purchased an ice-cream van and then stated jokingly that if his career falls out after the end of the seven part series, then he'll still have the van. According to his co-star Emma Watson from her interview with Conan O'Brien, the van has all the toppings and such in it. He also brought it to the last day of filming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and served ice-cream on set.

In September 2007, Grint and his co-stars, along with David Heyman and David Yates, attended the National Movie Awards. He lost to his co-star Daniel Radcliffe for Best Actor.

Hair care company Brylcreem released a list of the best and worst male hairstyles of the celebrity world in 2007 putting Rupert Grint's haircut with the Top 5 Best Male Film Star haircuts and his co-star, Daniel Radcliffe, in the Top 5 Worst Male Film Star haircuts.

Daniel Radcliffe stated in Empire magazine (August 2008) that although he and Emma Watson have had disagreements, it was impossible to fall out with Grint as he is "the most laid back guy in the world."

Grint stated that he considers himself and castmates Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe 'lucky' to have escaped the more serious problems that often plague child stars. All three have often said of their friendship as "more like siblings", having known each other from an early age.

When asked whether he would keep a memento from the Harry Potter series Grint admitted that following the conclusion of filming the Goblet of Fire in 2005 he secretly stole the 'Golden Egg' prop used in the film, which apparently caused "a bit of a fracas" with the props department.

Filmography

{| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Film ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- |2001 |Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |rowspan="2"|Ron Weasley |Released as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the US and India |- |2002 |Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | |- |2002 |Thunderpants |Alan A. Allen | |- |2004 |Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban |rowspan="2"|Ron Weasley | |- |2005 |Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | |- |2006 |Driving Lessons |Ben Marshall |Leading role |- |2007 |Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix |rowspan="2"|Ron Weasley | |- |2009 |Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince |- |2009 |Cherrybomb |Malachy McKinney |Leading role |- |2010 |Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 |Ron Weasley |- |2010 |Wild Target |Tony | |- |2011 |Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 |Ron Weasley |Release Date: 15 July 2011 (USA and UK) |- |2011 |Eddie the Eagle |Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards |Pre-production |}

Awards

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" ; |- style="text-align:center;" ! colspan=5 style="background:#b0c4de;" | Awards |- style="text-align:center;" ! style="background:#cfc;" | Year ! style="background:#cfc;" | Award ! style="background:#cfc;" | Category ! style="background:#cfc;" | Work ! style="background:#cfc;" | Outcome |- |rowspan=4 | 2002 |Empire Award | Best Debut |rowspan=4| Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | |- |Satellite Award |Outstanding New Talent | |- |rowspan="2" |Young Artist Award |Most Promising Young Newcomer | |- |Best Ensemble in a Feature Film | |- |2003 |PFCS Award |Best Acting Ensemble |Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | |- |2006 |MTV Movie Award |Best On-Screen Team |Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | |- |2007 |National Movie Award |Best Performance by a Male |Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | |- |rowspan=2|2009 |Scream Award |Best Supporting Actor |rowspan=4|Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | |- |Portrait Choice Award |Best Male Movie Performance | |- |2010 |People's Choice Award |Favorite On-Screen Team | |- |2010 |Bravo Otto |Movie Star | |}

References

External links

Rupert Grint entry at Yahoo! Movies site

Rupert Grint: Overview at MSN Movies site

Rupert Grint: Photos, Bio, and News entry at TV Guide web site

Rupert Grint at TV.com web site

Category:1988 births Category:English Roman Catholics Category:English child actors Category:English film actors Category:English television actors Category:English radio actors Category:English voice actors Category:Living people Category:People from Essex Category:People from Harlow

Caption	Radcliffe in November 2010
Birth name	Daniel Jacob Radcliffe
Birth date	July 23, 1989
Birth place	London, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1999–present

Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor who rose to prominence playing the titular character in the Harry Potter film series. His work on the series has earned him several awards and more than £60 million.

Radcliffe made his acting debut at age ten in BBC One's television movie David Copperfield (1999), followed by his film debut in 2001's The Tailor of Panama. Cast as Harry at the age of eleven, Radcliffe has starred in seven Harry Potter films since 2001, with the final installment releasing in July 2011. In 2007 Radcliffe began to branch out from the series, starring in the London and New York productions of the play Equus, and the 2011 Broadway revival of the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. The Woman in Black (2012) will be his first film project following the final Harry Potter movie.

Radcliffe has contributed to many charities, including Demelza House Children's Hospice and The Trevor Project. He has also made public service announcements for the latter. In 2011 the actor was awarded the Trevor Project's "Hero Award".

Early life

Radcliffe was born on 23 July 1989 in West London, England, the only child of Alan George Radcliffe, a literary agent, and Marcia Jeannine Gresham (née Marcia Gresham Jacobson), a casting agent who was involved in several films for the BBC, including The Inspector Lynley Mysteries and Walk Away And I Stumble. Radcliffe's mother is Jewish and a native of Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex (her family's surname was anglicised from "Gershon"); his father, originally from Northern Ireland, is Protestant. Radcliffe first expressed a desire to act at the age of five. In December 1999, aged ten, he made his acting debut in the BBC One's televised two-part adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield, portraying the title character as a young boy. Radcliffe was educated at independent schools for boys,

Following the release of the first Harry Potter movie, attending school became hard, with some students becoming hostile. Radcliffe said it was people just trying to "have a crack at the kid that plays Harry Potter" rather than jealousy. As his acting career began to consume his schedule, Radcliffe continued his education through on-set tutors. The actor admitted he was not very good at school, considered it useless, and found the work to be "really, really difficult." Part of the reason was he already knew he wanted to act and write. Another reason was it would be difficult to have a normal college experience. "The paparazzi, they’d love it,” he told Details magazine in 2007. "If there were any parties going on, they’d be tipped off as to where they were, and it would be all of that stuff." The author had been searching for an unknown British actor to personify the character. However, Radcliffe's parents did not want him to audition for the role as the contract required shooting all seven films in Los Angeles, California, so they did not tell him. Rowling also endorsed the selection, saying the filmmaker could not "have found a better Harry". Warner Bros offered him a two-movie contract, with shooting in the UK, and assured his parents he would be protected. His parents chose to invest the money for him.

]] A year later, Radcliffe starred in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second installment of the series. Reviewers were positive about the lead actors' performances but had polarized opinions on the movie as a whole. Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post labeled it "big, dull and empty", whereas Desson Thomson of the same publication had more positive feelings. Nonetheless, it still managed to earn US$878 million, taking the second spot of the highest-grossing 2002 films worldwide behind

The 2004 release Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban marked the third in the series. While garnering the highest critical acclaim of the series Next was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005. The film explored romantic elements, included more humor and saw Harry selected as a competitor in a dangerous multi-wizard school competition. Goblet of Fire set records for a Harry Potter opening weekend, as well as for a non-May opening weekend in the US and an opening weekend in the UK. In a 2005 interview, Radcliffe singled out the humor as being a reason for the movie's creative success.

Despite the success of the past movies, the future of the franchise was put into question as all three lead actors were unsure about signing on to continue their roles for the final two episodes. However, by 2 March 2007, Radcliffe signed for the final films, which put an end to weeks of press speculation that he would be denied the part due to his involvement in Equus. Radcliffe reprised his role for the fifth time in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), which details Harry's return to Hogwarts after his recent encounter with Lord Voldemort. It opened to positive responses from the press. and Colin Bertram of New York's Daily News publication dubbed it the best movie in the series. Radcliffe has stated that he had formed a special bond with actor Gary Oldman while working with him on set and that director David Yates and actress Imelda Staunton made Order of the Phoenix the "most fun" film in the series to work on. His performance earned several nominations, and he picked up the 2008 National Movie Award for "Best Male Performance".

On 15 July 2009, the series's sixth installment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was released. It centers around Harry discovering an old book belonging to the Half-Blood Prince and beginning to learn more about Lord Voldemort's past. The film did considerably better than the previous movie, breaking the then-record for biggest midnight US showings, with US$22.2 million at 3,000 theaters and with US$7 million, giving the UK its biggest Wednesday ever. In its total run, Half-Blood Prince totaled in US$933 million ticket sales. At the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, Radcliffe received nominations for "Best Male Performance" and "Global Superstar".

directs Radcliffe for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 in 2009.]] For financial and scripting reasons, the last book was divided into two films that were shot back to back, drawing criticism from the book's fanbase. The actor defended the split, pointing out that it would have been impossible to properly adapt the final novel into a single film. He added that the last movie was going to be extremely fast-paced with a lot of action, while the first part would be far more sedate, focussing on character development. Had they combined them, those things would not have made it to the final cut. Filming lasted for a year, concluding in June 2010. On the last day of shooting, like most of the cast and crew, Radcliffe openly wept. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010) was released in November and grossed over US$950 million. Its most lucrative territory was the UK, where it reportedly had the highest-grossing three-day opening in history. Overseas, its earnings of US$205 million in 91 markets made it the top-grossing foreign opening for a non-summer picture. The movie received mostly favorable reviews in the media.

The final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, will be released worldwide starting on 13 July 2011 in Australia. It was named the most highly anticipated film of 2011 by Fandango users and won the National Movie Awards's "Must See Movie of the Summer" accolade. Radcliffe admitted that some people would never be able to separate him from the character but also said he is "proud to be associated with this film series forever." Despite positive feelings about the movies, he has no interest in doing more Harry Potter films. After Rowling suggested writing an eighth book, Radcliffe was asked if he would do another film; he replied: "[It is] very doubtful. I think 10 years is a long time to spend with one character." Despite devoting so much time to the series, Radcliffe has asserted that he did not miss out on a childhood like other child actors: "I’ve been given a much better perspective on life by doing Potter.

Other acting work

premiere in 2007]] Prior to Harry Potter, Radcliffe made his film debut in The Tailor of Panama, an American 2001 film based on John le Carré's 1996 spy novel and a moderate commercial success. Also in 2007, Radcliffe co-starred with Carey Mulligan in My Boy Jack, a television drama film shown on ITV on Remembrance Day. The TV film received mostly good reviews, with several critics praising Radcliffe's performance as an 18 year-old who goes missing in action during a battle. Radcliffe stated, "For many people my age, the First World War is just a topic in a history book. But I've always been fascinated by the subject and think it's as relevant today as it ever was."

At age 17, in a bid to show people he was not a kid anymore, Equus opened on 27 February 2007 and ran until 9 June 2007. Radcliffe's performance received positive reviews as critics were impressed by the nuance and depth of his against-type role. Charles Spencer of The Daily Telegraph wrote that he "displays a dramatic power and an electrifying stage presence that marks a tremendous leap forward." He added: "I never thought I would find the diminutive (but perfectly formed) Radcliffe a sinister figure, but as Alan Strang, [...] there are moments when he seems genuinely scary in his rage and confusion." The production then transferred to Broadway in September 2008 with Radcliffe still in the lead role. Radcliffe stated he was nervous about repeating the role on Broadway because he considered American audiences more discerning than those in London. Radcliffe's performance was nominated for a Drama Desk Award.

After voicing a character in an episode of the animated television series The Simpsons in late 2010, Radcliffe debuted as J. Pierrepont Pinch in the 2011 Broadway revival How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, a role previously held by Broadway veterans Robert Morse and Matthew Broderick. Other cast members included Rose Hemingway and Mary Faber. Both the actor and production received favorable reviews, with the latter receiving 9 Tony Award nominations. His first post-Harry Potter project will be the 2012 supernatural thriller The Woman in Black, which is adapted from the 1983 novel by Susan Hill and set for a February release in the UK. Radcliffe portrays a man sent to deal with the legal matters of a mysterious woman who has just died. Soon after, he begins to experience strange events and hauntings from the ghost of a woman dressed in black. He said he was "incredibly excited" to be part of the film and described the script as "beautifully written". Variety confirmed Radcliffe will star in the indie comedy The Amateur Photographer, a film adaptation of the book of the same name, directed by Christopher Monger. Set in 1970, it follows a man (Radcliffe) who discovers his calling after being drafted by the residents of a small England mill town to serve as a photographer for their most personal moments.

Personal life

In 2007, Radcliffe was in a relationship with Laura O'Toole, an understudy for one of his co-stars in a play. Following the break-up, they remained friends. He has stated that he is an atheist and also "very proud of being Jewish." In 2008, he revealed that he suffers from a mild form of the neurological disorder dyspraxia. The motor skill disorder sometimes gets so bad that he has trouble doing simple activities, such as writing or tying his own shoelaces. "I was having a hard time at school, in terms of being crap at everything, with no discernible talent," the actor commented.

Radcliffe is a supporter of the Liberal Democrats. He has voiced support for the political party's Nick Clegg and pledged to spend more time in the UK to help increase his profile to a younger audience.

He is a fan of underground and punk rock music, and is a keen follower of cricket. Writing short stories and poetry is also a passion. He enjoys a close friendship with his fellow Harry Potter co-stars Emma Watson and Tom Felton

Speaking out against homophobia, Radcliffe filmed public service announcements for The Trevor Project promoting awareness of gay teen suicide prevention beginning in 2009. He first learned of the organization while working on Equus on Broadway in 2008 "I have always hated anybody who is not tolerant of gay men or lesbians or bisexuals. Now I am in the very fortunate position where I can actually help or do something about it," he said in a 2010 interview. In the same interview, he spoke of the importance of public figures advocating for equal rights. Radcliffe has urged his fans to make donations in lieu of Christmas presents to him to that charity's Candle for Care program. In 2008, he was among several celebrities to donate their old eyeglasses to an exhibit honoring victims of the Holocaust. During the Broadway run of Equus, the actor also auctioned off a pair of jeans he wore in the show for several thousand dollars. He has also donated money to Get Connected UK, a London-based free confidential national helpline for troubled youth.

He is reported to have earned £1 million for the first Potter film and around £15 million for the sixth movie. Radcliffe appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List in 2006, which estimated his personal fortune to be £14 million, making him one of the richest young people in the UK. In March 2009, he was ranked number one on the Forbes list of "Most Valuable Young Stars". By April, The Daily Telegraph measured his net worth at £30m, making him the 12th richest young person in the UK. According to the publication, he is expected to have amassed £70m by the time the series of movies concludes. Radcliffe was considered to be the richest teenager in England as of June 2009. and placed at number five on Forbess December list of Hollywood's highest-grossing actors, with the revenue of US$780 million thanks to one movie released that year: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The actor was reported in 2010 to have personal assets of £28.5 million, making him richer than Princes William and Harry. Despite his wealth, Radcliffe has said he does not have expensive tastes. His main expense is buying books: "I read a lot." He also stated that money would never be the focus of his life. | Best Young Performer | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | |- | 2001 | Hollywood Women's Press Club | Male Youth Discovery of the Year | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | |- | 2001 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Breakthrough Male Performance | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | |- | 2001 | Young Artist Awards | Best Ensemble in a Feature Film (shared with the movies cast) | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | |- | 2005 | Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards | Best Young Actor | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | |- | 2006 | Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards | Best Young Actor | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | |- | 2006 | MTV Movie Awards | Best On-Screan Team (shared with Rupert Grint and Emma Watson) | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | |- | 2006 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Hero | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | |- | 2007 | National Movie Awards | Best Actor | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | |- | 2008 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Kiss (shared with Katie Leung) | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | |- | 2008 | Saturn Awards | Best Performance by a Young Actor | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | |- | 2009 | Broadway.com Audience Award | Favorite Leading Actor in a Broadway Play | Equus | |- | 2009 | Broadway.com Audience Award | Favorite Breakthrough Performance | Equus | |- | 2009 | Drama Desk Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Equus | |- | 2010 | J-14's Teen Icon Awards | Iconic Movie Star | | |- | 2010 | MTV Movie Award | Favorite Actor in a Broadway Play | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | |- |2011 |Broadway.com Audience Award |Favorite Onstage Pair (with John Larroquette) |How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | |- |2011 |Drama Desk Award |Outstanding Actor in a Musical |How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | |- | 2011 | MTV Movie Award | Best Kiss (shared with Emma Watson) | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 | |- | 2011 | MTV Movie Award | Best Fight (shared with Rupert Grint and Emma Watson) | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 | |- | 2011 | MTV Movie Award | Best Male Performance | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 | |- |}

See also

List of Harry Potter films cast members

References

Further reading

External links

Category:1989 births Category:English atheists Category:English child actors Category:English film actors Category:English Jews Category:English people of Northern Ireland descent Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish atheists Category:Living people Category:Actors from London Category:Old Citizens (City of London School) Category:People from Hammersmith Category:LGBT rights activists from England