Novel and society in nineteenth-century England: Charles Dickens

Abstract

One of the most relevant periods for England is the one under the kingdom of Queen Victoria, also known as the Victorian Era (1837-1901). During this period, England grew as a country as a whole in almost every field possible, but it was the working class who sharply suffered the consequences of the industrial revolution due to the deplorable living conditions which it created. The novel in the Victorian Era played an important role because authors of the time, mainly Charles Dickens, used their works to criticise the irregularities and conditions of the people of their time. Those facts are explained in detail in the present work as a way of introduction, followed by a section which explains the main characteristics of the nineteenth-century English novel. The aim of this paper is to accomplish a critical analysis presenting a comparison between two of Dickens' works (Oliver Twist and Hard Times) and the way of life in 19th century England, mainly the working class, giving support to the author's criticism. As a conclusion, I will provide a personal evaluation based on the information I gathered about the topic and on the issues discussed.