Charles Dickens can be considered as one of England's greatest writers. Widely known today for his books The Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, and many more, Dickens undoubtedly still captures readers’ attention. He was an influential social reformer and was an important participant of the Victorian England reform. Queen Victoria herself wrote, “He had a large loving mind and the strongest sympathy for the poorer classes. He felt sure a better feeling, and a much greater union of classes would take place in time. And I pray earnestly it may” (21). He was the definition of a self-made man. Charles Dickens’ works were influenced by his childhood, his beliefs of society, and other writers of his time period. Charles Dickens …show more content…
The influence of the 1700s’ Revolution was still heavily prevalent in Dickens’ time. “He saw similarities between the forces that led to the Revolution and the oppression and unrest occurring in England in his own time”(Sarpparaje 1). Dickens was concerned with the social problems, especially relating to the poor. Dickens could really identify with these people. “A Tale of Two Cities” shows the contrast between England and France. England had the stable government that France longed for. Dickens was able to use his book to remind the people of England the historic revolution France endured. A Tale of two Cities states “the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only”(1; bk.1, ch.1). This shows the comparison Dickens made between his time and the time of the Revolution.“A Tale of Two Cities becomes a novel not about the revolution, but about the reaffirmation of England as a safe haven and English citizenship as something to be proud of” (Meltem Kiran-Raw Pg. 3). Dickens wants to be proud of his country again. While he identifies with the poor families of the revolution, he condemns both sides. He condemns the evil aristocrats and the bloodthirsty revolutionaries. In the end, the revolutionaries stooped lower than the …show more content…
This was his second attempt on historical fiction, but this time his focus was the French Revolution. However, before writing it, Dickens was inspired by Thomas Carlyle. Thomas Carlyle is the author of “The French Revolution”. Both of these works of literature are quite similar; each focused on the accuracy of the details and the practicality of the characters. Ruth Clancy once stated, “Dickens followed Carlyle closely, both in the chronology of the events of the Revolution and in his descriptions of the major historical events. He was selective, of course, in his portrayal of the revolution, using only those scenes that bore upon his plot” (6). The authors introduced their books with the beginning of the revolution. One could imply that this was just the calm before the storm. One of Dickens’s notable traits is that he combines fictional characters with historical figures. This was also observed in Carlyle’s works. This allowed one’s interest to still be peaked in the