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CHARLES DICKENS
978 0 7502 6050 3
TEACHER NOTES
The material for these downloads is taken from the Wayland title Extraordinary Lives: Charles Dickens, a
biography that follows Dickens’s life from birth, through his life as a factory worker, to becoming a prolific
author. The following handouts provide historical background information on the Industrial Revolution
and the social issues of the time that influenced Dickens’s writing. Below are suggestions on how to use
the material in the classroom, as well as ideas for further cross-curricular activities.
HISTORY
1. Ask your pupils to use the handout on the Industrial Revolution as a starting point to finding out about
the important developments that were happening during Dickens’s time, and how they influenced
his writing.
2. Ask your pupils to read the handout A Social Novelist, and talk about which social issues affected
Dickens and how he addressed them in his writing. Ask the pupils which social issues they think
Dickens would write about if he were alive today.
3. Using the handout Child Labour as a starting point, ask your pupils to research the working conditions
for children in Victorian times. Based on their findings, they should then write a diary entry from the
perspective of a working child in Victorian Britain.
4. Ask your pupils to read the handout Railway Mania and ask them to research in what ways the
expansion of the railway changed people’s lives in Victorian Britain, covering topics such as travel,
communication and industry.
MUSIC
Some of Dickens’s novels have been turned in to musicals. Ask your pupils to find out which ones and
whether they have seen any of them.
ART
Many artists, such as George Cruikshank, Halbot Brown and Marcus Stone, have illustrated Dickens. Ask
your pupils to check library books and the internet for some examples of these artists’ illustrations to find
out what they convey about Victorian London in terms of clothes; housing; transport; working conditions.
LITERATURE
1. Ask your pupils to find out about one or two writers contemporary to Dickens. Did they focus on the
same social issues in their writing?
2. Ask your pupils about their favourite writers and books. Do the books they read by contemporary
authors tackle social issues? If so, which ones?
© Wayland 2012. These worksheets may be reproduced for non-commercial or educational purposes only.
http://www.waylandbooks.co.uk
BRITAIN’S INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The Industrial Revolution was the
great upheaval in Britain during
the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries. Britain changed from an
agricultural country producing food
to a nation that manufactured
goods in factories. The population
grew to 20 million by 1851, and
many people moved to new
industrial towns and cities, leading
to overcrowding.
While many people did well out
of this industrialisation, such as
businessmen, landowners and
skilled workers, poor people
suffered. The unskilled, low-paid,
unemployed and old often led
difficult lives in filthy slums. It
was the lives of these people that
interested Dickens and influenced
his writing.
The Great Exhibition in Hyde Park,
London, in 1851 showcased new
technology in an iron and glass
building, nicknamed the ‘Crystal
Palace’, earning Britain the title
‘Workshop of the World’.
© Wayland 2012. These worksheets may be reproduced for non-commercial or educational purposes only.
http://www.waylandbooks.co.uk
A social novelist
M
any of Dickens’ novels spoke out
against issues that were affecting
society, such as poverty and sanitation.
They were also a response to the
changes happening in Britain during
the Industrial Revolution.
Workhouse and school
In Oliver Twist (1837), Dickens criticised the
terrible conditions in many workhouses.
People were often fed a poor diet, and some
almost starved to death. In the novel, Oliver is
famous for asking for ‘more’ food.
In Nicholas Nickleby (1838), Dickens wrote
about the harsh treatment of pupils in
Yorkshire schools. When Dickens visited
the area, he found a churchyard with 34
graves of children from nearby schools.
The brutality of Dotheby Hall, the school
in Nicholas Nickleby, caused a sensation
when it was published and the novel
quickly sold 50,000 copies.
Charity
Dickens believed that education could
help people escape poverty, so he joined
the Ragged School Movement, a charity
that set up schools for poor children.
A lady called Angela BurdettCoutts supported and funded the
Ragged School Movement.
© Wayland 2012. These worksheets may be reproduced for non-commercial or educational purposes only.
http://www.waylandbooks.co.uk
CHILD LABOUR
At the time Dickens was reporting
on the events of Parliament, many
Members of Parliament (MPs) were
worried about the huge number of
children working in factories and
mills across Britain. Children had
to work long hours in dangerous
conditions, much like Dickens had.
Small children were popular with
factory owners because they were
cheap to employ and could clean
machinery while it was still running!
A Factory Act was made law in
1833 that stopped children under
the age of nine working. It also
reduced the number of hours that
9–13-year-old children could work.
But with only four inspectors
appointed across the country,
it was hard to enforce the law.
This is a 19th century textile mill.
Children were expected to work very
long hours in dangerous conditions.
© Wayland 2012. These worksheets may be reproduced for non-commercial or educational purposes only.
http://www.waylandbooks.co.uk
RAILWAY MANIA
Dickens was able to tour England
because of the massive expansion
of Britain’s railways in the 1840s
and 1850s. More than 7,000 miles
of track were laid, linking up all
the major centres of population
and industry.
Large areas of towns and cities
were cleared to make way for train
stations, while in London massive
railway termini, such as King’s
Cross, Paddington and Euston,
were additions to the capital’s
skyline. A vast army of labourers,
called navvies (short for
navigators) built a huge
infrastructure of bridges,
embankments, tunnels, railway
cuttings and viaducts that could be
seen all around the country.
This is the construction of the
Brantham bridge and railway cutting
on the Great Eastern Railway in Essex.
© Wayland 2012. These worksheets may be reproduced for non-commercial or educational purposes only.
http://www.waylandbooks.co.uk
A walk through the life
of Charles Dickens
Dickens and Catherine
separate. Dickens falls
in love with the actress
Ellen Ternan
Hard Times
is published
1858
Dickens leaves
school and goes
to work in a
solicitor’s office
1831
Catherine has
her first child.
Oliver Twist
is published
Dickens is employed
as a reporter on the
Mirror of Parliament
1836
1827
Dickens works at
Warren’s Blacking
Factory. John Dickens is
imprisoned in the
Marshalsea prison
Sketches by Boz
is published
Dickens publishes
the magazine
Household Words
A Christmas
Carol is
published
1865
1850
1867– 1868
1843
1842
Dickens
publishes the
Daily News
Dickens and
Catherine visit
America
1824
Dickens is
involved in
the Staplehurst
railway crash
1846
1837
Charles
Dickens
marries
Catherine
Hogarth
1854
Dickens returns
exhausted from
a reading tour
in America
Dickens’
family move
to London
1822
Dickens is born
on 7 February,
in Portsmouth,
Hampshire
Dickens’ family move
to Chatham, Kent
On 9 June, Charles
Dickens dies of a
stroke
1870
1817
1812
© Wayland 2012. This poster may be reproduced for non-commercial or educational purposes only. http://www.waylandbooks.co.uk
Contents taken from:
Extraordinary Lives: Charles
Dickens, by Peter Hicks
ISBN 978 0 7502 6050 3