Charles Dickens was born on February 6, 1812, in England, and is regarded by some as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His work received a great deal of recognition during his lifetime and continues to be popular even today. In particular, his novella from 1843, A Christmas Carol, is one of his most well-known stories and has been adapted in various forms of media a multitude of times.

Novels

• The Pickwick Papers (1836)
• Oliver Twist (1837)
• Nicholas Nickleby (1838)
• The Old Curiosity Shop (1840)
• Barnaby Rudge (1841)
• Martin Chuzzlewit (1843)
• Dombey and Son (1846)
• David Copperfield (1849)
• Bleak House (1852)
• Hard Times (1854)
• Little Dorrit (1855)
• A Tale of Two Cities (1859)
• Great Expectations (1860)
• Our Mutual Friend (1864)
• The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870)

Themes

Some of the reoccurring themes in his novels include:

• Criminality
• The role of the father
• Social hierarchy
• Female empowerment
• Criticism of time and society
• Finding true happiness
• The "undisciplined love"
• The treatment of children
• The city versus the countryside
• Weather and darkness
• Redemption
• Doubleness