What were Charles Dickens's living conditions like?

Answer 1

The first 25 years of Dickens' life was sad, though not tragic, and he did not have many happy memories of his childhood. At 25, he became famous with his first book (almost unheard of) and from that time until his death, he was wealthy, independent and courted by the famous and the rich. Fame had its drawbacks for him, as it does for everyone. He lost a good deal of privacy, such as when he separated from his wife Catherine. But he was an outgoing, gregarious man and for the most part, he enjoyed his fame.

Answer 2

Charles Dickens was born in Landport, Portsmouth in Hampshire, the second of eight children to John Dickens (1786-1851), a clerk in the Navy Pay Office at Portsmouth, and his wife Elizabeth Dickens (née Barrow, 1789-1863) on February 7, 1812. When he was five, the family moved to Chatham, Kent. In 1822, when he was ten, the family relocated to 16 Bayham Street, Camden Town in London.

Although his early years seem to have been an idyllic time, he thought himself then as a "very small and not-over-particularly-taken-care-of boy".[2] He spent his time outdoors, reading voraciously with a particular fondness for the picaresque novels of Tobias Smollett and Henry Fielding. He talked later in life of his extremely poignant memories of childhood and his continuing photographic memory of the people and events that helped to bring his fiction to life. His family was moderately wealthy, and he received some education at the private William Giles' school in Chatham. This time of prosperity came to an abrupt end, however, when his father, after spending far too much money entertaining and retaining his social position, was imprisoned at Marshalsea debtors' prison.

The 12-year-old Dickens began working ten hour days in a Warren's boot-blacking factory, located near the present Charing Cross railway station. He earned six shillings a week pasting labels on the jars of thick polish. This money paid for his lodgings in Camden Town and helped him to support his family. The shocking conditions of the factory made an ingrained impression on Dickens.

After a few months, his family was able to leave Marshalsea, but their financial situation did not improve until later, partly due to money inherited from his father's family. Dickens's mother did not immediately remove him from the boot-blacking factory, owned by a relation of hers, and he never forgave her for this. Resentment of his situation and the conditions under which working-class people lived became major themes of his works, championing the causes of the poor and oppressed. As Dickens wrote in David Copperfield, judged to be his most patently autobiographical novel, "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!" He eventually attended the Wellington House Academy in North London.

Answer 3

He was born in the industrial revolution. His dad was a clerk in the Naval Pay Office. He had a poor head for finances, and in 1824 found himself imprisoned for debt. His wife and children, with the exception of Charles, who was put to work at Warren's Blacking Factory, joined him in the Marshalsea Prison. When the family finances were put at least partly to rights and his father was released, the twelve-year-old Dickens, already scarred psychologically by the experience, was further wounded by his mother's insistence that he continue to work at the factory. His father, however, rescued him from that fate, and between 1824 and 1827 Dickens was a day pupil at a school in London. At fifteen, he found employment as an office boy at an attorney's, while he studied shorthand at night. His brief stint at the Blacking Factory haunted him all of his life.

Answer 4

Charles Dickens lived in various residences throughout his life, experiencing both luxury and poverty. His early years were marked by financial struggles, leading him to live in cramped and impoverished conditions. However, as his literary career flourished, he was able to afford more comfortable homes, eventually settling in a large estate called Gad's Hill Place.

Answer 5

dirty, poor.