Child Characters of Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Little Nell, Tiny Tim, and Others
Mar 20, 2009
Charles Dickens is often remembered as a writer who exposed social ills, but it is more often forgotten that among the many social ills he exposed, it was most often the crimes committed against children which recurred in several of his stories.
Perhaps because he himself had a difficult childhood, Dickens seems to often write of the importance of the preservation of goodness and innocence in children. Equally Dickens condemns the corruption of children, perhaps making Dickens one of the greatest champions of childhood.
The Adventures of Oliver Twist
Within this story, which originally ran as monthly installments between February 1837 and April 1939, there are several child characters. As a child Oliver Twist finds himself among many children slaving away in the workhouse, and later, Oliver is adopted into Fagin’s gang of child thieves.
Through these abusive experiences, Dickens sought to expose the misuse of children, and although writing a happy ending for Oliver, the character of Nancy, who herself had been a misused child, won readership sympathy and understand by meeting a more tragic fate.
The Old Curiosity Shop
First published as a weekly serial from April 1840 to February 1861, tells the story of virtuous and lonely Nell Trent, who through the gambling, debt, and nervous breakdown of her grandfather is dragged into a fugitive’s existence.
Just as Nancy died, Nell also met an early end in order to exhibit to the readers the fragility of health and childhood.
A Christmas Carol
First published in 1843, A Christmas Carol tells the story of the rejuvenation of the miser Ebenezer Scrooge, but Tiny Tim is among the most famous characters of the work. A sickly and mild mannered boy, Tiny Tim is fated to die if his family cannot afford medicine and better food.
A flashback to the neglect Scrooge experienced in his own childhood assists in understanding the deprivation of affection which motivated Scrooge to become cold in adulthood, showing how childhood can motivate the personality of an individual.
David Copperfield
Originally running as a monthly serial from May 1849 to November 1850, the work is considered to be a “Bildungsroman,” a novel in which the protagonist experiences self-cultivation as aging from childhood to adulthood, David Copperfield tells the story of the many experiences of its title character, including David’s childhood mistreatment at the mercy of his cruel step-father, boarding school, and eventually as a child factory worker.
Other children such as the little girls Emily and Agnes also feature in the saga of David’s life, and although they are each well treated in childhood and good hearted, Emily and Agnes are brought to different destinies through circumstance.
A Tale of Two Cities
Originally published as a weekly serial from April 1859 to November 1859, A Tale of Two Cities focuses on adult characters, but it is partly driven by the idea that childhood experiences can shape a fate. Although it is strongly considered that destiny forms personality, it is the protection of the innocence of a child which motivates the famously sacrificial ending.
Ideas about childhood deprivation and misfortune are touched upon through the adult characters of Madame Defarge and Lucie Manette. Equally the French peasant child who is trampled to death demonstrates the shattering of childhood.
The different personalities of the look-a-like characters Sydney Carton and Charles Darney are used to explore the idea of nature rather than nurture more greatly influencing the outcome of a person. Yet, Carton’s choice to die so that darney might live is made in part to preserve the happy development of Darney’s sweet daughter, who has an attachment to Sydney.
Great Expectations
Running as a weekly serial from December 1860 to August 1861, Great Expectations tells the story of the unfortunate life of Pip Pirrip, an orphan being raised by his harsh older sister and her kindly husband. It also features the warped child Estella, herself an orphan adopted by the embittered Miss Havisham, who raises Estella to seek revenge on the opposite sex. The pitiable character of the ill-used Miss Havisham motivates the unhappiness of both Pip and Estella by negatively influencing their childhoods.
More sorrowful then many of his earlier works, many critics believe that Great Expectations was influenced by Dickens himself beginning to take saddened stock of his life.
Children of Charles Dickens
Himself the father of ten children, Charles Dickens also fathered many characters and the imaginations of many child readers. Although his portrayal of children and childhood may have differed as he moved through the stages of his own life, overall, he championed the rights of children, and exposed the adult abuses of childhood.
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