Charles dickens (1812-1870) Charles Dickens is one of the most important writer of his time.

His childood was happy but when he was only a student his father was imprisoned for debt, so he had to work in a blacking factory. Later on he wrote some sketches which were caricatures of his society. Thanks to this success he wrote The pickwick papers. This novel is comic and episodic in structure because it was published in slim volumes, colled instalments. The most important books of Charles Dickens are: Oliver Twist, David Copperfield and Hard times. Oliver Twist In this novel the author wants to stress the bad conditions of poor children and the hypocrisy of the victorian age. In fact in the passage we have red there is a probing description of the workhouse and the terrible situation of children. Oliver is an orphan and he lives in a workhouse orphanage. In the passage we have red children are in the dining room at the meal time. They decided to ask more food because the ration is not enough: Oliver asks more food. This is the climate event: someone is exciting someothers are afraid. As a matter of facts the reactions to this event is exaggerated because Charles Dickens wants to point out that Oliver is considered to be a criminal because he spoke up against authority. In this way he wants underline the cruelty of this society which is a paradise for rich peaple but a hell for poors like Oliver. In this passage the writer uses irony to describe the scene. For example the master, who gives food to the child, is a fat and a healthy man while children are famining, Mr Limbksin, who is the director of the workhouse, wears a white waistcoat: he is like the pope, the representative of the Good.

The school in the Victorian Age In the novel David Copperfield there is a clearly exploitation about the Victorian education. In fact this is a cruel school where teachers were very strict and used phisical punishment. In the passage we have red Mr Creakle, who is the school principal, is a bad man who like to punish children even if they are innocent. But more important that this passage is another one of Hard Times. In the passage we have red he attacks the teory of utilitarianism. It says that only facts are important. As a matter of fact in this school nobody studies literature or philosophie because this disciplines are useless. They want to dostroy imagination while they want that children became like machines, without any feelings.