Charles Dickens

To celebrate the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens (February 7, 2012), this course will give you a sense of the great vitality and scope of his fiction and the relevance of his work for his age and ours.

Dickens was the most popular novelist—and the most searching critic—of the Victorian period. He created a unique reality in fiction; he could launch a well-informed and comprehensive satire of class privilege and commercial greed in Victorian society while also making a highly imaginative use of methods we don’t usually associate with realism: Caricature, symbolic plots that resemble fairy tales, gothic literature, and medieval romance.

We will take a close look at three famous works that combine social criticism with his interest in the vitality of the childhood imagination: The Christmas Carol, Hard Times, and Great Expectations. The lectures will also highlight aspects of Dickens’s fiction in general, his life, and his very active involvement with his times.

You may take this course as part of the following program:

What will I learn?

In this course, we will study three of Dickens’ most famous works:

• The Christmas Carol
• Hard Times
• Great Expectations

How will I learn?

• Lectures
• Discussion (may vary from class to class)
• Papers (applicable only to certificate students)

Who should take this course?

This course is for anyone who is interested in learning more about Charles Dickens history and literature.

How will I be evaluated?

(For certificate students only)

Your instructor will evaluate you based on an essay you will complete at the end of the course. You will receive a grade of “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory.”

Textbooks and learning materials

Recommended reading: The Christmas Carol, Hard Times, and Great Expectations. Any edition of these will do. Second-hand bookstores and libraries will have copies. Some course materials may be available online.