Charles Dickens and Jane Austen: the Lives and Legacies of Britain's Two Famous Novelists

*Includes pictures of Austen, Dickens and important people, places, and events in their lives. *Explains the real-life inspiration for many of Dickens's most famous characters. *Includes quotes about Austen and her novels by some of her most famous contemporaries. *Includes a Bibliography of Austen's works and works about her. Charles Dickens needs no formal introduction, having been the most popular English writer of the 19th century and still one...
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*Includes pictures of Austen, Dickens and important people, places, and events in their lives.
*Explains the real-life inspiration for many of Dickens's most famous characters.
*Includes quotes about Austen and her novels by some of her most famous contemporaries.
*Includes a Bibliography of Austen's works and works about her.

Charles Dickens needs no formal introduction, having been the most popular English writer of the 19th century and still one of the most popular writers in history today. Dickens' upbringing was a mixture of happy times and sad: when he recalled his father being sent to debtor's prison in his memoirs, his tears actually left marks on the page. These qualities eventually helped forge him into a man many regard as the greatest Victorian era novelist, perhaps in the world, and the author of some of the most remarkable fictional characters who retain tremendous staying power to this day, including Fagin, Peepy, David Copperfield and Oliver Twist to name just a few.
Unlike other great writers and artists, during his own lifetime Dickens' works enjoyed remarkable popularity and renown, to such an extent that even Queen Victoria and Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli felicitated and feted Dickens. In the 20th century, well after Dickens's passing, his literary genius was truly and completely appreciated by ordinary readers as well as critics and scholars alike. Dickens's novels, novellas and short stories retain powerful and enduring popularity with the public largely because Dickens, apart from the usual attributes of good fiction writing, connected his thoughts with the universal by using history and the present as bridges.
By the time he died at the relatively young age of 58 from a stroke, he was already Europe's most famous writer, and obituaries noted that Dickens was a "sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed." Dickens was interred in Westminster Abbey, a rare honor bestowed only among the greatest and most accomplished Britons.
As has happened with many of history's greatest writers, Jane Austen (1775-1817) did not earn the credit she was due until well after her death. Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, has earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature over the last 150 years.
Austen's romantic fiction was an interesting genre that belied the fact her writing was laden with realism and a scathing critique on society and the role women played in it during her life. Austen tried several different types of literary styles before settling on writing novels from 1811-1817, releasing Sense and Sensibility (1811), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). The novels highlighted the dependence of women on marrying high to reach a better social status and financial security, but given the controversial nature of her topics and her writing, there was a strong debate in the 19th century over the merits of Jane's writing and her works. While some like Sir Walter Scott praised her writing, others like Charlotte Bronte thought poorly of it.
Charles Dickens & Jane Austen looks at the lives, works, and influences the famous British novelists had over their contemporaries and successors, while also analyzing their lasting literary legacies. Along with pictures of important people and places, you will learn about Charles Dickens and Jane Austen like you never have before, in no time at all.