The London of Charles Dickens

The most popular British writer of the Victorian era, Charles Dickens wrote prolifically. However, he is best-known for his twenty novels and novellas, which were originally published in magazines in weekly or monthly installments. These stories delighted his fans but also had a shocking social message to get across.

Victorian best-seller

Dickens’ story installments became immediate bestsellers with readers from all social classes in Britain and even the USA. And it’s easy to see why they were so popular. The plots contain high drama, romance and mystery and there is a cliffhanger at the end of almost every chapter. The characters tend to be larger than life and some, like the miser Ebenezer Scrooge, the tragic bride Miss Havisham and the orphan Oliver Twist, became so well-known that they have almost developed a life of their own outside the original novels.

Victorians got hooked on series too!

Dickens’ serialized stories were the TV series of the time, with fans counting the days until the next episode was published so they could see how the often complex plot would unfold. When the final installment of the The Old Curiosity Shop was published in Britain but had not yet arrived in the United States, American readers in New York couldn’t wait to find out the ending. Fans went down to the port and called out to sailors on a ship arriving from Britain: “Is little Nell alive?”. And the stories’ appeal has lasted into the 21st century. Dickens’ books have never been out of print and are still being turned into films and TV dramas, stage plays and musicals. 

But Charles Dickens did much more than entertain. Through his highly-detailed descriptions of people and places, especially in London, he held a mirror up to society, challenging politicians and ordinary people to open their eyes to the destructive power of poverty in a Britain radically changed by the Industrial Revolution.

So Dickensian!

It was Dickens’ descriptions of London’s slums that really shocked people. The population of London more than doubled between 1801 and 1850 and this sudden increase led to terrible overcrowding and a lack of sanitation in the poorest areas. The term “Dickensian” can be used to describe anything related to Dickens’ novels but in general is used to suggest poor social conditions. For example: “The apartment’s cheap and a bit Dickensian.”

The Palace of Westminster

Dickens started his writing career as a Parliamentary reporter and he mentions Parliament in many of his novels. In David Copperfield, a semi-autobiographical novel, David gets work taking notes at Parliamentary debates. The Palace of Westminster has been rebuilt since David Copperfield was published but is still on the same site.

The Strand

Charles spent some months working in a rat-infested factory just off the Strand (near where Charing Cross station now stands). He got to know the Strand and its surroundings well and mentions the street in almost all his books. Further east, the Strand becomes Fleet Street, another favourite location.

Seven Dials

In a short descriptive article from the collection Sketches by Boz, Dickens writes about “Seven Dials”, which was then a slum near Covent Garden. He describes the “dirty men, filthy women, squalid children … attenuated cats, depressed dogs”. These graphic descriptions of poverty are typical of Dickens’ writing.

48 Doughty Street

Dickens was able to move into this smart Georgian house aged twenty-five with his wife and two-year-old son thanks to money earned from sales of The Pickwick Papers. He wrote Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby here too. Today it houses the Dickens Museum.

The Angel, Islington

In Dickens’ time this inn was right on the edge of London. In Oliver Twist, the Artful Dodger finds Oliver nearby, alone and hungry, and takes him to join a gang of young pickpockets. The Angel still exists but is no longer an inn, and Islington is no longer on the edge of London!

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

Dickens drank at this pub at 145 Fleet Street, as did other famous authors, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who created Sherlock Holmes. It is one of London’s oldest pubs or “taverns”, and is alluded to in A Tale of Two Cities. You can still enjoy a pint of beer and some pub food here.

Marshalsea Prison

Dickens’ father was sent to the notorious Marshalsea Debtors’ Prison when Charles was twelve and the experience affected Charles deeply. In the novel Little Dorrit, Amy is born and raised in the prison. Only one wall of it now remains, close to Borough Market, which Dickens would also have known.

Lincoln’s Inn

This was, and still is, a centre for judges and barristers in London. It looks like an Oxbridge college with libraries, a chapel and a great hall. Dickens worked here as a clerk aged fifteen, and he features it in his novel Bleak House, which tells the story of a long and bitter legal case.