Charles Dickens - The Later Years | Biography

Charles Dickens was one of the most popular, most prolific and most influential writers of the 19th Century.

His novels and short stories not only influenced other authors, but helped shape public opinion about some of the terrible social inequalities of the Victorian era which led to new laws to protect the most vulnerable in society.

With success coming at such a young age – he was 24 when The Pickwick Papers was published - it meant that for most of his adult life, Dickens was held up as a pillar of virtue and a champion of the downtrodden. But he was a far more complex character who behaved, at times, more like one of his villains than the paragon everyone believed him to be.

In this biographical documentary Prof Yorston looks into the secrets that Charles Dickens’ tried so hard to keep hidden – the darker side of the man who invented Christmas.

Finding Out More
If you want to find out more about Charles Dickens, there are lots of good biographies – but with new information emerging all the time, as previously unknown letters are discovered, I would recommend something recent – the one I used most for this video was Claire Tomalin’s Charles Dickens – A Life. I have listed this and some others on my Amazon Store Page. https://www.amazon.com/shop/professor...

Academic References
Dickson, M. (2020). Dickens's nightmare: dreams, memory and trauma. Interface Focus, 10(3), 20190076.

Kim, K. J. (2024). Writing to Control the Narrative: Charles Dickens, PTSD, and the Staplehurst Rail Crash. Dickens Quarterly, 41(2), 249-270.

Larner, A. J. (2012). Charles Dickens (1812–1870) and epilepsy. Epilepsy and Behavior, 24(4), 422-425.

Parker, D. (1996). Dickens and the Death of Mary Hogarth. Dickens Quarterly, 13(2), 67-75.

Copyright Disclaimer
The primary purpose of this video is educational. I have tried to use material in the public domain or with Creative Commons Non-attribution licences wherever possible. Where attribution is required, I have listed this below. I believe that any copyright material used falls under the remit of Fair Use, but if any content owners would like to dispute this, I will not hesitate to immediately remove that content. It is not my intention to infringe on content ownership in any way. If you happen to find your art or images in the video, please let me know and I will be glad to credit you.

Images
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Wellcome Collection
Internet Archive

Music
In the bleak midwinter: Shane Hennessy CC Attribution
Christmas Village Aaron Kenny CC0
Antonio Vivaldi The Four Seasons John Harrison, Violin. Wichita State University Chamber Players, Robert Turizziani, Conductor.CC4.0
Missing persons Jeremy Blake CC0
Hand in the Dark Underbelly and Ty Mayer CC0
Brahms Piano Quartet in G minor. Author Roxana Pavel Goldstein (violin), Elias Goldstein (viola), Stephen Balderston (cello), and Mathew Ganong (piano). CC2.0
Frédéric Chopin - Nocturne in B-flat minor, Op. 9, No. 1 Florence Robineau CC3.0
Mozart String Quartet No. 15 In C Major "Les Dissonances" K465. Quatuor Mosaïques CC0
Chopin: Prélude op. 28 n° 4 - Dorian Pâquet CC4.0
Claude-Paul Taffanel: Andante Pastoral et Scherzettino. Alex Murray (flute) and Martha Goldstein (piano) CC2.0
Louis Moreau Gottschalk - Le Bananier Public domain
Ludwig van Beethoven - Octet The Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet CC2.0
Claude Paul Taffanel - Wind Quintet in G minor -Andante -The Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet CC2.0
Camille Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 University of Iowa Chamber Orchestra; William LaRue Jones, conductor; Bogyeong Lee, pianist CC3.0
Cosmic nightmares Jimena Contreras CC0
Apocalyptic Echoes Jimena Contreras CC0
Verdi Va Pensiero: Istituto centrale per i beni sonori ed audiovisivi CC4
Chopin - Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65, Christopher Harding (piano), Yeonjin Kim (cello) Musopen PD

Video edited by Manavi Sakunika and produced by Graeme Yorston and Tom Yorston