Charles Dickens Lives

Charles Dickens was the most popular author of England's Victorian period, possibly England's most popular author ever.

His first book, The Pickwick Papers, a comedy, was released in 1836 he was 24 years old.  It came out in magazine installments, like most of his works, and established his reputation for life.  He died at 70, leaving his final book, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, unfinished.

All Dickens' books are still available in print, which is remarkable in itself.  But what I find most interesting is how often dramatizations of his stories crop up on television and film (and in theatrical productions if you count his story, "A Christmas Carol.")

One way to measure this is to look at the many BBC (British Broadcasting Corp.) mountings of Dickens novels over the years.  Below is a listing I assembled in a quick canvass of Dickens titles and the years when versions were aired by the BBC.

A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens' take on the French Revolution began with the line "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" and ended with Sydney Carton saying, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done. . . ."  This may be history's most popular novel, and the BBC released versions in 1957, 1965 and 1980, and also a joint British-French staging in 1984.

Great Expectations, the story of Pip, Abel Magwitch, Estella and Miss Havisham, was released at least three times --

First in 1981

Then in 1999

             

And, most recently, in 2012

         
 The Old Curiosity Shop, 1979 and 1995.

Nicholas Nickleby, 1968, 1977, 2010 and 2012.

Dombey and Son, 1969, 1983.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood, 2012

Martin Chuzzlewit, 1999.

David Copperfield, 1974, 1986, 1999.

The Pickwick Papers, 1985.

Oliver Twist, 1962, 1985, 1999, 2007.

Our Mutual Friend, 1998.

Hard Times, 1994.

Barnaby Rudge, 1960.

Granted, Dickens wrote many books.  But so have other authors, and I cannot think of one whose works have been been staged with such regularity.

I believe there are several reasons for this.

First, Dickens was deeply committed to exposing the class divisions in England --  the debtors' prisons, the easy lives of the rich and landed gentry and the obstacles poor people faced just to survive.  These themes have resonated, worldwide, ever since.

Second, Dickens' characters -- from Fagin to Mrs. Jellyby to Ebenezer Scrooge to Madame Defarge are vividly drawn. Actors loves such roles, and memorable characters make for appealing drama.

Third, most of the Dickens literary output was published in magazine installments.  In his day, there was not much to do after dark except to read by candlelight, and so his audience enjoyed long, descriptive passages that in modern presentations can be collapsed into shorter dramatic bits and presented in multi-part series.

Fourth, Dickens wrote in English, and English versions of his stories appeal to the ever-broadening population of native English speakers.  I imagine that BBC productions of his stories are popular in Canada, Australia and other countries where most people speak English.  As for other languages, I can only speak of my American experience -- I  cannot think of any dubbed or subtitled television series that has been popular in the United States.