Tag Archives: Martin Chuzzlewit

Five Facts about Charles Dickens

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Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 and died in 1870.  He’s the author of A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations and other classic novels.  Now here are some things you may not know about Charles Dickens.

1 – As a child, his family was always on the verge of economic collapse. Everything fell apart for the family in 1827. Dickens’ father was sent the Marshalsea debtors’ prison and young Charles was sent to work in Warren’s Blacking Factory. These incidents would haunt Dickens for the rest of his life.

2 – Dickens worked as law clerk, a court stenographer and even contemplated becoming an actor. Luckily for us, Dickens was ill on the day of his audition at the Lyceum Theater and couldn’t go. Can you imagine a life without Scrooge?  If Dickens, who was a talented actor, had attended his audition he might not have written A Christmas Carol.

3 – In his early writing he called himself Boz. Boz? You see, one of his favorite characters in Goldsmith’s Vicar of Wakefield was called Moses. Moses became Boses which became Boz.

4 – Dickens married Catherine Hogarth in 1835. There were some happy years, but in 1958 they were legally separated. One of the reasons for the separation was Dickens’ interest in the actress, Ellen Ternan.

Dickens met Ellen in 1857. Matters came to a head the next year when a bracelet that Dickens bought as a present for Ellen was accidentally delivered to the Dickens household. In a scene straight from a soap opera, Catherine discovered the bracelet and accused Charles of having an affair.

5 – One of the most fascinating aspects of Charles Dickens is that he understood the power of the media. Yes, even in the Victorian Era people had to worry about the press. In September of 1860, behind his home at Gad’s Hill Place, Charles Dickens tried to cover his tracks. He gathered “the accumulated letters and papers of twenty years” and set them ablaze in his backyard. What could we have learned had he not taken this action? We’ll never know.

More About Charles Dickens

The Novels of Charles Dickens Mug

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Is someone on your holiday shopping list a fan of Charles Dickens?  If so, may I humbly suggest you visit the Charles Dickens section of the LitQuotes Gift Shop.  One of the most popular items in the Charles Dickens section is the Novels of Charles Dickens mug.   One side features the image of the ever-popular author  of A Christmas Carol.

Charles Dickens Mug

 

The other side lists the titles of his novels.

The Novels of Charles Dickens Mug

 

 

5 Quotes About Autumn From Literature

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Today is the first day of autumn. To mark the day, here’s a fun collection of five autumnal quotes from literature.

“Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away these bleak autumnal evenings.” ~ The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels. ~ Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens

It was, as I have said, a fine autumnal day; the sky was clear and serene, and nature wore that rich and golden livery which we always associate with the idea of abundance. The forests had put on their sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the tenderer kind had been nipped by the frosts into brilliant dyes of orange, purple, and scarlet. ~ The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

The place, with its gray sky and withered garlands, its bared spaces and scattered dead leaves, was like a theater after the performance–all strewn with crumpled playbills. ~ The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

He lowered the window, and looked out at the rising sun. There was a ridge of ploughed land, with a plough upon it where it had been left last night when the horses were unyoked; beyond, a quiet coppice-wood, in which many leaves of burning red and golden yellow still remained upon the trees. Though the earth was cold and wet, the sky was clear, and the sun rose bright, placid, and beautiful. ~ A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Autumn Quotes

Autumn Quotes from Literature

Ten Quotes About Money From Literature

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money

Here are ten quotes from literature about money.

“Simple, generous goodness is the best capital to found the business of this life upon. It lasts when fame and money fail, and is the only riches we can take out of this world with us.” ~  Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

But the Law is still, in certain inevitable cases, the pre-engaged servant of the long purse. ~ The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

“Life and money both behave like loose quicksilver in a nest of cracks. And when they’re gone we can’t tell where–or what the devil we did with ’em!” ~ The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington

Put not your trust in money, but put your money in trust. ~  The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

“Rich folks may ride on camels, but it an’t so easy for ’em to see out of a needle’s eye. That is my comfort, and I hope I knows it.” ~  Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens

“Look at that sea, girls–all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen. We couldn’t enjoy its loveliness any more if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds.” ~ Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

“Remuneration! O, that’s the Latin word for three farthings.” ~ Love’s Labour’s Lost by William Shakespeare

“Better spend an extra hundred or two on your son’s education, than leave it him in your will.” ~ The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

“Money pads the edges of things.” ~  Howards End by E. M. Forster

“Ah, nowadays we are all of us so hard up, that the only pleasant things to pay are compliments. They’re the only things we can pay.” ~ Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde

See the entire LitQuotes collection of money quotes from literature

 

Charles Dickens Quote Photo for Halloween

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I’ve posted this over at the LitQuotes Facebook page too so that you can more easily share this with your friends.

An evening wind uprose too, and the slighter branches cracked and rattled as they moved, in skeleton dances, to its moaning music. ~ Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens

Martin Chuzzlewit Quote