An Intro to Dickens

With the recent release of yet another film creation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, it is hard to deny the influence of such a work of literature and an author upon society.
Dickens was born Charles John Huffam Dickens on 7 February 1812 to John and Elizabeth Dickens. His father was a clerk in the Naval Pay Office and found himself imprisoned a couple of times for debt. The first occurrence of this happening landed the whole family in prison, minus Charles who was sent to work in a blackening warehouse at age twelve. This experience would later lead to some of his creative works and characters and influenced his life throughout, especially as a theme of social reform permeated his works.
Dickens took the pen name of "Boz" and began publishing works. These writings were released serially through periodicals and led Dickens to the creation of such parts of his novels and stories with cliffhangers that helped him create more anticipation for his audience for the next edition. A series of books issued at Christmastime began in 1843. A Christmas Carol was the first of these Christmas books and was first published the 19th of December 1843. A fan, himself, of the gothic tradition, he wrote a Christmas story with key elements from a seemingly opposing genre.
In April of 1836, Dickens married Catherine Hogarth who would become the mother of their ten children. Dickens also continued to pursue the pen in providing for his family through his own writings, being editor of different papers, and eventually establishing a theater group. This theater group later led to the separation between Dickens and wife Catherine due to a love affair with an actress by the name of Ellen Ternan.
Dickens continued to find success in his career as a novelist throughout his life, even leaving an unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood at his death. He left the world in June of 1870 due to a stroke. Although he wished to be buried in a private manner without the pomp and circumstance of the famous, he was interred in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey.