This adjective has found its way into the dictionary. One definition is "reminiscent of, or resembling, the situations, poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters described in Dickens's work." Probably the most common usage is relating to social evils, injustice and misery. We would expect a hospital or school building described as Dickensian to be cold, dark and dirty, with cruel staff and helpless inmates; Dickensian working conditions would imply an all-powerful employer and an exploited, underpaid workforce.
It is this aspect of Charles Dickens's writing which won him most recognition, even more than his comic character portrayals or suspense-filled plots. It is his pictures of the victims of Victorian society which have become part of our culture; Oliver Twist starving in the workhouse, Fagin's gang of child thieves, Little Dorrit growing up in prison or David Copperfield working in a factory. For Dickens himself too, improving these conditions was a major motivation behind his writing, and he often puts his greatest creative powers into describing them.
It is this aspect of Charles Dickens's writing which won him most recognition, even more than his comic character portrayals or suspense-filled plots. It is his pictures of the victims of Victorian society which have become part of our culture; Oliver Twist starving in the workhouse, Fagin's gang of child thieves, Little Dorrit growing up in prison or David Copperfield working in a factory. For Dickens himself too, improving these conditions was a major motivation behind his writing, and he often puts his greatest creative powers into describing them.
