Later on, Dickens began his career as a journalist, following in the footsteps of his father. He slowly advanced in the industry and eventually began a series of sketches under the name “Bez”. In the April of 1836, he married Catherine Hogarth, daughter of George Hogarth (his editor). Soon after, he managed to publish Pickwick Papers and with it, his success was guaranteed. He wrote a variety of novels and even edited several weekly publications.
Among many other things, Dickens was also a theater enthusiast. He wrote plays and even performed before Queen Victoria in 1851. He ventured the world and visited the United States to lecture about slavery. In 1858, after having 10 children with his wife Catherine, Charles became estranged from her. He maintained relations with his mistress, the actress Ellen Ternan.
In 1859, Charles Dickens founded a literary periodical (a weekly journal) known as All the Year Round. In this periodical, Dickens serialized a few novels in weekly segments, including his own A Tale of Two Cities. His Great Expectations was published from the December of 1860 to the August of 1861. Great Expectations is said to be one of Dickens' darkest works. Thus, it was well received and followed by primarily Victorian readers.
Throughout his lifetime, Charles Dickens had written a great number of novels (around 20). A few of his most notable works are:
- The Adventures of Oliver Twist (which ran from 1837-1839)
- The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nicolby (1838-1839)
- A Christmas Carol (1843)
- David Copperfield (1849-1850)
- A Tale of Two Cities (1859)
