When imagining the Victorian Age, royalty, fancy lifestyles, and elaborate living often come to mind. However, during this same era, other lifestyles and conditions of a completely different nature were occurring. Many of the English people lived in poverty. Charles Dickens, one of the great writers of this period, described how it was to live during the Victorian Era. Although England grew from an agricultural to an industrial society, not all citizens benefited from this change. In addition, the undesirable health and medical environment plagued both the wealthy and the poor.

Charles Dickens was a profound British writer who composed novels, short stories, dramatic works, poetry, and essays ("Charles Dickens" 1). He was born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth England where he was the second of eight children (Perdue 1). His father John was a minor government official as a clerk in the Navy Pay Office: he was then transferred to Somerset House in London. The family moved to Chatham in the Medway Valley, where Charles experienced the most glorious part of his childhood (Perdue 1). After moving back to London, John Dickens had a tendency to live beyond his needs, spending all

Roughly two years later, he met Catherine Hogarth the daughter of newspaper editor George Hogarth. In 1836 they are married and had ten children; their marriage ended in 1858 (Perdue 1). Within two years, he was involved with Ellen Turnan, an actress he met while interested in theatre. Ellen was 27 years younger then Dickens, which represents the "happy, later life couple" Joe and Biddy, from Great Expectations ("Charles (John Huffam) Dickens" 2). This relationship was kept a secret until Dickens' daughter revealed it after his death ("Charles Dickens" 2).

Sally Mitchell stated, "The most significant Victorian Medical achievement lay not in individual treatments or the discovery of cures, but through legislating effective measures for public health." It was very evident that urban people were sickly, and as a consequence of some investigations, the Public Health Act of 1848 created agencies that began many new programs to improve living conditions (Stevenson). Sewers were built, pure water was supplied, the tax on soap was abolished, standards of purity were applied to food products, and school health examinations began. Diseases that contaminated food and people such as Cholera and diarrhea, slowly diminished. (Stevenson). Although public health investigations were not completely finished by the end of the century, people were living longer and were in better physical condition then ever before (Mitchell 93).

Trevelyan, George Macaulay. Victorian England. Ed. Swisher, Clarice. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2000.

A major change that was taking place in the late 18th century was the transition from agriculture to industry. The textile revolution was the work of a wholly new order of men, raised from the ranks by their energy in seizing the opportunities of the new industrial revolution (Trevelyan 104). Before the Factory Acts came into play, the working conditions for women and children were truly horrific. They would work 12-15 hour days in unsanitary conditions receiving extremely low pay. George Macaulay Trevelyan quoted that "In his 1854 novel Hard Times, a satire of industrial society and utilitarianism, Charles Dickens creates the fictitious but recognizable Coketown, notable for its grim ugliness and the inhumane conditions its inhabitants endure."

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Approximate Word count = 1877
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)