context

• What happened to Dicken's father?

  he was sent to a debtor's prison when he was 12, so he had to be put to work. Ignorance and want are writen from a place of experience. He emphatised with the poor.
• When was it written?

  1843
• When was it set?

  1834
• What was significant about 1834?


  1834 New Poor Law-Law which stated that if you are poor and can't look after yourself the government can help you as long as you were sent to a workhouse to work for free. Terrible conditions, Dickens saw it as a punishement & very critical.
• Who is Thomas Malthus?


  Economist who came up with a harsh theory. Blamed overpopulatipon for poverty, claimed that disease + pandemics are good for us because they kill off a number of us and reduce overpopulation. Dickens was very critical, saw it as insesitive, almost saying poor deserve to die, takes pressure alway from government to help the poor.
• What was the Industrial Revolution?


  A period of rapid industrialization and technological advancements in the 18th and 19th centuries. Dickens thought it created an even worse social divide, rich exploited the poor to become richer.