Charles John Huffam Dickens

British novelist. Born on February 7th in the suburbs of Portsmouth, a naval port in southern England, as the eldest son of a low-ranking naval official working in the Navy Accounting Office, Dickens later moved to London. His father, John, was a good man but had no sense of money and was once imprisoned for non-payment of debts. As a result, Dickens suffered from poverty from an early age, was hardly allowed to attend school, and was sent to work in a local factory from the age of 12. In the first half of the 19th century, when capitalism was on the rise in major British cities, there was a distortion in the form of terrible poverty and inhuman labor (such as the exploitation of minors) behind the prosperity. Having experienced the contradictions and injustices of this society firsthand, Dickens made desperate efforts on his own to get out of the depths of poverty, studying on his own and working as an assistant at a law firm at the age of 15, becoming a shorthand reporter for the court the following year, and eventually becoming a newspaper reporter, writing articles on parliament and sketches of the customs of life. In 1833, he submitted a short story to a magazine and it was accepted. Encouraged by this, he continued to publish short stories and short pieces in various magazines. A collection of these, Sketches by Boz, was published in 1836, marking the brilliant debut of the 24-year-old budding writer into the literary world.

The full-length novel "Pickwick Papers," completed the following year in 1837, has a simple plot of four (or five) characters who cause hilarious incidents wherever they go on a journey, but its bright humor made it an explosive hit, and his next work, "Oliver Twist" (1838), also became a bestseller, establishing his status as a writer. In response to the support of readers of all classes and ages in England and America, he published a succession of long and medium-length novels, including "Nicholas Nickleby" (1838-39), "The Curiosity Dealer" (1840-41), "Barnaby Rudge" (1841), "A Christmas Carol" (1843), and "Dombey and Son" (1846-48), and his literary fame continued to grow. The reason for this high reputation was that he realistically portrayed the joys and sorrows of life in society that he had experienced himself, while courageously pointing out the injustices and contradictions of the world, and criticizing them with a touch of humor. In fact, the appearance of his novels has led to reforms in the abuse of minors and the inefficiency of courts.

From around the time of his autobiographical work "David Copperfield," completed in 1850, the quality of Dickens' works gradually changed, and the characteristics of his later period became more evident. His next work, "Bleak House" (1853), is a good example of this. Unlike his earlier works, which focused on the upbringing and experiences of a single protagonist, this work focused on a large number of characters and took a broad look at all levels of society, becoming closer to a so-called panoramic social novel. In the face of the wall of a social system that stands in the way of the work and which cannot be improved by the power of individuals, Dickens's usual humor turned into a somewhat bitter laughter, and a sense of powerlessness and frustration began to permeate the entire work. His creative energy, however, remained strong, and he wrote such novels as Hard Times (1854), about a factory strike; Little Dorrit (1855-57), a dark social novel described by G. B. Shaw as "a book more dangerous than Das Kapital"; A Tale of Two Cities (1859), about the French Revolution; and the somewhat autobiographical Great Expectations (1861). In addition, he wrote a large number of short stories and essays. He also ran and edited a magazine, participated in charitable work, performed amateur plays, gave public readings of his own works, and traveled widely. His tireless and energetic activities took a toll on his health, but he refused to give up.

Furthermore, in 1858 he separated from his wife Catherine, with whom he had been married for over 20 years and who had given birth to 10 children (apparently due to incompatibility between their personalities and his mistress Ellen Ternan, a young actress in her early 20s. However, he was unable to divorce her due to concerns about his reputation, and kept her affair a secret), and other mental hardships piled up, leading to his death on June 9, 1870, with his detective-style mystery-filled The Mystery of Edwin Drood left unfinished. Amid mourning from all walks of life around the world, he was buried in Westminster Abbey, the highest honour for a literary man.

His novels are criticized by some as being sentimental and vulgar, pandering to readers, but the characters, full of humanity and humor, have a lively and unforgettable quality, and over the century since his death, his novels have been translated into many languages, and he has admirers ranging from Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky to Kafka, and is recognized as one of the leading authors of British literature along with Shakespeare. The Japanese branch of the Dickens Fellowship is located in the English Literature Research Room of Seijo University in Seijo, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo.

[Shigeru Koike]

"World Literature Series 29: Bleak House, translated by Aoki Yuzo and Koike Shigeru (1969, Chikuma Shobo)" ▽ "Little Dorrit, translated by Koike Shigeru (World Literature Collection 33 & 34, 1980, Shueisha)" ▽ "Dickens, by Ebiike Toshiharu (1955, Kenkyusha Publishing)" ▽ "Dickens, by Fielding, translated by Sakuraba Nobuyuki (1956, Kenkyusha Publishing)" ▽ "Dickens, by Koike Shigeru (1979, Fuyuki Publishing)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリスの小説家。2月7日、海軍経理局勤務の下級官吏の長男として南イギリスの軍港ポーツマス郊外に生まれ、のちロンドンに移住した。父のジョンは好人物だが金に締まりがなく、借財の不払いで投獄されたこともある。そのためディケンズは少年時代から貧乏の苦しみをなめさせられ、学校にもほとんど通わせてもらえず、12歳から町工場に働きに出された。資本主義の勃興(ぼっこう)期にあった19世紀前半のイギリスの大都会では、繁栄の裏に恐ろしい貧困と非人道的な労働（年少者の酷使など）というひずみがみられた。こうした社会の矛盾、不正を肌で体験したディケンズは、貧乏の淵(ふち)から抜け出そうと自力で必死の努力を重ね、独学で勉強しながら15歳で弁護士事務所の下働き、翌年裁判所の速記者となり、やがて新聞記者となって議会の記事や、風俗の見聞スケッチを書くようになった。1833年に短編をある雑誌に投稿して採用されたのに力を得て、引き続き短編、小品などをあちこちの雑誌類に発表、これらを集めた『ボズのスケッチ集』が36年に出版されて、24歳の新進作家が華々しく文壇にデビューした。

　翌1837年に完結した長編小説『ピックウィック・ペーパーズ』は、4人（途中から5人）の人物が旅する先々で滑稽(こっけい)な事件を巻き起こすという単純な筋だが、その明るいユーモアで爆発的な人気をよび、次作『オリバー・トゥイスト』（1838）もベストセラーとなって、彼の作家的地位は確立した。その後イギリスとアメリカのあらゆる階層、年齢の読者からの声援にこたえて、『ニコラス・ニックルビー』（1838～39）、『骨董(こっとう)屋』（1840～41）、『バーナビー・ラッジ』（1841）、『クリスマス・キャロル』（1843）、『ドンビー父子』（1846～48）など、立て続けに長・中編を発表して文名は高まる一方であった。この高評の原因は、自らの体験で知った社会の下積み生活、その哀歓をリアルに描くとともに、世の不正と矛盾を勇敢に指摘し、しかもユーモアを交えながら批判したところにあった。事実、彼の小説の出現によって、年少者の虐待や裁判の非能率などが改められたほどである。

　1850年に完結した自伝的作品『デビッド・カパーフィールド』あたりから、作品の質がすこしずつ変わってきて、ディケンズ後期の特徴が顕著になってくる。次作『荒涼館』（1853）がそのよい例で、前期の作品のように1人の主人公の生い立ちや体験を中心に描くのではなく、かなり多くの人物群を中心に、社会の各層を広く見渡す、いわゆるパノラマ的社会小説に近くなってきた。作品のなかに立ちはだかる、個人の力ではついに改善しきれない社会の体制の壁を前にして、ディケンズ得意のユーモアもどこか苦々しい笑いに変わり、無力感、挫折(ざせつ)感が全編に漂うようになった。しかし創作力は依然として衰えず、工場ストライキを扱った『つらいご時世』（1854）、G・B・ショーによって「『資本論』よりも危険な書」と評された暗い社会小説『リトル・ドリット』（1855～57）、フランス革命を扱った『二都物語』（1859）、やや自伝的な『大いなる遺産』（1861）などの長編のほか、かなり多くの短編、随筆を書き、さらに雑誌の経営・編集、慈善事業への参加、素人(しろうと)演劇の上演、自作の公開朗読、各地への旅行と、休む暇のない精力的な活動が続いたために健康を損じたが、やめようとはしなかった。

　そのうえ58年には、20年以上連れ添い10人の子供を産んだ妻キャサリンと別居（性格があわないうえ、20歳そこそこの若い女優エレン・ターナンを愛人にもったためという。しかし世間の評判を気にして離婚はできず、愛人のこともひた隠しにしていた）するなど、精神的な苦労も重なり、70年6月9日、推理小説風の謎(なぞ)に満ちた『エドウィン・ドルードの謎』を未完成のまま世を去った。全世界、各階層の哀悼のなかで、文人最高の栄誉としてウェストミンスター寺院に葬られた。

　彼の小説は、一部からは読者に迎合した感傷的で低俗なものと非難されるが、人間味とユーモアに富む数々の登場人物は、永遠に忘れられない溌剌(はつらつ)さをもっており、死後1世紀を通じて各国語に翻訳されて、トルストイ、ドストエフスキーからカフカに至る崇拝者をもち、シェークスピアとともにイギリス文学を代表する作家と認められている。なお、ディケンズ・フェロウシップ日本支部が東京都世田谷(せたがや)区成城(せいじょう)の成城大学英文学研究室内に置かれている。

［小池　滋］

『青木雄造・小池滋訳『世界文学大系29　荒涼館』（1969・筑摩書房）』▽『小池滋訳『リトル・ドリット』（『世界文学全集33・34』1980・集英社）』▽『海老池俊治著『ディケンズ』（1955・研究社出版）』▽『フィールディング著、桜庭信之訳『ディケンズ』（1956・研究社出版）』▽『小池滋著『ディケンズ』（1979・冬樹社）』

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