Dickens' Literature

Dickens was renowned for macabre themes in his literature, focusing on combining life and death. When we think of stereotypical 'Gothic', we think of terrifying castles, horrible creatures and  secluded mountainous settings, however the period in which Dickens was writing was developing a new wave of contemporary gothic literature. For example it could be set in a city such as London; combining the traditional gothic with their current day settings. Therefore there were elements of his writing that were considered unconventional and unorthodox in terms of gothic literature which made the 'shock factor' of his novels all the more realistic.

Dickens would also use his writing to express societal concerns that he had; intertwining it within the story. For example in 'Great Expectations', he creates a comment on the difference between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat when Pip enters London and is completely overshadowed as he is from a mere blacksmith family in the country. In 'Oliver Twist', the fact that Oliver was an innocent, kind and harmless orphan that was treated harshly by adults in workplaces emphasises the fact that children were not looked after well enough and not respected. His use of the 'Gothic' conventions, such as 'Power' when it comes to Bill Sikes who commits devilish acts like killing Nancy and being generally cruel and awful makes these issues all the more significant and noteworthy for the readers.

It was known that Dickens did not approve of the fact that social classes dominated how society worked, as he had experiences of it that unfavourable. For example the fact that he had to leave school for 3 years due to debt that his father faced and work in terrible conditions gave him a first hand account of what it was like to live in as an unprivileged person in the victorian era, giving more realism to his novels.

Religion was something that Dickens had problems with too as it had such a powerful influence over people's lives. He especially did not agree with evangelists that would attempt to invoke fear in people with the thought of sin and hell, particularly to young people. This may have been an influence for Estella and Miss Havisham; she forces Estella to live in a house not ideal for a young, growing girl and attempts to eternally damn her possibility at love and living a normal life; a real life equivalent to hell.

Resources
http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/charles-dickens-victorian-gothic-and-bleak-house
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/prosegreatexpect/0prose_greatexpect_contrev4.shtml
http://dickens.ucsc.edu/resources/faq/religion.html