[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.83,0:00:11.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The starving orphan seeking \Na second helping of gruel.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.94,0:00:15.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The spinster wasting away \Nin her tattered wedding dress.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.59,0:00:20.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The stone-hearted miser plagued \Nby the ghost of Christmas past.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.47,0:00:22.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,More than a century after his death,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.68,0:00:27.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these remain recognizable figures\Nfrom the work of Charles Dickens.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.36,0:00:32.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So striking is his body of work \Nthat it gave rise to its own adjective.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.07,0:00:36.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But what are the features of Dickens's\Nwriting that make it so special?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.88,0:00:39.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dickens’s fiction brims with anticipation
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.53,0:00:43.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through brooding settings, \Nplot twists, and mysteries.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.54,0:00:46.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These features of his work kept\Nhis audience wanting more.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.94,0:00:50.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When first published, \Nhis stories were serialized,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.29,0:00:55.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,meaning they were released a few chapters\Nat a time in affordable literary journals
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.52,0:00:58.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and only later reprinted as books.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.62,0:01:01.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This prompted fevered speculation\Nover the cliffhangers
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.62,0:01:04.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and revelations he devised.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.41,0:01:08.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Serialization not only made fiction\Navailable to a wider audience
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.12,0:01:09.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and kept them reading,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.62,0:01:13.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but increased the hype\Naround the author himself.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.41,0:01:16.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dickens became particularly popular\Nfor his wit,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.96,0:01:21.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which he poured into quirky characters\Nand satiric scenarios.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.22,0:01:24.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His characters exhibit the sheer\Nabsurdity of human behavior,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.100,0:01:29.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and their names often personify\Ntraits or social positions,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.44,0:01:31.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like the downtrodden Bob Cratchit,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.97,0:01:33.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the groveling Uriah Heep,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.100,0:01:37.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the cheery Septimus Crisparkle.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.79,0:01:42.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dickens set these colorful characters\Nagainst intricate social backdrops,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.10,0:01:44.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which mimic the society he lived in.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.62,0:01:46.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For instance, he often considered
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.26,0:01:49.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the changes brought about \Nby the Industrial Revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.28,0:01:50.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,During this period,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.65,0:01:55.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the lower classes experienced \Nsordid working and living conditions.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.21,0:01:58.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dickens himself experienced \Nthis hardship as a child
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.62,0:02:01.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when he was forced to work in\Na boot blacking factory
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.85,0:02:05.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after his father was sent \Nto debtors' prison.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.06,0:02:09.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This influenced his depiction\Nof the Marshalsea prison in Little Dorrit,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.52,0:02:13.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where the titular character cares\Nfor her convict father.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.87,0:02:18.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Prisons, orphanages, or slums\Nmay seem grim settings for a story,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.31,0:02:20.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but they allowed Dickens to shed light
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.30,0:02:24.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on how his society's \Nmost invisible people lived.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.08,0:02:25.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In Nicholas Nickleby,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.45,0:02:29.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nicholas takes a job with the schoolmaster\NWackford Squeers.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.27,0:02:33.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He soon realizes that Squeers\Nis running a scam
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.10,0:02:36.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where he takes unwanted children\Nfrom their parents for a fee
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.54,0:02:39.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and subjects them to violence\Nand deprivation.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.85,0:02:43.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Oliver Twist also deals with the plight \Nof children in the care of the state,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.98,0:02:46.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,illustrating the brutal conditions of\Nthe workhouse
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.49,0:02:50.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which Oliver pleads\Nwith Mr. Bumble for food.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.04,0:02:55.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When he flees to London, he becomes\Nensnared in a criminal underworld.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.09,0:02:57.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These stories frequently portray\NVictorian life
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.86,0:03:00.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as grimy, corrupt, and cruel.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.19,0:03:03.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But Dickens also saw his time\Nas one in which old traditions
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.76,0:03:05.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were fading away.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.66,0:03:08.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,London was becoming\Nthe incubator of the modern world
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.54,0:03:12.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through new patterns in industry,\Ntrade, and social mobility.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.59,0:03:16.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dickens's London is therefore\Na dualistic space:
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.13,0:03:21.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a harsh world that is simultaneously\Nfilled with wonder and possibility.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.37,0:03:24.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For instance, the enigma \Nof Great Expectations
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.11,0:03:26.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,centers around the potential of Pip,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.52,0:03:30.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an orphan plucked from obscurity\Nby an anonymous benefactor
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.06,0:03:32.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and propelled into high society.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.70,0:03:34.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In his search for purpose,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.29,0:03:37.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Pip becomes the victim \Nof other people’s ambitions for him
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.69,0:03:40.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and must negotiate with \Na shadowy cast of characters.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.82,0:03:43.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like many of Dickens’s protagonists,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.25,0:03:46.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,poor Pip's position \Nis constantly destabilized,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.77,0:03:49.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just one of the reasons \Nwhy reading Dickens
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.28,0:03:51.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is the best of times for the reader,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.27,0:03:54.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while being the worst of times \Nfor his characters.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.76,0:03:58.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dickens typically offered clear \Nresolution by the end of his novels,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.72,0:04:02.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– with the exception of\NThe Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.45,0:04:07.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The novel details the disappearance of the\Norphan Edwin under puzzling circumstances.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.39,0:04:10.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,However, Dickens died before the novel \Nwas finished
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.43,0:04:13.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and left no notes resolving the mystery.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.62,0:04:18.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Readers continue to passionately debate \Nover who Dickens intended as the murderer,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.76,0:04:23.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and whether Edwin Drood \Nwas even murdered in the first place.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.56,0:04:25.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Throughout many adaptations,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.11,0:04:26.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,literary homages,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.26,0:04:27.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the pages of his novels,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.87,0:04:31.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dickens’s sparkling language\Nand panoramic worldview
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.28,0:04:33.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,continue to resonate.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.46,0:04:35.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Today, the adjective Dickensian
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.34,0:04:38.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,often implies squalid working \Nor living conditions.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.59,0:04:43.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But to describe a novel as\NDickensian is typically high praise,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.13,0:04:46.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as it suggests a story in which true \Nadventure and discovery
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.93,0:04:49.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,occur in the most unexpected places.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.72,0:04:52.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Although he often explored bleak material,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.51,0:04:57.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dickens’s piercing wit never failed\Nto find light in the darkest corners.