1. More

Abstract

Charles Dickens’s first two novels—The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club and Oliver Twist—were published in monthly instalments, usually of two or three chapters at a time, beginning in 1836. Charles Dickens was also editing a new monthly magazine, Bentley’s Miscellany, and writing for theatre at this time. He was the talk of the town, his name everywhere. ‘More’ explains how contradiction and opposition fired Dickens’s imagination and were characteristics running throughout his writing. Oliver was a great success with many versions and manifestations. There were numerous translations and the invention of cinema at the end of the 19th century saw film versions, followed by adaptations for television, musicals, and theatre.