Dickens' place in literature

Dickens is now considered one of the major figures in English literature, but his position was not always so high. His reputation declined between 1880 and 1940. This was partly due to the psy­chological emphasis that became fashionable in novels after Dickens' death. Critics valued Dickens chiefly as an entertainer and, above all, as a creator of a huge gallery of comic, pleasant, and villainous characters. They recognized him as a master creator of plot and scene, and as a sharp-eyed observer of London life. But they considered his outlook simple and unrealistic. They believed he lacked artistic taste and relied too much on broad comedy, dra­matic effects, sentimentality, and superficial psychology.

However, since 1940, numerous books and essays have de­scribed Dickens as a writer of considerable depth and complexity. He has also been praised as a sensitive and philosophic observer of human struggles within social institutions. In this sense, Dickens has been associated with such authors as Herman Melville, Franz Kafka, and Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Recent criticism has demonstrated that Dickens can no longer be regarded only as an entertainer, though his ability to entertain is probably the major reason for his popularity. Whatever his other claims to greatness may be, Dickens ranks as a superbly inventive comic artist. His characters have been compared to those of Shakespeare in their variety, color, energy, and life. Dickens was aware of human evil, but he never lost his perspective. His art was sustained by an awareness and appreciation of the human comedy.