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Position:Home>Books & Authors> Charles Dickens' teenage mistress?Question: Charles Dickens' teenage mistress!? There is a drama on next week on Channel 4 in the UK about Charles Dickens having an affari with a young actress (she was 18 when they met, and he was in his late 40s) and it went on for 13 years I think!.
Do you think if people had known of this (when he was alive) that it would have seriously affected his career and reputation!? Do you think you'll watch the drama!? I might, it has David Haig as Dickens!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Hiya, Well, Ellen Lawless Ternan met Dickens in 1857, when she was 18 and he 45 like you said mizza!. They met when Dickens and his friend Wilkie Collins decided to produce a play they had written!. He decided that Ellen, a reputed actress, was perfect for the part and was the woman who had always been missing from his life!. He installed her in various addresses in or near London and supported her until his death in 1870!. All this was done well away from the public eye!. Dickens was regarded as "a Christ-like figure" and was as eager as his public to ensure that his saintly image stayed untouched!. If he'd lost the love and support of the public, he'd have lost his income!.He would also have lost the reassurance that the Dickens who had grown up in poverty, neglect, and disgrace (his father's imprisonment for debt) no longer existed!. But if Dickens could not make the true story public, he publicised all the facts around it, and wrapped them in fictional stories which he insisted his readers approve!. I think it would definitely be worth watching!. I've always been interested in Dickens, and I tihnk it'd be great to find out the more personal (and maybe the more seedy!) side of him!. Hope this helps and hope you enjoy watching it :)Www@QuestionHome@Com At the time Dickens was alive, marriages were mostly marriages of convenience, and it was expected that the husband would have a mistress!. As long as it was done in a discreet way, people didn't really think much about that sort of thing!. Would a scandal have affected his popularity!? Who knows!. Society is fickle!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Ellen Ternan lived with Dickens secretly for the last 13 years of his life, and has subsequently been turned into a play by Simon Gray called Little Nell!. People at the time knew about this relation although!. Dickens separated from his wife in 1858, but to maintain appearances, he left his ex wife and kids in the family home!.Www@QuestionHome@Com I'm not surprised because I've read that he liked girls!. It probably would have effected his reputation if this was publicly known because the Victorians were easily outraged!. I don't think I'll watch it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com |