But the author himself is often thought of as an upright social reformer.
A new “alternative guided tour” of the Dickens Museum in Bloomsbury takes in the seedier aspects of the novelist’s personal life – from his treatment for gonorrhoea, to the abandonment of his wife for a much younger actress.
The Sex, Gin and Opium tour also lifts the lid on Victorian addictions to the likes of laudanum and opium – and predilection for frequenting brothels.
Gin may have been swilled by Londoners at an alarming rate, but in the museum cafe, you can enjoy a measured tipple of Mrs Gamp’s Gin, named after the nurse in Martin Chuzzlewit who will cure anyone for the price of a bottle.
Thereafter you are treated to a tour of 48, Doughty Street, with Dickens’ world brought to life through the stories behind the portraits, letters, artefacts and furniture once owned by the famous author.
When Dickens took an £80-a-year rent on the terrace house in 1837, he was just 25 and newly and happily married to wife Catherine. Over the following two and a half years, they had the second of their 10 children, and the budding writer had risen to global fame after penning The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby in the upstairs study.
The young couple loved to entertain and visitors are invited to imagine the cosy dining room bursting with jollity one Christmas with their many guests – and Dickens slurping his favourite rum or gin punch.
The family also started a tradition of hosting Twelfth Night entertainment including magic lantern shows, conjuring, dancing and theatrical performances with scripts adapted by Dickens, and family and friends as cast members.
There’s a whiff of scandal when Catherine’s younger sister Georgina Hogarth is painted in a racy portrait – she lived with the couple for many years and later sided with Dickens over the separation, sparking rumours of an affair.
Another Hogarth sister, Mary, died in the spare room aged 17, becoming the inspiration for Little Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop – one of many characters Dickens used to humanise the plight of the poor.
The study itself holds the desk on which Dickens later wrote Great Expectations – it was gifted to the museum which opened almost a century ago, and holds 100,000 items spanning the whole of Dickens’ life.
Unique objects include the author’s stage podium, which allowed audiences to see the dramatic, animated readings of his works, special cane chair, which relieved his pain following rectal surgery, and even his commode.
As Dickens’ fame grew, the family went on to live in much grander houses; in Tavistock Square, Bloomsbury and Devonshire Terrace in Marylebone – both now demolished – and Gads Hill in Kent.
But their first proper married home remains a time capsule and a hidden gem.
From Wednesday 13th November until Sunday 5th January, the Charles Dickens Museum is decorated for the festive season and holds tours, and live performances.
The Dickensian Christmas Tour features the author’s “close friend John Forster” guiding visitors through the house and regaling them with tales of Christmases past.
James Swanton’s Christmas Performances include A Christmas Carol and a
close encounter with Ebenezer Scrooge, as he embarks on his supernatural journey with the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet-To-Come.
Other highlights include a solo performance of Dickens’ lesser known festive tales The Chimes, a sharing of his Christmas book The Haunted Man, and enchanting magic lantern shows by acclaimed maestros, Jeremy and Carolyn Brooker.
All bookings and details at www.dickensmuseum.com
