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Why did Charles Dickens’s humor become darker in his novels of the 1850s?

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Portrait of Charles Dickens seated at a desk, writing with a quill pen, dressed in a suit with a bow tie. — Charles Dickens English novelist Charles Dickens working at his craft. Dickens published some of most beloved novels in English literature, including *A Christmas Carol*, *A Tale of Two Cities*, and *Great Expectations*.

In the 1850s, Charles Dickens’s novels—including Bleak House, Hard Times, and Little Dorrit—became notably darker as his perspective on contemporary society grew more somber and his secular hopes began to diminish.1

During this period, Dickens became politically more despondent and emotionally more tragic. His writing shifted in several key ways:1

Tone and Satire: The satire in his work became harsher, and his humor, while still present, was less genial and abundant than in his earlier fiction.1
Thematic Depth: His novels moved toward a more coherent, poetic structure where plots were closely tied to grim symbols, such as the fog in Bleak House or the prison in Little Dorrit.1
Characterization: He moved away from the large-scale, grotesque comic figures of his early career, focusing instead on more complex characters who provoked deeper responses from the reader.1
Spiritual Focus: As his secular optimism waned, his work increasingly explored the spiritual dimension of life, reflecting an ambitious attempt to examine the prospects of humanity during a period of significant social and political development.1