International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (ijsell) Volume 4, Issue 6, June 2016, pp 85-95

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International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL) 
Volume 4, Issue 6, June 2016, PP 85-95 
ISSN 2347-3126 (Print) & ISSN 2347-3134 (Online) 
http://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2347-3134.0406012 
www.arcjournals.org 
 
©ARC
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Exploring Women’s Identity in Selected Charles Dickens’s 
Works: A re-visitation from a Contemporary African Perspective 
Taofiki Koumakpaï 
Full Professor of British Literature, Department of English Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities 
(F.L.A.S.H.), University of Abomey-Calavi (U.A.C), BENIN 
Kossi Joiny Towa-Sello
Lecturer-Researcher, Department of English Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities (F.L.A.S.H.), 
University of Abomey-Calavi (U.A.C), BENIN, BP: 236Togoudo, (Abomey-Calavi, Rép Bénin) 
[e-mail]  
Abstract:
 
The aim of this article is to scrutinize and discuss Charles Dicken’s perception of women’s identity 
in British society during the Victorian period through some selected works. This unfolds through a re-visitation 
from a contemporary African women perspective. The ongoing study has first and foremost highlighted the 
impacts of industrialization on British women’s conditions. The second leg of this paper has consisted in 
showing how some of the fictional works authored by Charles Dickens have depicted and portrayed the social 
injustice prevailing in Great Britain during the period under study. Indeed, to achieve its objective, this 
research paper has lightly drawn on the feminist and new historicist theories while making an attempt to 
compare Dickens’ portrayal of women of the Victorian era to that made of contemporary African women.