To mark the bicentenary of Charles Dickens' birth, British actress Miriam Margolyes has embarked on a world tour of her one-woman show 'Dickens' Women', starting in Australia.
Literary enthusiasts and local dignitaries gathered today to commemorate the British novelist at a life-size statue of him in Sydney.
The BAFTA-winner and star of Harry Potter movies says she has reservations about Dickens' attitude to women.
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"I think he was a damaged man and he felt like women had damaged him and he took his revenge, ... so his portrayals of women are often a little skewed and angry, and also very funny," she told SBS.
"I think he loved women but he didn't understand them".
Miriam Margolyes will perform 'Dickens' Women' throughout Australia until late April.
