Dickens's father was sent to prison for debt, and this became a common theme in many of his books, with the detailed depiction of life in the Marshalsea prison in Little Dorrit resulting from Dickens's own experiences of the institution.
A propia familia de Dickens foi enviada á prisión por pobreza, un tema común en moitos dos seus libros, e a detallada descrición da vida na prisión de Marshalea en A pequena Dorrit é debida ás propias experiencias de Dickens naquela institución.