diff --git a/.github/CHANGELOG.md b/.github/CHANGELOG.md
index 6d45dad19db..acee6e233e9 100644
--- a/.github/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/.github/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@
 
 <h3>Improvements</h3>
 
+* ``qml.circuit_drawer.CircuitDrawer`` can accept a string for the ``charset`` keyword, instead of a ``CharSet`` object.
+  [(#1640)](https://github.com/PennyLaneAI/pennylane/pull/1640)
+
 <h3>Breaking changes</h3>
 
 <h3>Bug fixes</h3>
diff --git a/pennylane/circuit_drawer/circuit_drawer.py b/pennylane/circuit_drawer/circuit_drawer.py
index 3b4fb765c14..947beb6be0b 100644
--- a/pennylane/circuit_drawer/circuit_drawer.py
+++ b/pennylane/circuit_drawer/circuit_drawer.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 
 import pennylane as qml
 from pennylane.wires import Wires
-from .charsets import UnicodeCharSet
+from .charsets import CHARSETS, CharSet
 from .representation_resolver import RepresentationResolver
 from .grid import Grid
 
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ class CircuitDrawer:
         raw_operation_grid (list[list[~.Operation]]): The CircuitGraph's operations
         raw_observable_grid (list[list[qml.operation.Observable]]): The CircuitGraph's observables
         wires (Wires): all wires on the device for which the circuit is drawn
-        charset (pennylane.circuit_drawer.CharSet, optional): The CharSet that shall be used for drawing.
+        charset (str, pennylane.circuit_drawer.CharSet, optional): The CharSet that shall be used for drawing.
         show_all_wires (bool): If True, all wires, including empty wires, are printed.
     """
 
@@ -55,21 +55,33 @@ def __init__(
         raw_operation_grid,
         raw_observable_grid,
         wires,
-        charset=UnicodeCharSet,
+        charset=None,
         show_all_wires=False,
     ):
         self.operation_grid = Grid(raw_operation_grid)
         self.observable_grid = Grid(raw_observable_grid)
         self.wires = wires
         self.active_wires = self.extract_active_wires(raw_operation_grid, raw_observable_grid)
-        self.charset = charset
+
+        if charset is None:
+            self.charset = CHARSETS["unicode"]()
+        elif isinstance(charset, type) and issubclass(charset, CharSet):
+            self.charset = charset()
+        else:
+            if charset not in CHARSETS:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    "Charset '{}' is not supported. Supported charsets: {}.".format(
+                        charset, ", ".join(CHARSETS.keys())
+                    )
+                )
+            self.charset = CHARSETS[charset]()
 
         if show_all_wires:
             # if the provided wires include empty wires, make sure they are included
             # as active wires
             self.active_wires = wires.all_wires([wires, self.active_wires])
 
-        self.representation_resolver = RepresentationResolver(charset)
+        self.representation_resolver = RepresentationResolver(self.charset)
         self.operation_representation_grid = Grid()
         self.observable_representation_grid = Grid()
         self.operation_decoration_indices = []
@@ -91,15 +103,15 @@ def __init__(
 
         CircuitDrawer.pad_representation(
             self.operation_representation_grid,
-            charset.WIRE,
+            self.charset.WIRE,
             "",
-            2 * charset.WIRE,
+            2 * self.charset.WIRE,
             self.operation_decoration_indices,
         )
 
         CircuitDrawer.pad_representation(
             self.operation_representation_grid,
-            charset.WIRE,
+            self.charset.WIRE,
             "",
             "",
             set(range(self.operation_grid.num_layers)) - set(self.operation_decoration_indices),
@@ -108,14 +120,14 @@ def __init__(
         CircuitDrawer.pad_representation(
             self.observable_representation_grid,
             " ",
-            charset.MEASUREMENT + " ",
+            self.charset.MEASUREMENT + " ",
             " ",
             self.observable_decoration_indices,
         )
 
         CircuitDrawer.pad_representation(
             self.observable_representation_grid,
-            charset.WIRE,
+            self.charset.WIRE,
             "",
             "",
             set(range(self.observable_grid.num_layers)) - set(self.observable_decoration_indices),
diff --git a/pennylane/circuit_graph.py b/pennylane/circuit_graph.py
index 11c5a37b729..8a03ceede86 100644
--- a/pennylane/circuit_graph.py
+++ b/pennylane/circuit_graph.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 
 from pennylane.wires import Wires
-from .circuit_drawer import CHARSETS, CircuitDrawer
+from .circuit_drawer import CircuitDrawer
 
 
 def _by_idx(x):
@@ -604,18 +604,11 @@ def draw(self, charset="unicode", wire_order=None, show_all_wires=False):
 
         grid, obs = self.greedy_layers(wire_order=wire_order, show_all_wires=show_all_wires)
 
-        if charset not in CHARSETS:
-            raise ValueError(
-                "Charset {} is not supported. Supported charsets: {}.".format(
-                    charset, ", ".join(CHARSETS.keys())
-                )
-            )
-
         drawer = CircuitDrawer(
             grid,
             obs,
             wires=wire_order or self.wires,
-            charset=CHARSETS[charset],
+            charset=charset,
             show_all_wires=show_all_wires,
         )
 
diff --git a/tests/circuit_drawer/test_circuit_drawer.py b/tests/circuit_drawer/test_circuit_drawer.py
index 09c31272c2c..3ad74e01b4c 100644
--- a/tests/circuit_drawer/test_circuit_drawer.py
+++ b/tests/circuit_drawer/test_circuit_drawer.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 from pennylane.circuit_drawer import CircuitDrawer
 from pennylane.circuit_drawer.circuit_drawer import _remove_duplicates
 from pennylane.circuit_drawer.grid import Grid, _transpose
+from pennylane.circuit_drawer.charsets import CHARSETS, UnicodeCharSet, AsciiCharSet
 from pennylane.wires import Wires
 
 from pennylane.measure import state
@@ -65,6 +66,41 @@ def test_remove_duplicates(self, input, expected_output):
 ]
 
 
+class TestInitialization:
+    def test_charset_default(self):
+
+        drawer_None = CircuitDrawer(
+            dummy_raw_operation_grid, dummy_raw_observable_grid, Wires(range(6)), charset=None
+        )
+
+        assert isinstance(drawer_None.charset, UnicodeCharSet)
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("charset", ("unicode", "ascii"))
+    def test_charset_string(self, charset):
+
+        drawer_str = CircuitDrawer(
+            dummy_raw_operation_grid, dummy_raw_observable_grid, Wires(range(6)), charset=charset
+        )
+
+        assert isinstance(drawer_str.charset, CHARSETS[charset])
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("charset", (UnicodeCharSet, AsciiCharSet))
+    def test_charset_class(self, charset):
+
+        drawer_class = CircuitDrawer(
+            dummy_raw_operation_grid, dummy_raw_observable_grid, Wires(range(6)), charset=charset
+        )
+
+        assert isinstance(drawer_class.charset, charset)
+
+    def test_charset_error(self):
+
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match=r"Charset 'nope' is not supported."):
+            CircuitDrawer(
+                dummy_raw_operation_grid, dummy_raw_observable_grid, Wires(range(6)), charset="nope"
+            )
+
+
 @pytest.fixture
 def dummy_circuit_drawer():
     """A dummy CircuitDrawer instance."""