Scarica Oliver Twist riassunto e più Appunti in PDF di Lingue e letterature classiche solo su Docsity! CHARLES DICKENS – OLIVER TWIST Oliver Twist was the second novel published by Charles Dickens. It was first published in serialized instalments in the monthly magazine Bentley's Miscellany from February 1837 to April 1839. Oliver Twist is one the most famous and influential works of Dickens: it was the first novel in English to have a boy as the protagonist and one of the first examples of the social novel. It was also unique at the time for its un-romanticized portrayal of the lives of criminals and the poor. With irreverent black humor, the novel examines nineteenth-century English society's ills: poverty, child labor, urban crime, and the inherent hypocrisy of Victorian culture. Oliver is an orphan who lives until the age of nine in a poor house, where he goes hungry and suffers abuse by the Director, Mr. Bumble. The classic scene in which the half starved Oliver begs for some more food and is viciously denied by the obese Mr. Bumble exemplifies the inequity of Victorian society. Oliver is then sent to work at a funeral home. Here, too, he is treated very badly. One day Oliver escapes and flees to London, where he gets involved with a gang of thieves and pickpockets headed by Fagin, a satanic character and corrupter of young boys. Oliver now begins an underground, nocturnal, life together with his companions: Fagin, the Artful Dodger, Claypole, and most importantly Nancy, who is a thief and a prostitute but basically a good person who has been led astray by Fagin and her lover, the violent Bill Sikes. Nancy, affectionately known to Fagin's boys as "Nance" and Bill Sykes were both old pupils of Fagin. Oliver also comes under the influence of the mysterious Monks, another thief, who has some unknown connection to Oliver. It is later revealed that Monks has paid Fagin to keep Oliver in his clutches and turn him into a thief, as part of Monks' secret plan to destroy him. One day the gang robs Mr. Brownlow, and Oliver takes the opportunity to run away from the group and is taken in by Mr. Brownlow. However he is then recaptured by the gang of thieves and persuaded to work as a thief by the mysterious and troubling Monks. But Oliver's first mission goes badly: he is sent to rob the house of Mrs. Maylie and her adopted granddaughter, Rose, but is injured during the mission. Oliver is treated by Mrs. Maylie and Rose who show compassion towards the little thief. Fagin, with the help of Monks, tries to recover Oliver but is thwarted. Fagin's gang is broken up by the police and Fagin is arrested. Sikes kills Nancy in a moment of anger over her betrayal of the gang, but is himself killed while trying to escape. Oliver's true origins are eventually discovered. Mr. Brownlow turns out to be an old friend of Oliver's father, and Monks is actually Oliver's half brother. Rose is actually Oliver's aunt and his deceased-mother's sister. Ever charitable, Oliver agrees to give his inheritance to Monks so that he can start over. Monks goes to America but soon squanders his money and returns to a life of crime. Oliver also shows compassion towards Fagin and goes to see him in jail on the eve of his execution. Everything ends well: Oliver is adopted by Mr. Brownlow. Claypole and the Artful Dodger leave their life of crime; Claypole becomes a respectable farmer and the Artful Dodger goes to work as a police informer. LIST OF CHARACTERS Oliver Twist The novel’s protagonist. Oliver is an orphan born in a workhouse, and Dickens uses his situation to criticize public policy toward the poor in 1830s England. Oliver is between nine and twelve years old when the main action of the novel occurs. Though treated with cruelty and surrounded by coarseness for most of his life, he is a pious, innocent child, and his charms draw the attention of several wealthy benefactors. His true identity is the central mystery of the novel. Fagin - A career criminal. Fagin takes in homeless children and trains them to pick pockets for him. He is also a buyer of other people’s stolen goods. He rarely commits crimes himself, preferring to employ others to commit them—and often suffer legal retribution—in his place. Dickens’s portrait of Fagin displays the influence of anti-Semitic stereotypes. Monks - A sickly, vicious young man, prone to violent fits. With Fagin, he tries to give Oliver a bad reputation. Bill Sikes - A brutal professional burglar brought up in Fagin’s gang. Sikes is Nancy's pimp and lover, and he treats both her and his dog Bull’s-eye with an odd combination of cruelty and grudging affection. His murder of Nancy is the most horrible of the many crimes that occur in the novel. Mr. Bumble - The pompous, self-important beadle—a minor church official—for the workhouse where Oliver is born. Though Mr. Bumble preaches Christian morality, he behaves without compassion toward the paupers under his care. Dickens mercilessly satirizes his greed, hypocrisy, and foll. Agnes Fleming - Oliver’s mother. After falling in love with and becoming pregnant by Mr. Leeford, she chooses to die anonymously in a workhouse rather than stain her family’s reputation. A retired naval officer’s daughter, she was a beautiful, loving woman. Oliver’s face closely resembles hers. Nancy - A young prostitute and one of Fagin’s former child pickpockets. Nancy is also Bill Sikes’s lover. Her love for Sikes and her sense of moral decency come into conflict when Sikes abuses Oliver. Despite her criminal lifestyle, she is among the noblest characters in the novel. In effect, she gives her life for Oliver when Sikes murders her for revealing Monks’s plots. Rose Maylie - Agnes Fleming’s sister, raised by Mrs. Maylie after the death of Rose’s father. A beautiful, compassionate, and forgiving young woman, Rose is the novel’s model of female virtue. She establishes a loving relationship with Oliver even before it is revealed that the two are related. Mr. Brownlow - A well-off, erudite gentleman who serves as Oliver’s first benefactor. Mr. Brownlow owns a portrait of Agnes Fleming and was engaged to Mr. Leeford’s sister when she died. Throughout the novel, he behaves with compassion nd common sense and emerges as a natural leader. OLIVER TWIST MAIN THEMES Poor People Were Treated Badly One of the main themes of all Charles Dickens' novels was how the poorest people in society were treated. This is one of the key themes in Oliver Twist, where we can see the failure of the workhouse system that was unable to look after the poor and lonely orphans that were in their care. Good Vs Evil Another theme of Oliver Twist is that good can triumph over evil. Although many of these characters live in a mean and cruel world, some still rise above this and do the right thing. Thievary and Crime Thievary is an important theme of Oliver Twist as it helps to explain what the poor people needed to do in society to be able to earn money. When people got desperate for cash, they would be forced into pick pocketing and stealing to help buy themselves food and clothing. The character Fagin introduces Oliver Twist and other homeless boys to pick pocketing; however, he does this so that he can earn money from them by selling their stolen goods. Fate Fate is another one of the key themes in Oliver Twist. Oliver Twist's fate would be to live in the workhouse for the rest of his life. He is a poor orphan and so his fate was set to stay poor for the rest of his life. The 'twist' of his fate comes from his real dad being a rich gentleman. This changes Oliver Twist's fate for the better. Social Class One of the main themes in Oliver Twist is social class. Social class means the group that we are known as in society, for example there is the poor working class that Oliver Twist is a part of and then there is the upper-middle class, which are richer just like Oliver Twist's father. Dickens uses the theme of social class in Oliver Twist to show the difference in lifestyle for those who are rich and for those who are poor. City Vs Countryside One of the themes of Oliver Twist is about the change of setting from the city to the countryside. While in the city, Oliver Twist finds life difficult and is surrounded by poverty. When the Maylies take Oliver to the countryside, he notices that even the poor people that live there have neat and tidy homes, whereas he is used to the mess and cramped conditions of the city.