Scarica Riassunto dettagliato di Oliver Twist e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! Classico Oliver Twist When Oliver Twist was born in a workhouse, his mother died, so he was firstly sent to a children’s home and after to a workhouse, where conditions were appalling: he had to work for a lot of hours a day and the meal consisted in a bowl of soup. When Oliver politely asked for more food, he was locked in a room and sent to work for the local undertaker, Mr Sowerberry, whose wife was annoyed by having to feed the young boy. At the undertaker’s shop he met a charity boy who introduced himself as Mr Noah Claypole and treated Oliver badly because of his social condition. One day Oliver felt provoked by Noah and hit him, so Mr Sowerberry beat Oliver very hard. The following day Oliver left the house and while he was travelling toward London he met Jack Dawkins, a young boy called “The Dodger” who offered him a shelter in the London house of his benefactor, Fagin, who actually was a criminal. Oliver was sent on a pickpocketing mission with two other boys who stole an handkerchief from an old gentleman, Mr Brownlow, and run away, so Oliver stared to run but was caught by the policemen and fainted at the police station. The old man FELT PITY for the young boy and decided to take care of him. Oliver was sent to the bookshop by Mr Brownlow and was caught by Nancy and he was taken back to Fagin’s house. Oliver was forced by Fagin to assist Sikes in a burglary but he was shot by a servant of the house and was taken in by the women who lived there, Mrs. Maylie and her beautiful adopted niece Rose, with whom Oliver spent an idyllic summer in the countryside. Fagin and a mysterious man named Monks were set on recapturing Oliver. It was revealed that Oliver’s mother left behind a gold locket when she died, but Monks obtained and destroys it. When the Maylies come to London, Nancy secretly informed Rose about Fagin’s intentions, but the conversation was overheard by a member of Fagin’s gang and Nancy was brutally killed. It was revealed that Monks was Oliver’s stepbrother: their father, Mr. Leeford, was unhappily married to a wealthy woman and had an affair with Oliver’s mother, Agnes Fleming, who was Rose’s sister. Finally Mr. Brownlow adopted Oliver, and they and the Maylies retired to a blissful existence in the countryside. Workhouses Workhouses were public places firstly established in 1349 because of the Black Death and rebuilt in 1834 by the British government apparently for helping poor people and giving them assistance, but they were grouped together and had to do unpleasant works in return of food and a shelter. Life in workhouses was hard and humiliating: poor people lost their dignity, were badly fed and had no sanitation. In the workhouses, which were usually made up of three floors, people were divided according to gender and age although they were part of the same family. Children had no education and were exploited.
