19TH CENTUREY , VICTORIAN AGE

1. The elements of the 19th century Novel.

2. Main themes
3. The image of the woman in the 19th century Novel
4. Women Fiction
5. Women Writers

The victorian Novel

- The 19th century is divided into two periods: the

Romantic Period and the Victorian age.

- The Romantic Period (1789 – 1832):

The main historical events and literary works that influenced

the period were The French Revolution and William
Wordworth's and Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads.

- The new industrial age witnessed huge economic and

social changes which can be summed up as follows:

1. New classes appeared; owners of factories became rich

while labourers became the poor lower-class.

2. Manufacturing and industry flourished while

agriculture and farmers began to disappear.

3. New machinery replaced hand labour, which

resulted in unemployment, poverty and crime.

4. A new merchant class emerged, prospered and became

very influential.

5. Novelists like Jane Austen and others portrayed the

different social classes as well as their way of life and hopes.
6. The Romantics believed in the Glorification of the
Commonplace. As a result, attention was given to common
people like farmers and gypsies.

- The Victorian Age (1832 – 1901):

- The main characteristics of the Victorian Age were:

1. The Age of expansion:

This period was a time of great development in industry and

scientific progress. England became a powerful force under the
reign of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. The
British Empire expanded all over the world and London became
the economic centre of the world.

2. A time of troubles:

Conflicts began to appear among the new rising classes and the
landowners. Unemployment and poverty led to very poor living
conditions. Women and children worked in mines and factories
under brutal conditions.

Thomas Hobbes described the working conditions in Victorian

mines and factories as 'poor, nasty, brutish and short.'

3. Religious controversy:

The religious controversy was mainly caused by the clash

between Utilitarian thought and religious values.

Utilitarianism became a strong movement and philosophy

during this time. Utilitarianism is the theory that the highest
good lies in the greatest good of the greatest number. This
theory equates utility with virtue. Utilitarians were led by John
Stuart Mill. They believed that we should test all beliefs and
institutions in the light of human reason in order to determine
whether such beliefs and institutions were useful; that is,
whether they contributed to the greatest happiness for the
greatest number.

Opponents of Utilitarianism like Cardinal Newman argued that

people had always needed faith. He attacked such theories and
showed that its followers were ignorant people.

The Victorian Novel

The Victorian period produced great novelists who were -

able to accomplish outstanding achievements. The main
novelists of the Victorian period are Charles Dickens, George
.Eliot, Emily Bronte, Charlotte Bronte and William Thackeray

CHARLES DICKENS CRITICS

- Charles Dickens as a social critic:

- Dickens wrote some of the best-known novels in English

literature. He was a moralist who attacked all the maladies of
his time. In his novels, he, as Walter Allen points out, "attacked
the injustices of the poor law, delays in administration of
justice, the cruelties of schoolmasters, imprisonment for debt
and so on."

- There was much violence, corruption and evil during the

th
19 Century in England. Dickens as a social critic tried to reveal
theses maladies. He criticized the following ugly features of his
society:
a. The English legal system and the corruption of
magistrates.

b. The authorities for being indifferent to crimes and

criminals.

c. Poverty and the horrible conditions which existed in

England at that time.

d. The inhuman treatment of women and children who

worked in very dangerous jobs which threatened their lives like
in factories, coal-mines and chimney sweepings. Many died of
hunger or were put in workhouses under unbearable
conditions. They were treated like adults and were sent to jail
and even hung if they were arrested for robbery.

e. The workhouse system. At that time, children who were

orphans were put in workhouses, where they were treated like
animals and were left to die of starvation or diseases.

OLIVERS SUMMARY

- Chapter 1

 Treats of the place…

 “For a long time after it was ushered…hardships.”
 Tragic and sad event
 The first mention of the hero or protagonist.
However, we still do not know the name.
 Refer to a ‘baby' by using it as we don not know
whether it is a boy or girl
 Parish surgeon: a building attached to a church
 What is the difference between tragedy and
melodrama?
 Melodrama: The creation of sadness from the vey
first moment of the novel. One gets the impression
that he/she is suffering a lot. This is exaggeration.
 Reference to the baby who is exposed to suffering
and hardships.
 Page 3 “Oliver and Nature fought out…”
 “Nature”: fate
 The conflict between Oliver as a newborn and his
fate.
 External fate: Nature
 Internal (inner fate): refers to a character’s points of
weakness.
 Death of the mother, found on the streets, goes to
hospital, has a baby and dies.
 “Let me see the child and die”
 “As Oliver gave this first proof…”
 The woman has a feeble, pale face.
 “From the pillow”: a place where you sleep.
 Page 5, “The surgeon deposited…too long”
 The first impression that the novel is a highly
melodramatic novel. It is not a tragedy as tragedy
ends with the death of the tragic hero/ine.
 A melodrama ends happily.
 The writer tries to make readers weep and cry even
if they do not feel like doing it (by hook or
crook/willingly or unwillingly)
  There is a sort of exaggeration.
 Page 5: “She was brought here…nobody knows”
 Dickens leaves the identity of the mother a mystery
at the beginning as the nurse doesn’t say where she
comes from.
 This is the second element of melodrama; unknown
identity of some characters.
 The first element is the exaggeration.
 Page 6 “What an excellent example of the power of
dress…”
 This is the unknown identity of Oliver.
 ‘Station’: social class
 ‘Parish child': paternity is unknown.
 ‘Despised by all and pitied by none': all people hate
him and no one sympathizes with him/is
sympathetic to him/ has sympathy for him. This is
said by the narrator. This is an example of
exaggeration on Dickens’ part.
 Reader still do not know the baby’s name.
 Summarize the main points of society.
 Ends happily or with a happy ending.
Oliver Twist is born in a workhouse in 1830s England. His
mother, whose name no one knows, is found on the street and
dies just after Oliver’s birth. Oliver spends the first nine years of
his life in a badly run home for young orphans and then is
transferred to a workhouse for adults. After the other boys
bully Oliver into asking for more gruel at the end of a meal, Mr.
Bumble, the parish beadle, offers five pounds to anyone who
will take the boy away from the workhouse. Oliver narrowly
escapes being apprenticed to a brutish chimney sweep and is
eventually apprenticed to a local undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry.
When the undertaker’s other apprentice, Noah Claypole, makes
disparaging comments about Oliver’s mother, Oliver attacks
him and incurs the Sowerberrys’ wrath. Desperate, Oliver runs
.away at dawn and travels toward London

Outside London, Oliver, starved and exhausted, meets Jack

Dawkins, a boy his own age. Jack offers him shelter in the
London house of his benefactor, Fagin. It turns out that Fagin is
a career criminal who trains orphan boys to pick pockets for
.him

Oliver went throw many hardships throught the novel but at

the end of it, Fagin is hung for his crimes. Mr. Brownlow
adopts Oliver, and they and the Maylies retire to a blissful
existence in the countryside

After a few days of training, Oliver is sent on a pickpocketing

mission with two other boys. When he sees them swipe a
handkerchief from an elderly gentleman, Oliver is horrified and
runs off. He is caught but narrowly escapes being convicted of
the theft. Mr. Brownlow, the man whose handkerchief was
stolen, takes the feverish Oliver to his home and nurses him
back to health. Mr. Brownlow is struck by Oliver’s resemblance
to a portrait of a young woman that hangs in his house. Oliver
thrives in Mr. Brownlow’s home, but two young adults in
Fagin’s gang, Bill Sikes and his lover Nancy, capture Oliver and
.return him to Fagin

agin sends Oliver to assist Sikes in a burglary. Oliver is shot by a

servant of the house and, after Sikes escapes, is taken in by the
women who live there, Mrs. Maylie and her beautiful adopted
niece Rose. They grow fond of Oliver, and he spends an idyllic
summer with them in the countryside. But Fagin and a
mysterious man named Monks are set on recapturing Oliver.
Meanwhile, it is revealed that Oliver’s mother left behind a gold
locket when she died. Monks obtains and destroys that locket.
When the Maylies come to London, Nancy meets secretly with
Rose and informs her of Fagin’s designs, but a member of
Fagin’s gang overhears the conversation. When word of
Nancy’s disclosure reaches Sikes, he brutally murders Nancy
and flees London. Pursued by his guilty conscience and an
angry mob, he inadvertently hangs himself while trying to
.escape

Mr. Brownlow, with whom the Maylies have reunited Oliver,

confronts Monks and wrings the truth about Oliver’s parentage
from him. It is revealed that Monks is Oliver’s half brother.
Their father, Mr. Leeford, was unhappily married to a wealthy
woman and had an affair with Oliver’s mother, Agnes Fleming.
Monks has been pursuing Oliver all along in the hopes of
ensuring that his half-brother is deprived of his share of the
family inheritance. Mr. Brownlow forces Monks to sign over
Oliver’s share to Oliver. Moreover, it is discovered that Rose is
..Agnes’s younger sister, hence Oliver’s aunt

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

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 and
.common sense and emerges as a natural leader

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 self-righteousness, greed, hypocrisy, and folly, of which his
.name is an obvious symbol

Mr. Gamfield

A brutal chimney sweep. Oliver almost becomes Mr. Gamfield’s

.apprentice

USE OF MELO DRAMA

Dickens' Employment of Melodramatic Techniques

in Oliver Twist

· It is quite clear on the first page of the novel that the hero
who is still a new-born or infant will be exposed to much
suffering and hardship. Dickens says that the baby was
"ushered into this world of sorrow and trouble." (Chapter 1, p.
27). This means that the hero or the protagonist will always be
in conflict with his circumstances. He will live in a world that is
full of misery.

· The little infant has difficulty in breathing and it is not

certain whether he will live or die. This is very important as it
shows that, even as an infant, he is forced to fight for his life
and struggle against his circumstances. The conflict becomes
very clear when Dickens says "Oliver and Nature fought out the
point between them." (p. 28)

DIFINITIANS OF MELO DRAMA

Difference of tragedy

The main characteristics of Melodrama

- A melodrama has five characteristics, namely:

a. Sensationalism and extravagant emotional appeal.

b. The characters are either very virtuous or very evil.

c. Evil intrigues.

d. Coincidences.

e. Unknown identity.

a. Sensationalism and extravagant emotional appeal:

Sensationalism means that the novelist concentrates on what is

sensational i.e. what will attract the reader's attention; for
example, adventure, violence, fear, criminals, murder and
suspense.

Extravagant emotional appeal means that the novelist presents

excessive emotions. In a melodrama, there is much weeping,
shouting, anger, happiness, and feeling sorry for the characters.

b. The characters are either very virtuous or very evil:

- In a melodrama, the heroes are flat types; the hero is always

pure, innocent and virtuous. The hero never changes from the
beginning till the end of the novel. The hero is usually forced to
face the evil world around him.
- The story in a melodrama revolves around the obstacles that
the innocent hero will confront and overcome in a corrupt,
violent and evil world.

- The evil character is always a cruel monster who has no mercy

or moral values.

- All characters in a melodrama, good or bad, lack credibility.

c. Evil intrigues:

- The action of a melodrama revolves around evil intrigues,

where evil characters plan or plot to harm or destroy the hero
i.e. the reader finds it difficult to believe that such characters
really exist in life.

d. Coincidences:

- A melodrama always has many unbelievable coincidences.

e. Unknown identity:

- The identity of the hero in a melodrama is always a mystery

and remains so until the end of the novel.

The difference between melodrama and tragedy:

It is worth mentioning in this respect that a melodrama is

different from a tragedy. A melodrama usually has a happy
ending, while a tragedy has an unhappy and tragic ending; it
usually ends with the death of the hero or the heroine as a
result of his or her flaws or weaknesses, who is called the tragic
hero or heroine.

THESIS WITH SIX MELODRAMAS

 P1

Sensationalism + EXTRAVAGENT EMOTIONAL APPEAL

· Extravagant emotional appeal:

· Oliver's young mother is very ill after giving birth to him.

She says, "let me see the child and die." (Chapter 1, p. 28).
Dickens after that describes her death. "She imprinted her cold
white lips on its forehead, passed her hands over her face;
gazed wildly round, shuddered, fell back, and died." (Chapter 1,
p. 29)

· Here Dickens uses extravagant emotional appeal to make

the reader feel sad for the dead mother and the orphan child.
Dickens wants the reader to weep for them and he does this by
using emotive language. "let me see the child and die."

· Emotional appeal:

Dickens describes Oliver's future in a very emotive style, "…. he

was badged and ticketed, and fell into his place at once – a
parish child – the orphan of the workhouse – the humble, half-
starved drudge – to be cuffed and buffed through the world –
despised by all, and pitied by none." (Chapter 1, p. 30). Like all
the characters of a melodrama, he lacks credibility.
P2

Unkown identity

· Unknown identity:

· Dickens makes the identity of Oliver's mother a mystery.

The nurse says " but where she came from, or where she was
going to, nobody knows." (Chapter 1, p. 29). Here it is clear that
Dickens employs the characteristic of unknown identity which
is very clear in a melodrama.

Characters virtuous , evil

Social criticism:

In Chapter 2, Dickens attacks the workhouse system which

allowed children to die of hunger, violence and neglect. He
criticizes the heartless officials who leave little children in the
hands of a murderer like Mrs. Mann. Besides, Dickens attacks
the board of the workhouse. They are portrayed as insensitive,
cruel and heartless people.

Oliver is taken to a house run by a woman called Mrs. Mann.

Children who are very small stay with Mrs. Mann until the age
of 9. After that they go to the workhouse. Mrs. Mann is an evil
woman who tortures the children and keeps to herself all the
money sent by the government for the children. She is an
example of the evil monster of a melodrama.
· There is another evil character by the name of Mr.
Bumble, the beadle or the parish officer. He is a hypocrite.
Although he knows that Mrs. Mann is a cruel woman, he tells
her that she is "a humane woman."

· The English legal system and the corruption of

magistrates:

As Oliver is hungry and calls for more food or soup, the

magistrate orders him into solitary confinement. Here, Dickens
criticizes the English legal system and the corruption of
magistrates.

"Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger, and reckless

with misery."

"Please, sir, I want some more."

"That boy will be hung," said the magistrate. "I know that boy
will be hung." As a result, "five pounds and Oliver Twist were
offered to any man or woman who wanted an apprentice to
any trade, business, or calling." (Chapter 2, p. 41)

P3

Evil intrigues

Coincidences
Concluding paragragh

Extra

BACKGROUND: - The romantic period is known by its main

historical events and literary works like the French revolution. It
was the new industrial age with huge economic and social
changes like the owners of factories who became rich, the
labourers who became poor, the flourishing of manufacturing,
the replacement of hand labour by machinery which caused
unemployment, poverty, and crime, and the novelists who tries
to portray the society and the attention was given to common
people like farmers and gypsies. - The Victorian era was the
time of expansion as it had a great development in industry and
scientific progress with England becoming a powerful force and
the expansion of British Empire all over the world to be the
economic centre of the world. It was also the time of troubles
because of the conflicts between landowners and rising classes.
And also because of the unemployment, poverty, and brutal
poor living conditions especially for children and women who
worked at mines and factories. Moreover, it was time of
religious controversy because of the clash between utilitarian
thought and religious values. - Charles Dickens was a moralist
who attacked all the maladies of his time. He attacked the
injustice of the poor law, the delays of the administration of
justice, the cruelties of schoolmasters, and imprisonment for
debt. He tried to reveal all the maladies and criticized all the
ugly features such as the English legal system, the corruption of
magistrates, poverty and horrible living conditions, the
inhuman treatment of women and children who worked in a
dangerous jobs like chimney sweepings and many of them died
because of workhouses unbearable conditions as they were
treated like adults and sent to jail or even hung if they gor
arrested for robbery. He also criticized the workhouse system
as they treated children like animals and left them die of
.starvation and diseases

 Sensationalism and extravagant emotional appeal:- - It

means that the novelist concentrates on what is sensational
and what will attract reader's attention like adventures,
violence, fear, criminals, murder, and suspense. The novelist
presents excessive emotions like weeping, shouting, anger, and
feeling sorry. - The infant little baby, the hero, faces the
hardships and suffering since his very first days. - Dickens uses a
sensational scene of Oliver among coffins terrified to death to
attract readers' attention. Oliver imagined that dead bodies will
rise from the coffins to devour him. - Dickens shows Oliver's
anger when Noah insulted his mother to make Oliver cry. But
Oliver beat him and made him ran like a coward. - Chapter 12
contains the scene in which Mr. Brownlow's housekeeper Mrs.
Bedwin watches Oliver as he sleeps. This is another example of
the extravagant emotional appeal that Dickens employs. Mrs.
Bedwin feels sorry for the injured boy and weeps for him.
Oliver wakes up and says that his mother had come from
heaven to visit him. The reader also feels sorry for Oliver and
weeps with Mrs. Bedwin for him. - Mr. Losberne, the doctor,
Mrs. Maylie and Rose are much moved to find that the
housebreaker is a delicate boy, worn with suffering. As a matter
of fact, Oliver leads a happy life with his kind friends. - Harry
Maylie, Mrs. Maylie's son asks Rose to marry him. In turn, She
admits her love for him, but says that owing to the stain upon
her family's name, duty and gratitude to him and his mother,
.this makes her refuse his marriage proposal

- :QUOTATIONS

Let me the child and die" - "She imprinted her cold white lips "
on its forehead, passed her hands over her face; gazed wildly
."round, shuddered, fell back, and died

Dickens describes the death of Oliver's mother by using the

extravagant emotional appeal to make the reader feel sorry for
the dead mother and orphan child. He wants the reader to
– .weep for them by using emotive language

Ushered into this world of sorrow and troubles". Dickens says "
that to readers to show that the protagonist will always be in
conflict with his circumstances and will live in a world full of
.misery

Oliver and nature fought out the point between them". The " -
infant had difficulty breathing and it's not certain whether he
will live or die which shows that he is forced to fight and
.struggle for his life even as an infant

he was badged and ticketed, and fell into his place at once – " -
a parish child – the orphan of the workhouse – the humble –
half starved drudge – to be cuffed and buffed through the
.world – despised by all, and pitied by none

Dickens describes Oliver's future in a very emotive language "

which underlines his lack of credibility. - "Oliver fell on his
knees, and clasping his hands together, prayed that they would
order him back to the dark room – that they would starve him –
beat him – kill him – if they pleased – rather than send him
away with that dreadful man." Dickens is describing the scene
of Oliver begging the magistrate, Mr. Limbkins, not to send him
with Gamfield with very emotive language to make the reader
weep and sympathize with Oliver. - "no, no, sir; I will be good
indeed; indeed, indeed I will, sir! I am a very little boy, sir; and it
is so – so –" Dickens is describing the frightened little boy as the
tears of fear jumped out of his eyes by using emotive language.
- "So what?" - "So lonely, sir! So very lonely!" "Everybody hates
me. Oh! Sir, don't, don't pray be cross to me! C - "A regular
right-down bad "un, Work'us. And it's a great deal better,
Work'us that she died when she did, or else she'd have been
hard labouring in Bridewell, or transported, or hung, which is
more likely either, isn't it?." Dickens wanted to share Oliver's
anger and outrage with readers. Oliver pushes the much older
boy to the ground making him screaming. Dickens Portrays the
excessive emotional of anger. - "Don't turn me out of doors to
wander in the streets again. Let me stay here, and be a servant.
Don't send me back to the wretched place I came from. Have
mercy upon a poor boy, sir!" This is, indeed, a very excessive
use of emotive language and is another attempt to make the
reader weep. - "Oh, pray send them back; send him back the
books and money. Keep me here all my life long; but pray, pray
send them back. He'll think I stole them; the old lady – all of
them who were so kind to me will think I sole them. Oh, do
have mercy upon me, and send them back!" he makes a very
emotional plea in which he begs the thieves not to ruin his
.reputation. Dickens again makes use of emotive language

.Characters are very virtuous or very evil

Heroes are flat types. The hero is always pure, innocent, and -
never changes. He is forced to face the evil world around him
and he also faces many obstacles. While the evil characters
always cruel, monsters, and without mercy. All characters lack
credibility. - Mr. Sowerberry is one of the evil characters who
treated Oliver like an animal and gave him food that is not even
.proper for dogs

 Evil intrigues - Evil characters plan to harm the hero. - In

Chapter 13, there is an example of evil intrigues when the gang
plan to kidnap Oliver. Nancy will pretend to be Oliver's sister.
She will say that he has run away from home. In a melodrama,
the evil characters always plot against the good characters. -
Monks and Fagin conspire against Oliver. Monks wants Oliver
corrupted by Fagin, who explains that Oliver is not easy to
corrupt, and that so far he has not succeeded in getting a hold
on him through fear. However, Monks points out that he does
not want Oliver killed, for he is superstitious. - Mrs. Bumble and
Monks begin an evil bargaining. Monks lays down the money,
and Mrs. Bumble throws before Monks a gold locket. Inside it
were two locks of hair and a wedding ring. It has the word
'Agnes' engraved on the inside. Monks throws the gold locket
.away

 Coincidences (irony of fate) - When Oliver is about to tell Mr.

Brownlow his life story, a guest, Mr. Grimwig, arrives to visit
.Mr. Brownlow

This is an irony of fate as Mr. Grimwig's arrival prevents Oliver

from telling his story. - Oliver happens to turn down the same
street where Nancy and Sikes are standing. This coincidence
changes Oliver's fortune from good to bad. Had Oliver not
entered that street, they would not have been able to kidnap
him. He is forced to return and live among the criminals. He will
face more problems and difficulties while living with the evil
gang. - Old Sally confessed to Mrs. Corney that she has stolen
from the dead mother of Oliver Twist (whom she has laid
down) a gold ornament (locket), which is a clue to the child's
identity and the possibly credible origin of his mother. But
when she is on the point of disclosing the whereabouts of the
ornament, Old Sally dies. Sally was about to tell the truth of
Oliver's true identity. She was going to explain that Oliver
.belonged to a good family

 Complications:- - Another complication in the plot is when

Mr. Bumble tells lies to Mr. Brownlow about Oliver. Mr.
Brownlow takes a very bad impression about Oliver and thinks
that he is a criminal. - Another more serious complication is
when Fagin and Sikes decide to use Oliver in robbing a house.
This will make Oliver a real criminal. He almost dies during the
robbery. He is seriously injured and left by Sikes bleeding in the
.dark fields outside the house

 Unknown identity - The identity is always a mystery till the

end of the novel. - Mr. Brownlow notices that the woman in the
portrait in his house looks exactly like Oliver. This discovery, in
fact, creates a great deal of suspense and is a big surprise for
.the reader and for Mr. Brownlow

 QUOTATIONS - "but where she came from, or where she was

going to, nobody knows." The nurse said that which
.emphasizes that the identity of Oliver's mother a mystery

As he spoke, he pointed hastily to the picture above Oliver's " -

head, and then to the boy's face. There was its living copy. The
eyes, the head, the mouth; every feature was the same. The
expression was, for the instant, so precisely alike, that the
minutest line seemed copied with startling accuracy!" The
reader suspects that perhaps the woman in the portrait will
.help to reveal the mystery of Oliver's identity

 English legal system and corruption of magistrates. - Dickens

harshly criticized the legal system and emphasized the
corruption of magistrates. - Dickens tried to show that
.magistrate were not qualified for their job

 QUOTATIONS - "Child as he was, he was desperate with

hunger and reckless with misery." - "Please, sir, I want some
more." Oliver is hungry and calls for soup but the magistrate
ordered him to solitary confinement which shows Dickens'
criticism to the English legal system and magistrates. - "That
bot will be hung" –said the magistrate – - " I know that boy will
be hung" –said the magistrate – - "five pounds and Oliver Twist
were offered to any man or woman who wanted to apprentice
to any trade, business, or calling" - "the magistrate was half
blind and half childish" He attacks the magistrate who agreed
to send Oliver with Gamfield. The magistrate also called
Gamfield as an open hearted man

 Social Criticism: - Dickens attacks the workhouse system that

allowed children to die of hunger. He also criticized the
.heartless officials who run the institutions

-: Characters
Mrs Mann: The woman who takes cares of the small children -
till the age of 9. She is cruel and takes all the money for herself.
.She also tortures children

Mr Bumble: the parish officer. He is hypocrite and cruel. He -

also describes the cruel Mrs, Mann as "Humane women". - Mr.
.Limbkins: the magistrate

Mr. Gamfield: a dreadful evil man who uses children to clean -

chimneys for him. He is violent who enjoys beating children and
animals alike. He is criminal who sets fire to the chimney whie
the children are inside and many of them died of suffocation. -
.Mr. Sowerberry: the parochial undertaker

.EVIL CHARACTER

Noah Claypole: a charity boy, not orphan, who teases Oliver. -

He likes to see others' suffering. His mother was a washer
woman and his father was a drunken soldier. He is Evil
.Monster

Faign: a man provided shelter fir Oliiver. He is a gang leader of -

young pickpockets. - Quotation: "Fagin was a very old shrivelled
jew, whose villainous-looking and repulsive face was obscured
by a quantity of matted red hair. He was dressed in a greasy
".flannel gown, with his throat bare

Mr. Fang: the notorious police magistrate, who is a drunker -

with a villainous face. He is described as having no sense of
justice. He is also narrow-minded, rude and disrespectful. He
.does not care about justice, or if Oliver is guilty or innocent

.Monks: Oliver's half – brother - Mr -

Losberne: the doctor

Rose: Oliver's aunt. - Harry Maylie: Mrs. Maylie's - Mrs. -
.Maylie: house' owner, the house Oliver was meant to robe

Theme of Satire - Dickens uses the character of Gamfield to

criticize the government. the workhouse officials want to sell
over without giving Gamfield the five pounds as he takes
children for chimney sweeping which is dangerous. - A serious
complication was that Oliver is forced to work as an undertaker
which is unsuitable for a child. He was afraid of working among
dead bodies. - Mr. Fang sentences Oliver to three month' hard
.labour for falsely stealing Mr. Brownlow's handkerchief

 Quotations: - "as it is a nasty business, we think you ought to

take less" Limbkins to Gamfield. The officials know that they are
sending Oliver to death and they are trying to bargain about
Oliver's price as if he is something to be sold and bought not a
human being. Dickens attacks the workhouses system that
doesn't care about children's welfare. - "Summarily, he stands
committed for three months - hard labour, of course. Clear the
office." Dickens attacks all the magistrates and the English legal
system in the person of Mr. Fang. Although there is no
evidence against Oliver, he sentences him to three months in
jail. Oliver is then saved by the benefactor Mr. Brownlow, who
cannot imagine that such an innocent-looking boy could be a
criminal. Dickens criticizes the government for allowing evil
criminals like Fagin to use innocent little children for stealing.
Men, like Fagin, take advantage of boys who suffer from
poverty and starvation. Besides, Dickens criticizes the laws of
his country which send children to death by hanging if they are
convicted to theft. To him, the children are victims not
criminals. From his point of view, the real criminals are the
officials who do nothing to protect the children

 Tragedy VS Melodrama - Melodrama has a happy ending .

while Tragedy has unhappy tragic ending and usually ends with
the death of the tragic hero or heroine because of their flaws
.and weaknesses

Extra 2

:Introduction
age The 19th century is divided into two periods.The Romantic
Period and the Victorian age. The Victorian period produced
great novelists who were able to accomplish outstanding
achievements. The main novelists of the Victorian period are
Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Emily Bronte, Charlotte Bronte
and William Thackeray. Dickens wrote some of the best-known
novels in English literature. He was a moralist who attacked all
the maladies of his time. In his novels, he, as Walter Allen
points out, "attacked the injustices of the poor law, delays in
administration of justice, the cruelties of schoolmasters,
imprisonment for debt and so on. Quotations: 1- "ushered into
this world of sorrow and trouble." (Chapter 1, p. 27). This
means that the hero or the protagonist will always be in
conflict with his circumstances. He will live in a world that is full
of misery. 2- "Oliver and Nature fought out the point between
them." (p. 28) 3- "let me see the child and die." (Chapter 1, p.
28). 4- "She imprinted her cold white lips on its forehead,
passed her hands over her face; gazed wildly round, shuddered,
fell back, and died." (Chapter 1, p. 29) 5- " but where she came
from, or where she was going to, nobody knows." (Chapter 1, p.
29). Here it is clear that Dickens employs the characteristic of
unknown identity which is very clear in a melodrama. 6- “…. he
was badged and ticketed, and fell into his place at once – a
parish child – the orphan of the workhouse – the humble, half-
starved drudge – to be cuffed and buffed through the world –
despised by all, and pitied by none." (Chapter 1, p. 30). Like all
the characters of a melodrama, he lacks credibility. 7- "Child as
he was, he was desperate with hunger, and reckless with
misery." "Please, sir, I want some more." "That boy will be
hung," said the magistrate. "I know that boy will be hung." As a
result, "five pounds and Oliver Twist were offered to any man
or woman who wanted an apprentice to any trade, business, or
calling." (Chapter 2, p. 41) 8- "the magistrate was half blind and
half childish." (Chapter 3, p. 48). Here, Dickens is trying to show
that the magistrates in the 19th Century were unqualified for
their job. 9- "Oliver fell on his knees, and clasping his hands
together, prayed that they would order him back to the dark
room – that they would starve him – beat him – kill him – if
they pleased – rather than send him away with that dreadful
man." 10-"as it is a nasty business, we think you ought to take
less …." (Chapter 3). 11- "no, no, sir; I will be good indeed;
indeed, indeed I will, sir! I am a very little boy, sir; and it is so –
so –" "So what ?" inquired Mr. Bumble in amazement. "So
lonely, sir! So very lonely! "cried the child. " Everybody hates
me. Oh! Sir, don't, don't pray be cross to me!" The child beat
his hand upon his heart, and looked in his companion's face
with tears of real agony. 12-"A regular right-down bad 'un,
Work'us. And it's a great deal better, Work'us, that she died
when she did, or else she'd have been hard laboring in
Bridewell, or transported, or hung, which is more likely than
either, isn't it?" (Chapter 6, p. 73). 13-"Fagin was a very old
shriveled Jew, whose villainous-looking and repulsive face was
obscured by a quantity of matted red hair. He was dressed in a
greasy flannel gown, with his throat bare." (Chapter 8, p. 90).
14- "Summarily, he stands committed for three months - hard
labour, of course. Clear the office." (Chapter 11, p. 109) 15-"As
he spoke, he pointed hastily to the picture above Oliver's head,
and then to the boy's face. There was its living copy. The eyes,
the head, the mouth; every feature was the same. The
expression was, for the instant, so precisely alike, that the
minutest line seemed copied with startling accuracy!" (Chapter
12, p. 118) 16-"Don't turn me out of doors to wander in the
streets again. Let me stay here, and be a servant. Don't send
me back to the wretched place I came from. Have mercy upon
a poor boy, sir!" (Chapter 14, p. 134) 17- Oliver says to the
thieves: "Oh, pray send them back; send him back the books
and money. Keep me here all my life long; but pray, pray send
them back. He'll think I stole them; the old lady – all of them
who were so kind to me will think I sole them. Oh, do have
mercy upon me, and send them back!" (Chapter 16, p. 154)
18-"There exited proofs – proofs long suppressed – of his
(Oliver's) birth and parentage. Those proofs were destroyed by
you, and now, in your own words to your accomplice the Jew,
'the only proofs of the boy's identity lie at the bottom of the
river, and the old hag that received them from the mother is
rotting in her coffin.'" (Chapter 59, p. 443)