Charles Dickens:
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The name conjures up visions of plum pudding and Christmas punch, but also of
orphaned and starving children, misers, murderers, and abusive schoolmasters. Dickens was
19th century London personified, he survived its mean streets as a child and, largely self-
educated, possessed the genius to become the greatest writer of his age.
In 1824, 12-year-old Charles was removed from school and sent to work at a boot- blacking factory earning six shillings a week to
help support the family. This dark experience cast a shadow over the clever, sensitive boy that became a defining experience. in his
life, This childhood poverty and feelings of abandonment, although unknown to his readers until after his death, would be a heavy
influence on Dickens' later views on social reform and the world he would create through his fiction.
charlesdickenspage.com
orphaned and starving children, misers, murderers, and abusive schoolmasters. Dickens was
19th century London personified, he survived its mean streets as a child and, largely self-
educated, possessed the genius to become the greatest writer of his age.
In 1824, 12-year-old Charles was removed from school and sent to work at a boot- blacking factory earning six shillings a week to
help support the family. This dark experience cast a shadow over the clever, sensitive boy that became a defining experience. in his
life, This childhood poverty and feelings of abandonment, although unknown to his readers until after his death, would be a heavy
influence on Dickens' later views on social reform and the world he would create through his fiction.
charlesdickenspage.com
***Charles Dickens - The full biography of Charles Dickens, the most popular novelist of the Victorian Era. http://www.biography.com/people/charles-dickens-9274087/videos/charles-dickens-full-episode-2073085321
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Oliver Twist
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Dickens' second novel tells the story of the orphan Oliver set against the seamy
underside of the London criminal world.
In this departure from the merry world of Pickwick, Dickens targets the Poor Law
Amendment Act of 1834 which renewed the importance of the workhouse as a means
of relief for the poor.
Dickens was severely criticized for introducing criminals and prostitutes in Oliver
Twist, to which Dickens replied, in the preface to the Library Edition of Oliver Twist in
1858, "I saw no reason, when I wrote this book, why the very dregs of life, so long as their speech did not
offend the ear, should not serve the purpose of a moral, at least as well as its froth and cream." The novel was
well received. One of the most dramatized of Dickens' works, Oliver Twist, was appearing in 10 theaters in
London before serialization of the novel was even completed.
charlesdickenspage.com
Oliver Twist: Society and Class Distinction:
"Society and Class" is one of the central themes of most of Dickens’s novels. In Oliver Twist, Dickens often
shows how superficial class structures really are – at the core, everyone’s really the same, regardless of the social
class into which they’re born. Dickens also exposes how callous and uncaring Victorian society was – people
just ignored the plight of the less fortunate because they were so self-satisfied, and so convinced that the
systems they had in place to take care of the poor were the best and most humane systems possible.
Questions About Society and Class
Dickens satirizes the complacency of all of Victorian society in Oliver Twist, and although he occasionally
addresses the reader as a peer, more often than not, he condemns the reader along with the rest of society.
shmoop.com/oliver-twist/society-class-theme.html
shows how superficial class structures really are – at the core, everyone’s really the same, regardless of the social
class into which they’re born. Dickens also exposes how callous and uncaring Victorian society was – people
just ignored the plight of the less fortunate because they were so self-satisfied, and so convinced that the
systems they had in place to take care of the poor were the best and most humane systems possible.
Questions About Society and Class
Dickens satirizes the complacency of all of Victorian society in Oliver Twist, and although he occasionally
addresses the reader as a peer, more often than not, he condemns the reader along with the rest of society.
shmoop.com/oliver-twist/society-class-theme.html
Poverty:
The theme of "Poverty" is obviously related to the theme of "Society and Class." But while the "Society and
Class" theme is concerned with showing how the social class system is basically just invented by society to
justify the status quo, Dickens is also very concerned in showing just how miserable the lower classes really
were. With Oliver Twist, he doesn’t shy away from depicting the conditions of the poor in all their misery
with gritty realism.
.shmoop.com/oliver-twist/society-class-theme.html
Class" theme is concerned with showing how the social class system is basically just invented by society to
justify the status quo, Dickens is also very concerned in showing just how miserable the lower classes really
were. With Oliver Twist, he doesn’t shy away from depicting the conditions of the poor in all their misery
with gritty realism.
.shmoop.com/oliver-twist/society-class-theme.html
Criminality:
Crime was a huge problem in London in the 1830s, when Dickens was writing, just as it is now. Novels and
plays about crime were hugely popular. Some novelists wrote about crime because they had a particular point
to make about the source of criminal behavior, or possible solutions to the crime wave. Other novelists wrote
about crime just because they knew it would sell. Oliver Twist was hugely popular, but Dickens definitely had
a point to make: he wanted to show how criminals really lived, in order to discourage poor people from
turning to crime. He also wanted to show how external influences created criminal behavior as much or more
than natural criminal urges.
shmoop.com/oliver-twist/society-class-theme.html
plays about crime were hugely popular. Some novelists wrote about crime because they had a particular point
to make about the source of criminal behavior, or possible solutions to the crime wave. Other novelists wrote
about crime just because they knew it would sell. Oliver Twist was hugely popular, but Dickens definitely had
a point to make: he wanted to show how criminals really lived, in order to discourage poor people from
turning to crime. He also wanted to show how external influences created criminal behavior as much or more
than natural criminal urges.
shmoop.com/oliver-twist/society-class-theme.html
