Character Study of Nancy from Oliver Twist
The novel Oliver Twist was written by Charles Dickens in 1837-39, it
was published as a serial form. That era was known as the Victorian
era, the Victorian society was a much-divided society; a small wealthy
minority lived in luxury where as the rest lived in very poor
conditions. The Victorians showed themselves as very religious people
but - covertly - they were not at all religious. In 1834 the poor law
Amendment act was passed which meant that the poor people who could
not feed themselves had to live in the workhouse.
The novel centres on a little boy known as Oliver Twist, who was born
in the workhouse and got involved with the underground criminal world.
This coursework is about Nancy, who is a young lady involved in the
criminal world. She was very small when she was forced into the
criminal world.
Nancy was first introduced through Oliver's eyes, in chapter 9, rather
than the narrators. This is opposite to the way Fagin and Bill Sikes
were introduced to the reader. Fagin and Bill were introduced to the
reader through the narrator. "They wore a good deal of hair, not very
neatly turned up behind, and were rather untidy about the shoes and
stockings. They were not exactly pretty, perhaps; but they had a great
deal … Oliver thought them very nice girls indeed." This quotation
shows the positive side of Nancy.
Later on Oliver was arrested by Police, accused of robbing Mr
Brownlow. He was taken in the court, but luckily a respectable man had
seen the incident and knew that Oliver was not the boy who had robbed
Mr Brownlow, so he was released. Once released from the custody Mr...
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...that there are a lot
more people like Nancy around in London,
While describing the surroundings Dickens uses dark and gloomy quotes
like, 'mist hung over the river', 'deepening the red glare of the
fires' to create suspense. The surroundings are also quite
prefigurative, they give us a clue as to what might happen next.
When Mr Brownlow came Nancy took him to a different location, to keep
out of the public's eye, she didn't want any one to see her with Mr
Brownlow because that would influence his reputation as well.
Nancy tells Mr Brownlow all about Fagin and Monks, but nothing about
Bill Sikes. Mr Brownlow also tells her that he will keep her and help
her live a better life, but she said that she has to go back for some
one. Again we find out about the tragic flaw that she has for Bill,
she really loves him.
because it would anger her husband. She was afraid to go back to school and
faintly belching bogs,” (Oliver 1). The tone for the rest of the poem was directed by the
What her reasons for it were I don’t know. But she did a good job. She raised twelve children. She led a good life.”
Oliver would write this poem because she did not conform to societies wishes. According to the Poetry Foundation, Oliver has never actually received a degree despite attending The Ohio State University and Vassar College. By not completing college, she had stepped out of the normal procedure of American life of growing up, going to college, then working. She also “met her long-time partner, Molly Malone Cook” while helping organize Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poetry. This choice is not a normal decision for people to make; however, she is still successful and has been presented many awards, including Honorary Doctorates (Beacon). Despite living the way she wants to, Oliver still manages to have success and happiness.
In the eighteenth century, many people believed that society could not function properly without religion, even though the thought of the time was heavily based off of antireligion. The popular and institutional religion differed greatly in the eighteenth century. Churches still remained to be a big part of everyday life. Parish church kept records of births, deaths, and marriages, provided charity for the poor, supervised whatever primary education there was; and cared for orphans. Catholic and protestant churches were conservative institutions that upheld society’s hierarchical structure, privileged classes and traditions. Protestant religions were considered to be more conservative the wealthy people ran them,
...her. Although the plan did not go as expected, it was still secretive and off the radar. In particular, the characters worked very hard to secretly see each other and make plans to maintain their relationship.
But once the accusations started, she couldn’t back out for fear that her name would be ruined even more. She was just as scared as the other girls involved, but had to hide it behind the lies and cunning actions because she had no one to turn to in her time of need. She felt power, and like she had a place in life for once, when the other girls followed her and her decisions.
because of tragedy of her husband’s death. But actually, her real feeling inside her heart
Set in the Victorian era, Sense and Sensibility and Oliver Twist, parallel but also contrast in many key elements. In both movies, mannerisms, class distinction, and the child's role in society were reflected by both writers. Through these analysis, I was able to achieve new insight into the conditions of the Victorian era.
but had left because she did not like the religious environment. For a woman of
to raise us there but she had no choice being that both of her jobs
Great Expectations and Oliver Twist are representative of the works produced by Charles Dickens over his lifetime. These novels exhibit many similarities - perhaps because they both reflect painful experiences that occurred in Dickens' past.
can be seen in Oliver Twist, a novel about an orphan, brought up in a workhouse and poverty to demonstrate the hypocrisy of the upper class people. Oliver Twist shows Dickens' perspective of society in a realistic, original manner, which hope to change society's views by "combining a survey of the actual social scene with a metaphoric fiction designed to reveal the nature of such a society when exposed to a moral overview" (Gold 26). Dickens uses satire, humorous and biting, through pathos, and stock characters in Oliver Twist to pr...
not a person to anger, as he is also shown to have an intense rage