How does Charles Dickens expose Victorian society's awful treatment of
the poor?
In my essay I am going to talk about the way Charles Dickens uses
Oliver Twist to expose the maltreatment of the poor, by analysing the
text.
In the early 19th century the industrial revolution started (the
building of lots of factories and mills) which drew many countryside
paupers into the towns. They hoped for a better life and job, but this
was seldom the case because conditions were bad and wages were a
pittance even if they were lucky enough to be employed. The owners of
the factories got very rich and the workers were extremely poor. The
desperately poor unemployed people were rounded up and put into an
institution called the workhouse. The local authorities (or parish)
ran the workhouses extremely cheaply with inmates only getting enough
food to keep them alive. Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist to try and
expose this treatment of the poor to his readers. Oliver Twist was
extremely unfortunate to be born into the workhouse and the book
charts some of his early life.
Charles Dickens's intention of chapter one is to describe to his
readers the lack of care attitude taken up by workhouse individuals.
The surgeon is described indirectly as not possessing profound wisdom:
'If he had been surrounded by doctors of profound wisdom…' Charles
Dickens is trying to point out to his readers that the workhouse
surgeon is not really up to scratch and also isn't really aware of
what is going on: 'The surgeon had been sitting with his face turned
towards the fire...' (The quote goes on to say that he turned around
when the woman spoke) Dickens ridicules the workhouse medical staff a
little because the midwife is described as...
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...something about Fagin's character even before he speaks.
The Victorians were very religious people and would have picked up on
that point immediately. However the first thing that Fagin is
described as is 'a Jew.' The Victorians were all Christians apart from
very few, and they would probably of hated Fagin because he was a Jew.
Bill Sikes is described as 'dirty' and 'bulky' and is dressed in dark
clothes. All of these create images of evil and of a nasty man who you
would not want to cross. Charles Dickens is informing the reader
further on members of Fagin's gang.
Overall I think that Charles Dickens does a good job of informing his
readers what went on in Victorian society. He has used a variety of
methods including the themes of the book (good v. evil, nature v.
nurture.) and using typical Victorian characters (Mr Bumble, Mrs Mann,
Mr Gamfield ect.)
The common motif for the Mesopotamian and Icelandic creation myth are “the world parent”, “a war in heaven” and “the creation of earthly matter from the body of the first mother”, ( The World of Myth, Page 19).
The gods of Enuma Elish do not seem very "God-like" to a Western reader. These gods are continuously quarreling and feuding and do not seem to be omniscient. In addition, in Tablet 1 we see that the gods are not immortal: "Ea unfastened his belt, took off his crown, Took away his mantle of radiance and put it on himself. He held Apsu down and slew him" (Enuma Elish 12). These gods seem willing to accept leadership from another god as when "they rejoiced, they proclaimed 'Marduk is King'" (Enuma Elish 13)! Though Babylon is where written law was first introduced the government was still despotic. A strong leader and a very unorganized remainder of government characterize the despotism form of government; the disorder that must have existed in Babylonian government is reflected in this story.
Enuma Elish: The Epic of Creation, LW King Translator from The Seven Tablets of Creation, London 1902. Downloaded from sacred-texts.com/ane/enuma.htm February 7,2014
Analysis of Fagin's Last Night Alive in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. Combining entertainment with a deep critique of the contemporary socioeconomic system and philosophy, Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist explores the reality that in Victorian London, crime was neither heroic nor romantic. A setting of debauchery, thievery, prostitution, and murder, Fagin's underworld didactically illustrates the "unattractive and repulsive truth" that one's environment--not birth--influences character. Attempting to introduce society to the evil it had created, Dickens penned "Fagin's Last Night Alive," manipulating both his literal and figurative audience, capitalizing on the current sentiments and issues. By typifying Fagin as the absolute evil, Dickens uses contemporary religious temperaments and society's apathy and ignorance, to reveal a reality about the underworld lifestyle that society was not willing to acknowledge--society is somewhat guilty for the underworld's corruption.
The story begins a description of the world in which Gilgamesh lived. There were the several gods in Gilgamesh’s world. The city of Gilgamesh was one in which the walls tower so high that they protect the city from invaders, floods, wild beasts, and even unfriendly gods. Even with all this protection the people of Uruk were not happy they spent all their time building the walls higher and higher. The mothers were without their sons and the woman without their lovers. The elders of the city went to complain to the gods about Gilgamesh who has ordered them to keep building the massive walls. They were answered by Anu. Anu dismissed the elders. He respected Gilgamesh as a fearless ruler and thought that he knew best for his people. The goddess of love, Ishtar disagreed. She was angered to see her young girls without their lovers and her mothers without their sons. The elders suggested a plan for the gods to create a man equal Gilgamesh. Aruru, the goddess who created mankind, came down and shaped a piece of clay and placed it in the forest. This man was very similar to Gilgamesh but this was a wild beast of a man. He was Enkidu. Enkidu lived in the cedar forest outside of Uruk. He learned to feed from the gazelle and learned to fight by wrestling the lion.
Dickens' Criticism of the 1834 Poor Law in Oliver Twist Dickens criticised the 1834 poor law in many different ways within the first five chapters. He does this firstly by cleverly portraying the Victorians attitudes towards the poor. He does this in chapter 1 by referring to Oliver as 'the item of mortality' suggesting how lowly his position in society is. Also the difficulty of Oliver's birth and the fact his mother dies, gives us some idea of the dangers of child birth in Victorian society and the amount of negligence his mother receives from the surgeon.
are too frightening to get past. Ea then brings his powerful son Marduk to fight, and he defeats Tiamat. He splits her body in two making on half the earth, the other the sky, and her saliva the clouds and rain. The gods all celebrate and build Babylon, the house of the gre...
“Oliver Twist” was written in 1838 by Charles Dickens and was originally published as a monthly magazine before being published as a novel that was subsequently read by many Victorians. It was written not only to entertain, but to raise awareness for the many issues in the society of the day related mainly to criminal activity. One of the main problems was based around the differentiation in the class of people in the Victorian era. People from the middle classes were widely known think very little of the lower classes and often considered them the evil of society. He also uses the novel to raise the issues related to the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 and the way that it involved sending poor or orphaned people like Oliver to ghastly overpopulated workhouses where they were poorly looked after. Dickens also fights against the negative stereotypes of criminals and prostitutes such as Nancy who eventually shows the good in herself to protect Oliver from the hands of the deadly wrath of Bill Sikes.
love does not exist in this world then the people who live on it will
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.
Social Classes of Industrial England in Charles Dickens' Hard Times In his novel, Hard Times, Charles Dickens used his characters to describe the caste system that had been shaped by industrial England. By looking at three main characters, Stephen Blackpool, Mr. Josiah Bounderby, and Mr. Thomas Gradgrind, one can see the different classes that were industrial England. Stephen Blackpool represented the most abundant and least represented caste in industrial England, the lower class (also called the hands) in Charles Dickens' novel. Stephen was an honest, hard-working man who came to much trouble in the novel, often because of his class.
Importance of Social Class in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations Social class played a major role in the society depicted in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. Social class determines the manner in which a person is treated and their access to education. Yet, social class does not define the character of the individual. Many characters were treated differently because of their social class in Great Expectations. Seeing the contrast between how the poor and the rich were treated will give a clearer understanding of how much social class mattered.
Charles Dickens shows notable amounts of originality and morality in his novels, making him one of the most renowned novelists of the Victorian Era and immortalizing him through his great novels and short stories. One of the reasons his work has been so popular is because his novels reflect the issues of the Victorian era, such as the great indifference of many Victorians to the plight of the poor. The reformation of the Poor Law 1834 brings even more unavoidable problems to the poor. The Poor Law of 1834 allows the poor to receive public assistance only through established workhouses, causing those in debt to be sent to prison. Unable to pay debts, new levels of poverty are created. Because of personal childhood experiences with debt, poverty, and child labor, Dickens recognizes these issues with a sympathetic yet critical eye. Dickens notices that England's politicians and people of the upper class try to solve the growing problem of poverty through the Poor Laws and what they presume to be charitable causes, but Dickens knows that these things will not be successful; in fact they are often inhumane. Dickens' view of poverty and the abuse of the poor
Charles Dickens novel, Oliver Twist, centers itself around the life of the young, orphan Oliver, but he is not a deeply developed character. He stays the same throughout the entire novel. He has a desire to be protected, he wants to be in a safe and secure environment, and he shows unconditional love and acceptance to the people around him. These are the only character traits that the reader knows of Oliver. He is an archetype of goodness and innocence. His innocence draws many people close to him. Each character is attracted to his innocence for different reasons, some to destroy it and others to build it. Their relationships with Oliver reveal nothing more about his personality. They reveal more about their own personalities. Therefore, Oliver is used not as the protagonist of the story, but as the anchor for the development of the other characters.
“The range of his creative activity is, in the first place, limited to the world of his youth” (Cecil 169). This quote explains many people. What has previously happened to a person has a tremendous impact on them. It can affect their decisions, emotions, and life. The life of a person can sometimes be seen quite easily through what they do. Artists often reveal what their life has been like through the works that they create. The same can be said about writers. Events in authors past often show up in his works. The above quote is, in fact, made in regard to Charles Dickens.