NEW HISTORICISM CRITICISM OF OLIVER TWIST

New Historicism criticism of Oliver Twist

Table of Contents

Abstract3

Chapter 1: Introduction4

Background4

Purpose of the Study5

Chapter 2: Literature Review6

Chapter 3: Methodology16

Research Design16

Data Collection Method16

Keywords17

Time Scale17

Chapter 4: Possible Conclusion19

References20

Abstract

With all of the symbolism and moral issues represented in Oliver Twist, all seem to come from real events from the life of its author, Charles Dickens. The novels protagonist, Oliver, is a good person at heart surrounded by the filth of the London streets. Filth that Dickens himself was forced to deal with in his everyday life. But through morals and mere chance Oliver becomes a living symbol.

It's probable that the reason Oliver Twist contains so much fear and agony is because it's a reflection of occurrences in Charles Dickens' past. During his childhood, Charles Dickens suffered much abuse from his parents. This abuse is often expressed in his novel. While at the orphanage, Oliver experienced a great amount of abuse. For example, while suffering from starvation and malnutrition for a long period of time, Oliver was chosen by the other boys at the orphanage to request more gruel at dinner one night.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Background

Oliver Twist, published in 1838, is one of Charles Dickens's best-known and well-loved works. It was written after he had already attained success as the author of The Pickwick Papers. It has been adapted as a film and a long-running Broadway musical and has been considered a classic ever since it was first published. The book originally appeared as a "serial"; that is, each chapter was published separately, in order, in a magazine called Bentley's Miscellany, of which Dickens was editor. Each week, readers waited avidly for the next instalment in the tale; this partly accounts for the fact that each chapter ends with a "cliff-hanger" that would hold the reader's interest until the following chapter was published.

Dickens uses the characters and situations in the book to make a pointed social commentary, attacking the hypocrisy and flaws of institutions, including his society's government, its laws and criminal system, and its methods of dealing with poor people. Interestingly, he doesn't suggest any solutions; he merely points out the suffering inflicted by these systems and their deep injustice. Dickens basically believed that most people were good at heart but that their good impulses could be distorted by social ills.

Purpose of the Study

This proposed study will discuss the New Historical Criticism of Oliver Twist and it will utilize the sources mentioned in the references for the above mentioned purpose.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Oliver Twist and the Dark Side of British History Progress can be compared to a coin. On one side of the coin is wealth, and on the other side of the same coin are poverty, despair, misery, and crime. As Gertrude Himmelfarb explains: The Victorians were avowedly, unashamed, incorrigibly moralists. They engaged in philanthropic enterprises in part to satisfy their own moral needs (Blount, Trevor, 1970). And they were moralists in behalf of the poor, whom they sought not only to assist materially but also to elevate morally, ...