Oliver Twist as a manifestation of Victorian Social Conscience

1. • Name : Makwana Daksha D.
• Course : M.A (English)
• Semester : 2
• Roll no : 4
• Enrollment no : 2069108420180034
• Paper : 6 - The Victorian Literature
• Submitted To : Smt. S. B. Gardi Department of
English MKBU
• makwanadaksha9@gmail.com

2. Oliver Twist as the manifestation of
Victorian social conscience

3. Dickens Criticizes The Victorian Era
• Oliver twist is an important manifestation of
Victorian social conscience.
• Charles Dickens criticized moral ,social and
economic problems in the Victorian era through
his fiction works.
• Dickens ridicules Victorian society by portraying
social issues of that time.
• Dickens presents issues of child labor,
workhouses , poor law system , criminal world,
and victimization of women in this novel.

4. To Be Continued…
• Dickens explores many social themes in Oliver
twist …
• 1. Poor law system
• 2. The evils of criminal world in London
• 3. The victimization of children
• 4. The victimization of women
• 5. Industrial revolution
• 6. Society and Class
• 7. Poverty
• 8. Workhouse

5. The Evils of Criminal World in London
• In the Victorian era , social
issue like chain snatching,
murder ,pickpocketing and
corruption in society.
• The Evils of criminal world
• Poor children treated by the
power of devils .
• Poverty drives people
towards crime.

6. The victimization of children
• Dickens presents a portrait of the
childhood of a considerable
number of Victorian orphans.
• Oliver and children like were
controlled and over powered by
wealthy and powerful adult, like
Mr. Bumble and Fagin.

7. Victimization of women

8. Child Labor

9. To Be Continued…
Industrial revolution
• The Victorian age marked
by a great industrial
development
• Social Injustice
• Poor Law system
• Transformation from an
agriculture rural economy
to an urban
• English class structure
Workhouses
• Victorian idea of charity ,
that workhouse was failed
to solve the problem of
society , poverty and
unwanted child.
• The workhouse was
supposed to demonstrate
the virtue of gainful
employment to the poor.
• Strict discipline ,
punishment

10. Society and class
• Difference between first,
middle and third class.
• Rich class of mill owner and
capitalist, poor class of labors
and factory workers.
• Aristocratic people were rule
over poor people through the
power of both money and
religions.
• Interpretation of moral virtue
according to class.

11. Conclusion
• Dickens satirize the social institutions , the
corrupt class system, the indifference of the
government, welfare of the children ,
especially orphans is epitomized in Oliver’s
sufferings.
• Oliver twist serves as a mirror that shows that
social condition of England of the early 19th
century.