The Realistic Features of the Victorian Novel. Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist

Charles Dickens was an unquestionable representative of the 19 th-century English Realism. In this thesis, I examine those components which are regarded as Realistic ones in Dickens' second novel entitled Oliver Twist. The Victorian era is thought to have been a contraversial period:several developments occured but at the same time millions of people were starving and were forced to work as criminals. Dickens knew this world and gave an authentic account of the age, which was the primary aim of the prevailing literary trend, Realism. I attempt to prove how the detailed characterization contributed to the complexity of the work and I interprete some additional features such as biblical references, animation versus mechanization and the system of talking names. I also discuss some special problems that were the necessary elements of the criticism of society: the nature of crime and the role of women. I analyse these constituents in order to demonstrate how Dickens could fulfil the requirements of Realism and how he could achieve comprehensiveness in Oliver Twist.