Dickens started to write Oliver Twist in 1837, the same year the Victorian era began, when the Anti-Poor Law agitations had reached their peak. He was a fierce critic of the poverty and social layering of Victorian society. His familiarity with Clerkenwell & Islington is reflected in both his fictional and non-fictional works. This novel provides a snapshot in time before the ‘Age of Improvement’ changed the London landscape to what we can see now.
A Young Charles Dickens, 1838
Follow the footsteps of Oliver Twist and the Artful Dodger - Guided Walk
This 90 min walk follows the footsteps of Oliver Twist and the Artful Dodger on their final leg of their journey into London to reach Fagin’s lair. See more Victorian walks
The novel of Oliver Twist wallows in the gritty realism of everyday London life. Many of Dickens’ contemporary critics claimed his novels to be too realistic, and that naïve readers (i.e. female readers) wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between fiction and reality, much like today’s fear with teenagers and their relationship between the real and the virtual world. This was true the novel Oliver Twist, which covers ‘dangerous’ topics such as poverty, crime and the relationship between the two.
Victorian London was a dangerous place especially after dark, with highwaymen and other scoundrel’s waiting to pounce on anyone crossing their path.
Related blog posts:
Victorian London - a social and literary maze
Guided walks in London
A Young Charles Dickens, 1838
Follow the footsteps of Oliver Twist and the Artful Dodger - Guided Walk
This 90 min walk follows the footsteps of Oliver Twist and the Artful Dodger on their final leg of their journey into London to reach Fagin’s lair. See more Victorian walks
The novel of Oliver Twist wallows in the gritty realism of everyday London life. Many of Dickens’ contemporary critics claimed his novels to be too realistic, and that naïve readers (i.e. female readers) wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between fiction and reality, much like today’s fear with teenagers and their relationship between the real and the virtual world. This was true the novel Oliver Twist, which covers ‘dangerous’ topics such as poverty, crime and the relationship between the two.
Victorian London was a dangerous place especially after dark, with highwaymen and other scoundrel’s waiting to pounce on anyone crossing their path.
Related blog posts:
Victorian London - a social and literary maze
Guided walks in London
