Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist

Juliet John is senior lecturer in Nineteenth-Century Literature at  the University of Liverpool. She has published several books on Dickens and on Nineteenth-Century Culture.

• Introduction 1: Contexts: Contextual Overview, Literary and Biographical Background; Social, Historical and Cultural Background; The Poor Law Amendment Act; Utilitarianism; The Civilization of Everyday Life? Chronology Contemporary Documents From the Poor Law Commission, Second Annual Report From ‘The Poor Law Debate’, The Annual Register, 1834 From letter to Thomas Beard (17 May 1837) From letter to Thomas Haines (3 June 1837) From letter to Richard Bentley (16 September 1837) From letter to Mrs George Hogarth (26 October 1837) From letter to Richard Bentley (?early January 1838) From letter to G. H. Lewes (?9 June 1838) From letter to George Cruikshank (?6 October 1838) From letter to John Forster (6 or 13 October 1838) From letter to John Forster (21 January 1839) [An Appeal to Fallen Women]. (28 October 1847) From letter to Mrs [Eliza] Davis (10 July 1863) From letter to Mrs [Eliza] Davis (16 November 1864) From John Forster, The Life of Charles Dickens From George Cruikshank, ‘The Origin of Oliver Twist’ (1871) From Queen Victoria, The Girlhood of Queen Victoria From Edward Bulwer Lytton, Preface (1840) to Paul Clifford (1830) From Edward Bulwer Lytton, ‘A Word to the Public’ (1846) 2: Interpretations Critical History Early Critical Reception From [Charles Buller], ‘The Works of Dickens’ (1837) From [John Forster], review in the Examiner (1837) From [G. H. Lewes?], review of Sketches, Pickwick and Oliver Twist (1837) From [Thomas Henry Lister], review of Sketches, Pickwick, Nickleby and Oliver Twist (1838) From anonymous review of Oliver Twist, The Spectator (1838) From unsigned review of Oliver Twist, Literary Gazette (1838) From William Makepeace Thackeray, ‘Horæ Catnachianæ’ (1839) From [Richard Ford] ‘Oliver Twist; or the Parish Boy’s Progress’ (1839) From William Makepeace Thackeray, Catherine (1839–40) From [Anonymous], ‘Charles Dickens and His Works’ (1840) From [Anonymous], ‘Literary Recipes’ (1841) From George Gissing, ‘Oliver Twist’ (c. 1898–1900) Modern Criticism From G. K. Chesterton, ‘Oliver Twist’ (1911) From Edmund Wilson, ‘Dickens: The Two Scrooges’ (1941) From George Orwell, ‘Charles Dickens’ (1946) From Humphry House, ‘The Macabre Dickens’ (1947) From Humphry House, Introduction to The Adventures of Oliver Twist (1949) From Graham Greene, ‘The Young Dickens’ (1951) From Harry Stone, ‘Dickens and the Jews’ (1959) From John Bayley, ‘Oliver Twist: Things as They Really Are’ (1962) From Steven Marcus, ‘Who is Fagin?’ (1985) From John Lucas, The Melancholy Man (1970) From J. Hillis Miller, ‘The Fiction of Realism’ (1971) From Dennis Walder, Dickens and Religion (1981) From Helena Michie, The Flesh Made Word (1987) From D. A. Miller, The Novel and the Police (1988) From John O. Jordan, ‘The Purloined Handkerchief’ (1989) From Deborah Heller, ‘The Outcast as Villain and Victim’ (1990) From Patricia Ingham, Dickens, Women and Language (1992) From John Bowen, Other Dickens (2000) From Juliet John, Dickens’s Villains (2001) 3: The Work in Performance From letter to Frederick Yates (?29 November 1838) From George Almar, Oliver Twist (1838) From John Forster, The Life of Charles Dickens From the reading text of Dickens’s ‘Sikes and Nancy’ From pressbook, William Cowen (dir.), Oliver Twist (1933) From pressbook, David Lean (dir.), Oliver Twist (1948)Reviews of Screen Adaptations From [Anonymous], ‘Berlin Cinema Fight’, Guardian (21 February 1949)From [Anonymous], ‘Baton Charge on Berlin Oliver Twist Objectors’, Daily Telegraph (22 February 1949) From Rhoda Koenig review, Evening Standard (7 July 1999) From James Rampton, Independent Review (1 December 1999) 4: Key Passages The Author’s Preface to the Third Edition of Oliver Twist (1841); Preface to the Cheap Edition of Oliver Twist (1850) 5: Further Reading.