Romanticism In Oliver Twist

The novel, like many other classics, paints the society and time period in which the author lives through. Victorian England, which is the basis of Dickens setting, was a time where social principles were focused on the hierarchy and human nature. The

In the eighteenth century, reason and emotion no longer worked together. Emotion was kept down and was considered inferior. Social conventions were more important than individual convictions. In other words people considered form more significant than content. As regard art, this period was called Classical period. The opposite of this was slowly being prepared to burst out at the time of the French Revolution. This period was called Romantic.

The world in the mid-late 19th century underwent vast economic, social, and cultural change as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Not only was this era characterized by the radical transformation of multiple countries into industrialized powerhouses, it also saw the development of new schools of thought. One of the most prominent movements that emerged during the mid-late 19th century was Realism, in which it called for authors to create literature that depicted contemporary life in a completely detailed manner. English novelist Charles Dickens was highly influential in portraying this new literary mode in many of his works. In my opinion, with the help of his novel The Old Curiosity Shop, Dickens profoundly changed his world of the Industrial Age with his descriptions of the dismal conditions in urban England that paved the way to social and moral reform at the turn of the 19th century.

Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist is saturated with the evil of men (and women) who seek to destroy the purest of things—the innocence of a child. The majority of the characters in this novel are driven by greed, power (over the less fortunate) and pure evil—non-more so than Mister Bumble, the cruel, pompous old beadle of the poorhouse where Oliver is raised, and Fagin, a “loathsome reptile” of a man. While each of these men will succumb to some level of depravity, as will the other characters, young Oliver Twist does not. Against all odds, Oliver is the only one who remains untainted by the evil that surrounds him all times. Despite the heartbreaking revelation of his parents’ demise, dealing with the loss of them both, the ill treatment he receives on a daily basis, existing in a world completely void of light and permeating with corruption, Oliver never adopts the pervasive nature of those around him. The infestation, which eventually consumes all those around him, is something that Oliver Twist was able to avoid due to his purity of self.

Many writers are famous for showing how life was like in that specific era. Much like To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee shows how life was in the south, and the racism going on. For Charles Dickens he shows the life of England in the Victorian Era. Especially showing the poverty, and ridiculing the government about not focusing on it. This style of writing represents this unique Victorian era the best of its kind, and gives the reader a better knowledge of the subject when reading Dickens. So if a school would like to learn about England in the 1800’s they should read his novels. This reason is why Dickens had so much popularity, Collins, Philip. “Charles Dickens: British Novelist.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 29 Aug. 2017,

Realism Literary Movement - The Realism Literary Movement began with mid nineteenth century French Literature and ending in the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century authors. Realist authors selected more pictures of everyday and common activities and experiences, instead of a romantic or similar themed layouts. Realism is the attention to detail, and to try and copy the true nature of reality in a way no one had ever done before. Realism started going downhill because the fascination with things falling apart was displeasing to many, and critics accused the practitioners of realism of focusing only on the negative things in life. By the end of the nineteenth century Realism had given way to another form called Naturalism.

Literary realism’s goal is to invoke compassion within its readers. By learning and experiencing something of the characters’ lives in the story, one of the hopes for realism is that by invoking sympathy within the reader, social injustice may be dealt with.

Oliver twist is one of the well known novel during the Victorian era. Charles Dickens, a nineteenth century writer mentions the the story of the young boy named Oliver twist in England and the advantures that happen to him.the novel theme up with many interrelated ideas.it is concentrated with the miseries of poverty and the spread of its degrading effects through society,Many evils are awaken in the society because of poverty for instance hunger, homelessness illiteracy etc.which was shown clearly in the novel.one of the worst consequences of poverty and being deprived of life’s essential is crime,with all of its corrosive effects on human nature.in the Victorian era,poverty experienced was extreme in case of the working classes.the

The period of Realism and Naturalism ranged from 1865 to 1914. This time period was primarily marked by the accurate and real portrayal of life for ordinary people. Literature was no longer focused on the fanciful and imaginative writing of the Romantic Period. Themes shifted from the emotions of characters and imagination, toward real characters with real problems. The Civil War, Westward Expansion, and the Second Industrial Revolution all played important roles in shaping the themes of Realism and Naturalism.

Literary Realism is a response to social conditions. In the late 19th century, writers took contemporary social issues and created a perspective that would expose the real dangers and damage created by various social conditions, such as colonization, injustices against women, and violence. These perspectives were not meant to influence a change in these conditions, but rather, bring attention to them. One of the most important factors of Literary Realism is that it is presented in an objective manner. By keeping these perspectives objective, writers were able to remove themselves from the issue in order to keep their authenticity.

Realism and naturalism are both “basic” yet cynical views of life and humanity that arose during the trials and turmoil of the 19th century. Both views stripped away the layers of romanticism to present a “natural” or “real” viewpoint of the work. These forms of writing refuse to idealize or praise the subject while also avoiding artificial, fantasy, or mystical elements.

Realism in literature is basically the successor to romanticism. It first took off and gained footing in 19th century France. The literary style is a more straightforward and realistic style of writing in comparison to romanticism which was all about exaggeration and symbolism. Realism is often interchangeable with naturalism and branches out into regionalism which is interchangeable with local color. This type of writing is responsible for one of the greatest era of literary works.

Realism came about in literary works in the 19th century, and portrayed real life unlike the previous Enlightenment and Romanticism movements prior. Writers and people were sick of the neat, happy stories and endings that were written by the two previous movements, and those people wanted something they could relate to. Because of this, Realistic writers wrote about the boring, ordinary lives that regular folks led and did not sugar-coat anything that occurred but was brutally honest. In the words of Randall Craig, “Realistic writers educate readers, not through humiliation, but by familiarizing them with a re-presented world and enabling them to discover the rules by which it works and to apply them both to the fictional and extra-fictional

It was a topic best swept under the rug during this time and the upper classes really had no clue as to the horrible state of living these people had to go through to survive. Oliver Twist was an alarming call for the upper class. He creates an amalgamation of grim realism with merciless satires He describes the issues like the failure of the charity, purity of corrupt city, the countryside idealized , disguised or mistaken identities etc . The society and class concept which is made by the upper class of the society that gave birth to class consciousness; similarly poverty to criminals. There was so much development that people hired poor kids to work. The building of criminals cannot be totally blamed to them it was the circumstance who made them chose this path. Poverty is a prominent theme in this novel. Although the text, he describes the theme, describing slums so decrepit that whole row of houses are on the point of ruin. The use of symbolism is widely seen. Also, the ending of the characters are differentiated, the people who were good and suffered had happy ending and apparently the other people who were bad had sad

Despite its name, Romantic, the Romantic age had only a few things that was related to the real meaning of romance known now, however, love had been the main subject of most of the age's art. The age was actually a great achievement of art and philosophy that resulted in the western societies to change the way they thought about themselves and their surroundings as mentioned in the article "Romanticism" Adapted from A Guide to the Study of Literature. Differing from the classical age the romantic age has given artists of that period more freedom and creation. Music for instance was of great value in terms of the way it expresses. Composers of the age used music along with freedom in expression to express nationalism and hence proving their