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Theme Of Women In Oliver Twist

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Dickens wrote in the Victorian era when women were supposed to be at home and perform domestic tasks. The Victorians admired women that were sexually pure and capable of self-sacrifice. To be pure was not easy in the Victorian era, especially not for the women that may have to prostitute themselves in order to survive. Dickens was well aware that these women were victims of society, poverty and men, and he criticized the cruelty of the Victorian society and peoples view of fallen women. Oliver Twist is an example of such criticism. Fallen women did not get a second chance in life. Women had a particularly hard time making a living. Oliver Twist spends his first ten years in a workhouse as an orphan, mistreated, abused and belonging to the lowest class in society. Dickens Oliver Twist contains several themes, including prostitution, thievery and fencing. The characters in Oliver Twist can be divided into groups of good and evil. The groups are very different from each other but they all have one thing in common, they struggle with moral issues. To have good morals and virtues was very important in the Victorian era, especially for women. The British middle-class women were at home taking care of the household and …show more content…

She does not have a “complete” name which indicates identity lost and not being married. The very last words in the novel describe Agnes as “weak and erring”. It was only the women that could be weak and erring in the Victorian era. Men were not considered weak when they had affairs outside the marriage. Society did not treat women and men equally. Oliver’s father did wrong when he cheated on his wife. He is excused only because of the fact that he is a man and because he is unhappy with his marriage. But Agnes’ mistake does not make Oliver “came out of bad blood” (Dickens 50) The novel only expresses the disapproval of the sinful relationship Agnes had with Oliver’s

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