Picture of the victorian society in the two novels oliver twist and vanity fair = bức tranh xã hội anh thời kì victoria qua hai tác phẩm ôlivơ tuyxt và hội chợ phù hoa

Picture of the victorian society in the two novels “oliver twist” and “vanity fair” bøc tranh x· héi anh thêi k× victoria qua hai t¸c phÈm “«liv¬ tuyxt” vµ “héi chî phï hoa” Summary o

Picture of the victorian society

in the two novels “oliver twist”

and “vanity fair”

(bøc tranh x· héi anh thêi k× victoria qua hai t¸c phÈm “«liv¬ tuyxt” vµ “héi chî phï hoa”)

Summary of the Graduation thesis

Field: literature

M.A

Vinh, May 2009

TABLE OF CONTENT

Acknowledgement

Table of content

PART I: INTRODUCTION Error! Bookmark not defined

1 Justification of the Thesis Error! Bookmark not defined

2 Aims and Objectives of the Thesis Error! Bookmark not defined

3 Scope of the Thesis Error! Bookmark not defined

4 Method of the Thesis Error! Bookmark not defined

5 Design of the Thesis Error! Bookmark not defined

PART II: CONTENT Error! Bookmark not defined

Chapter 1: Back ground Error! Bookmark not defined

1.1 Historical Events of England in Victorian AgesError! Bookmark not defined

1.1.1 The Industrial Revolution Error! Bookmark not defined 1.1.2 The Political Reforms Error! Bookmark not defined 1.1.3 The Free Trade Campaign Error! Bookmark not defined 1.1.4 The New Poor Law and the Appearance of the Workhouses Error!

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1.1.5 The Chartism Error! Bookmark not defined 1.2 Critical Realism - a new trend in literatureError! Bookmark not defined

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Chapter 2: An introduction to “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens and “Vanity Fair” by William Makepeace Thackeray Error! Bookmark not defined

2.1 An Introduction to “Oliver Twist” Error! Bookmark not defined 2.1.1 The author- Charles Dickens Error! Bookmark not defined 2.1.2 The work- “Oliver Twist” Error! Bookmark not defined

2.1.2.1 The main characters Error! Bookmark not defined 2.1.2.2 The plot overview Error! Bookmark not defined

2.2 An Introduction to “Vanity Fair” Error! Bookmark not defined 2.2.1 The author -William Makepeace ThackerayError! Bookmark not defined

2.2.2 The work- Vanity Fair Error! Bookmark not defined

CHAPTER 3: PICTURE OF the Victorian SOCIETY in the two novels “OLIVER TWIST” AND “VANITY FAIR”Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.1 The tragic plight of the poor and their good nature in cruel world Error!

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3.1.1 The tragic plight of the poor Error! Bookmark not defined 3.1 2 Good nature in cruel world Error! Bookmark not defined

3.2 The luxurious life of the upper and middle class and their moral

degeneration Error! Bookmark not defined 3.2.1 The luxurious life of the upper and the middles classError! Bookmark

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3.2.2 Moral degeneration in the luxurious life Error! Bookmark not defined

3.3.1.1 British social class structure Error! Bookmark not defined

3.3.1.2 Social status as a measure of people‟s valueError! Bookmark not

defined

3.3.1.3 Pursuit of higher social position Error! Bookmark not defined 3.3.2 Money worship Error! Bookmark not defined 3.3.2.2 Money was a base to measure people‟s valueError! Bookmark not

defined

3.3.2.2 Relationship among people were destroyed by the supreme power of

money Error! Bookmark not defined

Part iii: conclusion Error! Bookmark not defined

References Error! Bookmark not defined

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Justification of the Thesis

In English literary history, the Victorian period (1832-1900) was the golden age of English novels Many writers appeared and became unforgettable in readers‟ minds of every generation Being a passionate reader

of English novels, the author was deeply attracted by the great observing power and describing talent of the realistic writers in this period, especially Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray Although each of the two authors had their distinguish style and their own favorite themes, their simultaneous appearance in literature gave the readers the over-all picture of

English 19th century society which was prosperous from outside but there were

a lot of problems from inside

For the author of this thesis, the greatest function of critical realism literature is reflecting reality Since realistic literature is the truthful mirror of life, realistic value is the author‟s biggest concern when she studies literary novels “Oliver Twist” of Dickens and “Vanity Fair” of Thackeray are two realistic novels the author loves most because through these novels the author can come back to one of the most outstanding periods in history of Britain to witness the burning social problems happening at that time

In addition, reading “Oliver Twist” and “Vanity Fair”, the author is really moved by the two writers‟ humanity By depicting the panorama of every day life, they skillfully used their steely pens to forcefully attack the social evils and uphold the good nature of human beings

For the reasons above, the author decided to choose the topic: “The Picture of the Victorian Society in the two novels “Oliver Twist” and “Vanity Fair”” for the graduation thesis

2 Aims and Objectives of the Thesis

a Aims of the thesis

- To study the reality happening in the 19th century English society through

“Oliver Twist” and “Vanity Fair”

b Objectives of the thesis

Analyze two novels to understand clearly:

- Plight of the poor under inhumane society

- The luxurious but wicked life of the upper and middle class who were whirling in the money and social ambition storm

- Social distinction and money worship as the most burning social problems

3 Scope of the Thesis

Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray were two greatest realistic novelists who were famous for a great deal of interesting novels

However, two masterpieces “Oliver Twist” and “Vanity Fair” were the most beloved There are a lot of interesting things to study in these two novels but because of limited time and limited scale, the author only focuses on the most outstanding issue: the reality of Victorian society

4 Method of the Thesis

To complete this thesis, we have used the following methods:

- collective method

- analysis method

- general method

- contrastive method

5 Design of the Thesis

These papers include three main parts:

In part I, the author would like to refer to the reasons, aims, objectives, scope and the method of studying the thesis

Part II is divided into three chapters Chapter 1 is the background knowledge of the historical events of England in Victorian Age as well as the knowledge of the Critical Realism Chapter 2 is an introduction to the two novels “Oliver Twist” and “Vanity Fair” Chapter 3 is the main content of this thesis, which deals with the reality happening in English 19th century society Part III is the conclusion and suggestion for further study

PART II: CONTENT Chapter 1: Back ground

1.1 Historical Events of England in Victorian Ages

1.1.1 The Industrial Revolution

The industrial revolution was initiated in Britain in the second half of the

18th century and then spread out to the world At this time, many modern machines were invented and applied to production As a result, more and more

industrial products were produced in Britain and appeared widely in every corner of the world However, “the industrial revolution was no mere sequence

of changes in industrial techniques and production but a social revolution with social causes as well as profound social effects” (Harold, “The Origin of Modern English Society”) In fact, the industrial revolution changed the face of English society absolutely One of the most obvious changes was that many new manufacturing towns and cities grew dramatically and million people from the countryside rushed to the industrial zones with the hope of employment By 1850, in the crowded and grim cities, there lived millions of British people

The changes brought to by the industrial revolution had both good and bad effects on English society With the economic development, England became one of the most powerful and prosperous nations in the world English men owned such a luxurious life that everyone in the other countries wished for However, the economic development only benefited the upper and middle classes, not the lower one Many workers felt into unemployment because hand labors were substituted by machines in most factories Therefore, they could not support themselves and had to live in the workhouses which became

an obsession for most of the paupers

Child labor became the most serious social problem resulting from the industrial revolution This problem first began when children, many below the age of 10, were employed by factories and mines The children were forced to work long hours under dangerous and unhealthy conditions, and their wages were very little Thousands of children under ten, some as young as five, were employed by textile factories and mines, and forced to work in hazardous conditions, with little pay and sometimes for up to 16 hours a day Especially

in the workhouses, and in apprenticeship, children were abused cruelly by the masters who always thought that they had the right to decide children‟s fates

As a result of bad effect of child labor abuse on the health and welfare of children, social reforming writers began to condemn child labor practices The

most effective attack on the evils of child labor may have come from Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist (1837-1839)

Because of the magic power of the industrial revolution, everything was altered, from the family and social relationship to the social class structure In English society, there was a big gap between the rich and the poor The conflict between the classes and even in each class itself began to grow Money and social position came to throne People could do everything, regardless of love, honor and personality, to achieve wealth and social position In fact, almost human values were seriously destroyed during the period of industrial revolution For this reason, the moral degeneration became one of the most serious problems at that time

“Literature is the mirror of the reality” so all of these problems were reflected truthfully in the contemporary works, especially in two famous novels: “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens and “Vanity Fair” by William Makepeace Thackeray In fact, there are many differences between these two realistic novels Dickens, in “Oliver Twist”, showed much attention to the misery and the plight of the lower class, particularly the orphan children Reading “Oliver Twist”, readers are moved to tears because of the images of poverty, starvation, and mistreatment of the powerful to poor children In the mean time, Thackeray in “Vanity Fair”- originally named “Pen and Pencil Sketches of English Society”- gave a vivid picture of the luxurious but wicked life of the upper class and their followers in the middle one In “Vanity Fair”, readers can witness a splendid London where the rich and the powerful are singing, dancing, eating, drinking and even cheating, betraying and swearing in the through-night and overabundant parties For everyone living in “Vanity Fair”, vanity became the desire and the individual seeks; hypocrisy and snobbishness became the manner of fashionable life

In spite of those above differences, if we put the two novels of two great realistic authors together, we will have a day-to-day portrayal of English society under the period of Industrial Revolution

1.1.2 The Political Reforms

By the end of 18th century England was suffered from hardship, unrest and injustice The English population at this time was eight millions but only one hundred and sixty thousand had the right to vote Those one hundred and sixty thousand people were the “crème of the society” They did not have to work but enjoyed a rich, happy life and held all the political authority In contrast, the industrial bourgeoisies were rich; they had no chances to take part

in the parliament Along with these statements, the success of the American and French revolution had a deep influence on England The words “all men are created equal” awakened all people there Consequently, the need for democratic reform became irresistible and the industrial bourgeoisies started the activities demanding for voting reform These activities attracted a lot of workers as well because they themselves also wanted to change their political position and determined themselves in society As a result of these outbursts, the government had to pass the reform act in the middle of 1832 It not only allowed the industrial centers to nominate their representatives to parliament but also reduced the power of upper class land owners The first reform act happened peacefully, marked the emergence of the middle class in English political life

After the first reform act, the industrial bourgeoisies persuaded the parliament to pass a series of factory acts which restricted child labor and limited hours of working In 1867, the second reform act was passed, marking another progress in democratic improvement This reform act gave the voting right to all members of the working class, except for the agricultural labors However, the activities demanding further voting did not stopped During Grad stone‟s second ministry, 1880-1885, the third reform act was signed As a result, most of the males in rural and urban areas could vote Those three reform acts gave voting rights to middle class, then urban and rural votes in the country Thank to these acts people could raise their voice to protect their

privileges as well as their social positions A new historical page was opened

in Great Britain

1.1.3 The Free Trade Campaign

Between 1815 and 1846, the Corn Laws which kept the prices of corn at high level were enacted in England The purpose of these laws was to protect English farmers from cheap foreign grain imports following the end of the Napoleonic wars The term “corn” referred not only “vegetable corn” but all kinds of grains

The first of the Corn Laws were introduced when the wars between England and France ended in 1815 It stated that no foreign corn would be imported in to England until the domestic corn reached a price of eighty shillings per quarter This resulted in the decreasing import and rising price The Corn Laws only gave benefit to the landholders who owned the majority of profitable farm land, not to the workers On the contrary, the working class suffered a lot from these laws Since the corn prices were high, the workers had to spend the bulk of their income just to survive In addition, when the workers had no income left over for the other purchases, they could not afford manufactured goods so many factory owners also suffered and had

to lay off the workers

The sufferings that the Corn Laws caused resulted in the first major reform of the Corn Laws which happened in 1828 However, the effect of this reform was negligible

Along with the restriction on trade put by the Corn Laws, the constant bad harvests, the Hungry Forties, the soaring price of bread made the tension rise day by day in England As a result of the extreme tension, a movement to repeal the Corn Laws was put up and in 1846 the Corn Laws were abrogated After the withdrawal of the Corn Laws, the policies of free trade were introduced in England and this nation began to move towards the greater prosperity that characterized the later phases of the Victorian Ages

1.1.4 The New Poor Law and the Appearance of the Workhouses

In 1834, the Poor Law Amendment was acted It introduced a new system

of poor relief, covering the whole of England This new system was based on a new administrative area called the Poor Law Union, which required operating the workhouses as the principal channel for providing relief On theory, the workhouse was a moral place where the poor who could not support themselves worked and in turn were housed and fed However, in fact, it was operated on the principle that poverty was the result of laziness and idleness and that the dreadful living and working conditions would inspire the poor to better their own lives

If an able-bodied man entered the workhouse, his whole family had to enter with him The conditions inside the workhouses were more terrific than those of prisons Men, women, children, the infirm, and the able-bodied were housed separately and given very basic and monotonous food such as watery porridge called gruel, or bread and cheese All inmates had to wear the rough workhouse uniform and sleep in communal dormitories Supervised baths were given once

a week The able-bodied were given hard work such as stone-breaking or picking apart old ropes called oakum The elderly and infirm sat around in the day-rooms or sick-wards with little opportunity for visitors As a result, the starvation, diseases and even the death were spread all over the dirty and filthy workhouses At that time, many people were willing to die rather than go to such awful places

Because of personal childhood experiences with debt, poverty, and child labor, Dickens recognized these issues of the workhouses with sympathetic and critical eyes Dickens noticed that England‟s politicians and people of the upper class tried to solve the growing problem of poverty through the Poor Laws and charitable workhouses, but Dickens knew that these things would not be successful In fact, they were often inhumane Dickens‟ view of poverty and the abuse of the poor can be seen in “Oliver Twist”, a novel about an

orphan, brought up in a workhouse “Oliver Twist” which was written in response to the Poor Law, shows Dickens‟s perspective of society in a realistic, original manner Through this novel, he imprinted on readers the notion that things need to be changed, and that they can be changed and must be changed

1.1.5 The Chartism

The Chartism was a working class movement from 1839 to 1848 It was the result of an injustice and hash society in which the workers were afflicted

by the cruel exploitation and unemployment

In 1838, the leader of the movement in London, William Lovett, wrote the people‟s charters which consisted of six points The charter required the universal suffrage for every British men over 21 years old, the changes in voting arrangement, the abolition of property qualifications for MPs, the secret voting ballots, the annual elections to Parliament and the payment of MPs One of the methods used by the chartists to persuade Parliament was the collections of petitions The theory was that Parliament would be impressed with the number of people who supported the chartists and would have to push through the popular changes

The first petition was presented to Parliament in 1839 However, it was rejected and the chartists organized an armed uprising Finally, the leaders of this movement were arrested and were either jailed or deported to Australia

In 1841, the second chartist petition was given to the Parliament Although it contained three million signatures, it was not given any consideration In 1848, the last petition went to Parliament It consisted of five million signatures but it also had the same result as the two preceding ones It was a farce

Although the chartist movement was not successful, it was a severe lesson for the ruling classes who could not forget those days when the workers‟ mass movement threatened the foundations of capitalism The Chartism was a vivid evidence to show the progress of the working class and the political

development of England Today, most of the chartist‟s original demands are parts of British laws

In addition, it is necessary to say that the Chartists also refer to those working class writers in the early Victorian Age The Chartist writers introduced a new theme into literature that was the forceful struggle of proletarians for their rights This topic quickly became an interesting issue for most writers, especially Charles Dickens

1.2 Critical Realism - a New Trend in Literature

1.2.1 What is the Critical Realism?

Literary realism most often refers to the trend, beginning with certain works of nineteenth-century French literature and extending to late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century literature in various countries “Realism” implies the attempt to describe contemporary life and society truthfully “as it was” It rejects imaginative idealization in favor of a close observation of outward appearances The realists paid much attention to the normal and daily things, to reproducing all the hitherto-ignored aspects of life and society, its mental attitudes, physical settings and material conditions

The growth of realism is linked to the development of science, especially biology, history and social science, and to the development of industrialism and commerce This trend appeared as a result of changes in social life and social relationships which gave new demands and new inspiration to contemporary literature Therefore, the realistic novels were like the life itself – complex in appearance, rich in characters, diverse in outlook, teeming with ideas and operating on several levels

It is clear that critical realism is different from Romanticism When the romantics saw the dark social problems, they did not dare to face them, in

stead, they tried to escape from them and return to Nature, to the green fields

and mountains where man can find himself and his fellows-countrymen, where his soul can be saved from corruption The romantics also tried to construct

dream worlds from their own imaginations as a refuge for their souls In contrast, the realists did not run away or construct dream worlds but describe the facts honestly, search them in all sides and in all details They raised their voice to denounce the social evils and protect the poor and the oppressed However, the critical realism had both strengths and weaknesses On the one hand, the realists gave the satirical description, the strong denouncement to the ruling classes and the profound sympathy for the common people On the other hand, the realists did not show us the ways to escape from prison They did not find the ways to destroy the social evils as well as realize the necessity

of changing the bourgeois society

Because of the limitation of ideology, the realists could not find the reasonable solutions to the social contradictions The main tendency in their works was not of revolution but rather of reformation Instead of some weaknesses, the critical realism was one of the most progressive literary trends which played an important role in social development

1.2.2 English Critical Realism

England is regarded as the cradle of critical realism As far as back in 14thcentury, the writer, Chaucer had used this method to write his famous work

“Canterbury Tales” However, not until the 18th

century did realism begin to develop and reach the height in Enlightenment literature It was the tradesman and journalist, Daniel Defoe, and the printer Richardson who were pioneers of this trend in England At first, the realistic prose took the shape of short essays which were more objective, informative and descriptive than the romantic essays Then, novels were the main type to be used

In the second half of the 19th century, Realism was further developed by what Marx called “the present brilliant school of English novelists” Like the realists of the 18th century, the 19th century realists used their pens to expose

the facts, severely criticize the seamy sides and show their sympathy for the miserable However, the realistic novels of the 19th century went a further step than those of the 18th century They described the chief traits of the English society with much more vividness and greater artistic skill and criticized the capitalist system from a democratic viewpoint They not only pictured the conflicts between separate individuals who stood for definite social class, but also showed the broad social conflicts over and above the fate of mere individuals Marx exactly commented that the realists had done more to show political and social truths to the world than all the politicians, publicists and moralists added together In fact, the English realists had a thorough view of the most burning social problems of their time They looked at life through the eyes of the common people and of the talented writers, so under their description, every corner of life, even the hidden ones, were revealed Especially, the main conflict of the time between the capitalists and workers were reflected so vividly that realistic novels were considered to be “the epic

of the bourgeois society"

However, it is also necessary to say that the English critical realists of the 19th century not only gave a satirical description of the bourgeoisie and all the ruling classes, but also showed profound sympathy for the common people In their best works, the greed and hypocrisy of the upper class are contrasted with the honesty and good-heartedness of the obscure "simple people" of the lower classes Hence the use of humor and satire in the English realistic novels of the 19th century was very popular Humorous scenes may be used for the actions

of the positive characters and serves to stress their fine qualities At the same time, bitter satire and funny is used to expose the seamy side of the bourgeois society Through the sketches of various negative characters given birth to by the capitalist system, critical realism reveals the corrupting influence of money upon human nature

However, like the realists in other countries, English realists could put a big question to social problems but they could not find a reasonable answer

because of the limitation of class ideology In most realistic works, the authors did not mention the revolutionary violence as the solution to social conflict, but their own ones usually felt in to subjectivity, utopia or impasse In most of their works, they often start with a powerful exposure of the ugliness of the bourgeois world, and close in happy ending for the oppressed

The greatest English realist of the time was Charles Dickens With striking force and truthfulness, he created pictures of bourgeois civilization, describing the misery and sufferings of the common people Another great critical realist, William Makepeace Thackeray, was also a talented writer of the contemporary society Thackeray‟s novels are mainly a satirical description of the upper class in British society

Chapter 2: An introduction to “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens and “Vanity Fair” by William

Makepeace Thackeray

2.1 An Introduction to “Oliver Twist”

2.1.1 The author- Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was born in to a poor family on the seventh February

1812, in Portsmouth, which is known as 387 Mile End Terrance Land port nowadays His father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office However, he was not good at his work and always in state of debt Therefore, as Dickens was young, his mind was darkened by the financial problems of his family

Things went from bad to worse when his father was arrested for debt and sent to prison in Marshal Sea Dickens had to leave school and work in a blacking warehouse, where he was employed to stick labors on bottles for shoe polish Those days in the warehouse were full of misery and humiliation In his mind, he never forgot the terrific smell and the starvation he experienced here These unforgettable experiences and sufferings of his early childhood became one of the decisive elements in the formation of his personality and served as fresh material for many of his novels Child labor and its abuse were repeated

in most of Dickens‟s works, especially in “Oliver Twist”

In 1831, having taught himself short hand, Dickens became a parliamentary reporter Being a reporter, he had a good knowledge about current news and the most burning social problems, which was very useful for his writing

Being a realistic writer, Dickens traveled a lot to many places to collect the fresh material from the life of the capital cities to the country sides On traveling he met all kinds of people, the rich and the poor, the kind and the vicious, and witnessed a lot of unfair phenomenon in the society

Studying Dickens‟s life and his literary works we can see that his life had

a deep influence on his works It provided him with invaluable knowledge of human life and his social problems The lifelike reality of his works brings readers back to the English 19th century society Therefore, he is considered to

be one of the greatest realists of England and of the world His novels, containing broad view of man and the most burning social problems, were loved by most readers due to its humane and realistic value

Love of humanity and the severe denouncement towards the ruling classes and the social corruption are the most obvious embodiments of deep humanism

in Dickens‟s works In his novels, Dickens always raised his voice to defend the poor, the oppressed, especially children and women Under his description, they were poor, but good and pure They had to suffer a lot, but did not lose their heart and always tried their best for brighter future In addition, with an

eternal belief in good quality of human nature, the author described his positive characters to be static Their characteristics did not change in all situations of life, even in the worst cases In a chaotic society, white could be turned into black, good into bad, right into wrong, but his characters remained pure and unspoilt

It is Dickens‟s love towards the humanity that he made him hate all kinds

of oppression, injustice and every sight of man‟s cruelty to man His works exposed and attacked the social evils forcefully Cruelty, labor abuse, materialism and money worship became the most popular themes in his novels

In Dickens‟s works, the conflict between the rich and the poor, between two main classes in society was reflected vividly To solve this conflict, Dickens subjectively believed that all men were born good so it was possible

to make the rich share wealth with the poor He used his novels, which describe the extreme poverty with emotional tone, to open the eyes of society

to the pitiful fates of the poor with the hope that the rich would feel sympathetic and give a hand to the less fortunate

One of his limitations is that in his first novels he did not realize the true nature of the capitalism so he did not realize that only revolutionary struggle could result in social progress However, finally Dickens understood that capitalism was the source of poverty Therefore, in the middle of the 19thcentury, when the struggle movement of proletarian class reached the highest point, Dickens expressed himself as a writer with the stable view-point and

“steely” pen He always, then, stood beside the working class in the struggle against the ruling classes He used his pen as a struggling weapon which attacked forcefully the oppression, cruelty and inequality in society

Realistic value is also one great element giving the permanent vitality to Dickens‟s works Reading his novels, readers could witness a panorama of life

in the contemporary English society with its burning problems What Dickens depicted was really true to life because he looked at life through the eyes of the common people and of the great writer who had experienced a lot of sufferings

in the school of life He wrote about the poor with the sympathetic heart because he had once suffered what they were suffering, experienced what they were experiencing and seen what they were seeing

Generally speaking, Dickens‟s work is universal His most prominent theme is about child-labor and the pitiful plight of the orphans Another popular theme is about the power of money, the abusive way that money can

be used, the destructive force of money, and the victims of it Adventure is also one of the main themes in Dickens‟s novels Adventuring gave his characters opportunities to witness a lot of social burning problems Therefore, through his characters Dickens could give the readers the over-all picture of reality happening at his time “Oliver Twist” was regarded as the best adventurous novel By retelling the ups and downs life of Oliver, Dickens laid bare all of the social evils existing in the capital city Social corruption is an important part in Dickens‟s works He forcefully criticizes the labor abuse, social injustice, starvation and cruelty and sympathetically championed the underdog

He created incredibly moving scenarios that are both heartbreaking and amusing in equal measure It is true to say that he‟s an amazing social

documenter and champion of human rights

However, nothing is perfect Dickens‟s novels are by no means faultless Some critics commented that his rapid and enormous writing resulted in his unpolished novels In addition, some critics commented that Dickens‟s works are a harmonious combination between real and unreal His characters such as Oliver Twist and David Copperfield were sometimes too good to be found in the real life They ever remained true to the principles of honor, dignity and

faith In spite of some faults in both composition and style, “no one can deny

Dickens‟s high spirit and inexhaustible humor, no one can ignore the

„Dickens‟s charm‟ and the novelist‟s supreme gift: his amazing imagination” (Nguyen Chi Trung, “English Literature”)

Dickens‟s writing career can be divided in to four periods

 First period (1833-1841)

In the first period, the main themes in Dickens‟s works were the poor and the homeless Their life and their misery were mentioned emotionally with the profound sympathy of the author

This period includes some famous novels such as Sketches by Boz (1836), The Pickwick Papers (1836-1837), Nicholas Nickleby (1839), The Old Curiosity Shop (1840-1841), Barnaby Ridge (1841-1842) and especially

“Oliver Twist” which was written from February 1837 to March 1839 This book was the purposeful, serious realistic description of social problems It thoroughly depicted the terrific life conditions in the warehouse, the life of miserable children and the criminal in society

 The second period (1842- 1848)

In the second period works, Dickens began to describe the crimes that arose from the bourgeois system itself Although Dickens showed his great sympathy for the working class and his indignation towards the cruelty of the ruling ones, he still believed that edification and reform could solve the social conflicts

Some famous works of this period are American notes (1842), Martin Chuzzlewit (1843), Christmas Carol and Dombey and Son (1846-1848), which

is the first novel to be fully planed as a whole in advance As soon as it appeared, it was quickly loved by the readers due to the burning social problem

it mentioned: money worship

 Third period (1850-1859) The novels written in the third period severed as the height of Dickens‟s social criticism Dickens used his pen to make war against the social abuses like moral corruption in the law courts, the cruelty and starvation at boarding school Dickens was also very successful in describing and drawing a vivid picture of English life at his time He was considered as the Great Literary Commoner by which people meant the great democrat in literature

This period was marked by the appearance of “David Copperfield”, which was loved by the author most and also the peak in his literary career In this

book, the writer used his own experiences of the miserable childhood as the main inspiration to write It was considered to be the biggest autobiographical work of Dickens Other novels of this period are Bleak House (1852-1853), Hard Times (1854), which focused on pointing out the main conflict between the workers and the capitalists caused by the industrial revolution and soul-destroying effects of the industrial revolution on men and Little Dorrit (1855-1857), which especially focused on the law of debt under capital society

 Forth period (1860- 1865)

In this period there were two novels: “Great Expectations” and “Our Mutual Friend” During this period, the labor movement began to sink and the English critical realism was decreased, the feeling of disillusionment was expressed obviously in the two books Humor can be found here and there in the novels of this period It was the means of irony and satire In fact, the rollicking laughers of Dickens were his profound condemnation

2.1.2 The work- “Oliver Twist”

2.1.2.1 The main characters

Oliver Twist: is the protagonist of the novel

Fagin: the leader of dens of thieves and robbers in London

Mr Brownlow: is a rich gentleman who is the first benefactor of Oliver

Twist He is later revealed to be a very close friend of Oliver‟s father

Rose Maylie: is raised from the young childhood by Mrs Maylie When

meeting Oliver Twist, she falls in love with him However, later, it is revealed that the two are related

Bill Sikes: is a brutal professional burglar, and is brought up in Fagin‟s gang

Nancy: is the lover of Bill Sikes She is the only character in the novel

that fluctuates between the world of goodness and evils Because she wants to help pity Oliver, she is brutally murdered by Sikes

Mr Bumble: is the snobbish and self- important beadle, the minor church

official in the workhouse where Oliver was born

2.1.2.2 The plot overview

Oliver Twist is the first novel in the English language to center entirely on

a child hero Oliver Twist is the second novel Dickens ever wrote after

finishing “the Adventure of Pickwick”, and it was published in installments between 1837 and 1839 Many novels at the time were published serially, meaning that each chapter was issued separately, once a month, over the space

of a year or two

Oliver Twist was born in a workhouse in 1830s, in England His mother killed herself after his birth so he had to live in a badly-run home for young orphans and then transferred to another workhouse for the adults There, Oliver had to work very hard In addition, he was always kept in hunger and treated cruelly by the beadles As a result of the brutal diet of the workhouse, once day, Oliver went to the cook and asked for more gruel after the end of the meal This action was considered to be the large sin so he was kept in a dark, solitary room and was treated brutally Because he could not tolerate the cruel treatment of the workhouse, he tried to escape and eventually apprenticed to a local funeral shop

of an undertaker, Mr Sowerberry At the funeral shop, when Noah another apprentice of Mr Sowerberry made disparaging comments about Oliver‟s mother, Oliver attacked him and incurred the wrath of Mr Sowerberry Desperately, Oliver ran away at down and towards London

Claypole-In London, Oliver was starved and exhausted He met Jack Dawkins who was at Oliver‟s age Jack took Oliver to the house of his benefactor, Fagin It turned out that Fagin was a professional criminal who trained the orphan boys into pickpockets In the gang of the thieves, the head of the gang - old Fagin, and the other chief members of the burglar den- Bill Sikes, his mistress Nancy,

and the Artful Dodger- a young pickpocket made every effort to convert Oliver into a thief After a few day of training, Oliver was sent on a pick pocketing mission with two other boys When he saw them swipe the handkerchief from

an old gentleman, Oliver is horrified and ran off He was rescued by the merciful, rich Mr.Brownlow whose handkerchief was stolen However, a bad person named Monks had somehow a special interest in keeping Oliver in the gang so with Fagin he succeed in recapturing Oliver , and making him to join the gang once again and participate in their foul dealings Then Oliver was made to accompany Bill Sikes on a burgling expedition, in the course of which

he received a gun-shot wound, and came into the hands of Mrs.Maylie and her protector Rose, by whom he was kindly treated After a time, Nancy secretly revealed to Rose that Monks knew Oliver‟s parentage, and wanted all proof of

it to be destroyed She also revealed that there was some relationship between Oliver and Rose herself They made some inquiry about the matter But Fagin discovered Nancy‟s action and told Sikes, who then murdered her A hue and cry was raised Sikes, while trying to escape, accidentally hung himself and the rest of the gang was arrested Fagin was executed for his crime Monks was now compelled to confess what remained unknown It was revealed that Rose was the sister of Oliver‟s unfortunate mother Finally, Oliver was adopted by Mr.Brownlow Monks died in prison Bumble, the cruel persecutor of Oliver, ended his career in the workhouse over which he formerly ruled

2.2 An Introduction to “Vanity Fair”

2.2.1 The author -William Makepeace Thackeray

William Makepeace Thackeray was born in 1811, in Calcutta, India, as the only son of Richmond Thackeray After his father death, and his mother‟s remarriage with Major Henry Carmichael Smyth, Thackeray was sent to England and educated at Charterhouse school, then at Trinity College, Cambridge However, he became addicted to gambling and left Cambridge in

1830 without a degree and was heavily in debt

Thackeray's father had left him an estate of approximately 17,000 pounds, but he lost it in a few months because of being over-generous and gambling This financial disaster forced Thackeray out of idleness and into serious work

as a journalist In 1837, after art studies in Paris, Thackeray returned to London and started his career as a hard working journalist He used to use absurd pen names such as George Savage Fitz-Boodle, Michael Angelo Titmarsh, Théophile Wagstaff, and C.J Yellowplush, Esq At this time, Thackeray began

to contribute regularly to Fraser‟s Magazine, Morning Chronicle, New Monthly Magazine and the Times His writing attracted first attention in Punch, where he satirized English snobbery

Thackeray‟s life has profound effects on his literary career Reading his novel, we will see that his characters reflect all his important life-events and the shadows of the people he met and left him with deep impression Thackeray‟s life really became the fresh material for his writing and provided him with the broad view of human being and the burning social problems Like Dickens, Thackeray is one of the greatest English realistic novelists His name becomes popular with readers all over the world because of his style

of great distinction and individuality

Unlike Dickens who paid much attention to depicting the life and fate of the poor and the weak, Thackeray‟s main topic was the luxurious, troublous and corrupted life of the “snobs” who lived in wealth and comfort but with the loveless and callous hearts Nowadays, people consider Thackeray to be the greatest novelist who created the unrivaled panorama of English upper-middle class life, crowded with unforgettable characters, displaying the realistic mixture of vanity and vice His novel is a satire of society as a whole, characterized by hypocrisy and opportunism

The art of Thackeray is also different from that of Dickens Thackeray neither called forth burst of rollicking laughter like Dickens nor did he open so wide the gate tears, but his gentle and kindly satire is exquisitely humorous and his simple and direct pathos is of extraordinary power

Thackeray‟s writing is also a controversial topic for critics Some critical people regard him as a man of cynical view of life Some others are repelled by his realism and his focus on social moral corruption There are also some critics saying that Thackeray‟s writing for a living made his status as a gentleman and as a great writer somewhat tenuous However, we can not deny Thackeray‟s talent and his great contribution to the global literature No one but Thackeray can give readers the profound impression of a world, a society,

a time-certain manners of the aristocratic life Thackeray filled his novel with people, places and travel of the upper and middle class Almost all his characters are individualized, no matter how briefly they appear We know clearly their attitudes, their values, their hypocrisies and pettiness, their class, their desires and feelings

Thackeray was an industrious writer who tried his pen in many literary categories including article in magazine, novel/ fiction, non- fiction, play, short story and poem However, the area in which he gained a lot of success is novel writing Thackeray wrote a great deal of novels However, “Vanity Fair”,

“Pendennis”, “The history of Henry Esmond” and “The Newcomes” are these novels that give the deepest impression to readers

Vanity Fair (1847-1848): This novel was published in serial It is the

turning point and also the peak in Thackeray‟s literary career Thank to this novel Thackeray‟s fame was established permanently It is “A Novel without a Hero” that satirizes society in early 19th-century England Vanity Fair is a never-ending fair held in a town called Vanity, in which everything could be bought and sold from the houses, horses, dresses, trinkets, etc to the children, husbands, wives, bodies and souls The novel is now considered a classic, and

has inspired some film adaptations

Pendennis (1849-1850): in this novel, the author only concentrates on

one character- Phillip who is out of place in a world that does not accommodate his vision of masculinity

The History of Henry Esmond (1852): This novel appeared in three

volumes and reflected the melancholic period in the life of Thackeray Thackeray tried to write this novel in the style of the eighteenth century It expressed Victorian values of duty and earnestness

The Newcomes (1854- 1855): This novel is another serial one It presents

the moral history of four generations of an English family Through this novel Thackeray succeeded in picturing the most massive and complex panorama of English society The Newcomes is notable for its critical portrayal of the

“marriage market” Philip is the main character who is noteworthy for its semi- autobiographical look back at Thackeray‟s early life

2.2.2 The work- Vanity Fair

2.2.2.1 The main characters

Becky Sharp: was born with no advantages in society that values rank

and money Becky always tries her best to make her way to the fashionable society through her own resources, determination, intelligence, hard work and talent She is an unscrupulous trickster, a liar, a cheat, a schemer, manipulator,

a gambler, a hypocrite, a betraying wife and friend, and a callous mother

Amelia Sedley: is the best friend of Becky when the two are in the school

of Mrs Pinkerton She is a conventional heroine who is very sweet, passive,

self-sacrificing, gentle, tender and loving

Joseph Sedley: is Amelia's older brother and is a tax collector in India He is

obese and self-important but very shy and insecure Joseph is also not a courageous or intelligent man He is really attracted to Becky Sharp but situations prevent him from proposing He never marries, but when he meets Becky again

he is easily manipulated into being in love and then living with her

George Osborne: is Amelia‟s lover and after that becomes her husband

He is brought up to be a selfish, vain and profligate spender He is also an unstable lover and unfaithful husband He is killed in Waterloo battle

Rawdon Crawley: is an empty-headed cavalry officer who is his wealthy

aunt's favorite until he marries Becky Sharp, who is of a far lower class He has a few talents in life, most of which have to do with gambling and dueling

He is also very good at cards and pool, and although he does not always win he

is able to earn cash by betting against less talented gamblers After discovering his wife betraying action, he leaves his son for his brother‟s family and accepts

a position abroad

Miss Crawley: is everyone's favorite wealthy but invalid aunt in the

Crawleys All people in Crawley‟s family try to integrate themselves with her with the hope of the money in her wallet and of receiving a big inheritance

Sir Pitt Rawley: is a baronet He is an old, stumpy, short, vulgar, and

very dirty man He is called “an old screw” which means very stingy and avaricious person He is also a brutal husband and a snobbish man who is always proud of himself

Dobbin: is the best friend of George Osborne although they belong to

different classes in society William Dobbin is tall, ungainly, and not particularly handsome However, he has a lot of good qualities of a gentleman He is also faithful lover of Amelia and becomes her husband after Osborn‟s death

2.2.2.2 The plot overview

Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley are good friends while they are students

at Miss Pinkrerton's Academy for Young Ladies Becky is portrayed as a strong-willed, cunning, designing and flirtatious young woman, and always tries to make her way in society Unlike Becky, Amelia Sedley is a good-natured, loveable, though simple-minded young girl

When Becky and Amelia have just completed their studies, they return

to Amelia's house There, Miss Sharp is introduced to the dashing and obsessed Captain George Osborne (to whom Amelia has been engaged from a very young age) and to Amelia's brother- Joseph Sedley Joseph is a clumsy, blundering, vainglorious and unsuited to women, especially woman as Becky However, Becky is happy to overlook these faults when she compares them

self-with his wealth and social position Therefore, she tries to pay her court to Joseph with the hope to marry him, but she fails because of warnings from Captain Osborne, Joseph's own native shyness, and his embarrassment over some foolish drunken behavior that Becky has witnessed at Vauxhall

Because there is no longer any reason for Becky to stay with the Sedley family, Becky says farewell to them after a lot of tears and kisses and enters the service of the crude and profligate baronet Sir Pitt Crawley, who has engaged her as a governess to his daughters At Sir Pitt's house, Becky spends most of her time ingratiating herself with Sir Pitt and ignoring her pupils After short time, she succeeds in gaining his favor Sir Pitt Crawley is gradually manipulated by Becky and after the premature death of his second wife, he proposes to her However, it turns out that she is already secretly married to his second son, Rawdon Crawley

Sir Pitt's elder half sister, the spinster Miss Crawley, is very rich, having inherited her mother's fortune of £70,000 How she will bequeath her great wealth is a source of constant conflict between the branches of the Crawley family who vie shamelessly for her affections However, initially her favorite

is Sir Pitt's younger son, Captain Rawdon Crawley

During Becky‟s stay at the Crawley family, Miss Crawley only visits Sir Pitt once time, but she quickly finds Becky witty and charming and really interests in this governess For some time, Becky acts as Miss Crawley's companion, supplanting the loyal Miss Briggs in an attempt to establish herself

in favor before breaking the news of her elopement with Miss Crawley's nephew However, the misalliance so enrages Miss Crawley that she quickly changes her will and cuts off her nephew without a shilling Now she turns to

be in favor of his pompous and pedantic elder brother, who also bears the name Pitt Crawley The married couple constantly attempt to reconcile with Miss Crawley, and she relents a little However, she only sees her nephew and refuses to change her will

While Becky is rising in the world, Amelia's father, John Sedley, is seriously ruined The Sedleys and the Osbornes were once in ally, but this

close relationship disintegrates after the Sedleys are bankrupted, and the marriage of Amelia and George is forbidden George ultimately decides to marry Amelia against his father's will, primarily due to the pressure of his friend Dobbin Because of this disobedience, George is disinherited

While these personal events take place, Napoleon lands from Elba George and William Dobbin are suddenly deployed to Brussels At Brussels the two couples meet again The newly wedded Osborne is growing tired of Amelia, and he becomes increasingly attracted to Becky who encourages his advances

At a ball in Brussels, George gives Becky a note inviting her to run away with him He regrets this shortly afterwards and reconciles with Amelia, who has been deeply hurt by his attentions towards her former friend The morning after, he is sent to Waterloo with Captain Crawley and Dobbin, leaving Amelia distraught Becky, on the other hand, is virtually indifferent to her husband's departure She tries to console Amelia, but Amelia responds angrily, disgusted

by Becky's flirtatious behavior with George and her lack of concern about Captain Crawley Unlike Amelia and most other people, Becky is not very concerned for the outcome of the war Should Napoleon win, she plans to become the mistress of one his marshals, and meanwhile she makes a profit selling her carriage and horses at inflated prices to panicking Britons seeking

to flee the city, where the Belgian population is openly pro-Napoleonic

Captain Crawley survives, but George dies in the battle Amelia bears him

a posthumous son, who is also named George She returns to live in genteel poverty with her parents Meanwhile, since the death of George, Dobbin, who

is young George's godfather, gradually begins to express his love for the widowed Amelia by small kindnesses toward her and her son However, Amelia is too much in love with George's memory to return Dobbin's affections Saddened, he goes to India for many years

Becky also has a son, also named after his father, but unlike Amelia, who dotes on and even spoils her child, Becky is a cold, distant mother She continues her ascent first in post-war Paris and then in London where she is patronized by

the great Marquis of Steyne, who covertly subsidizes her and introduces her to London society Despite her humble origins, her success is unstoppable and she is eventually presented at court to the Prince Regent himself

Now Amelia has to confront a lot of hash situations She struggles to keep her son with her but her poor financial status makes it difficult for her to support him Finally, Amelia sorrowfully agrees to let Mr Osborn bring up the son as his own Nevertheless, Mr Osborn still does not accept Amelia as the daughter-in-law

In London, Becky and Rawdon appear to be very rich and live in comfort However, their wealth and the high standard of living come from the abhorrent sources: cheating at playing card, gambling, borrowing heavily from people around them and cheating innkeepers, milliners, dress-makers, grocers, and others who do business on credit

At the top of her success, Becky's secret relationship with the rich and powerful Marquis of Steyne is discovered by Rawdon when he suddenly returns home from prison for debt with the help of his brother's wife, Lady Jane Desperately, Rawdon accepts a post abroad and never returns to his unfaithful and designing wife Becky, having lost both husband and credibility,

is warned by Steyne to quit England and wanders the continent Rawdon and Becky's son is left in the care of Pitt Crawley and Lady Jane However, wherever Becky goes, she is followed by the shadow of the Marquis of Steyne

No sooner does she establish herself in polite society than someone turns up who knows her disreputable history and spreads rumors; Steyne himself hounds her out of Rome

Amelia‟s fortune now improves After twelve years abroad both Joseph Sedley and William Dobbin return to England Joseph establishes his sister and his father a pleasant house, and does as much as possible to make his sister and father happy Captain Dobbin now confesses his unchanged love to Amelia However, although Amelia is affectionate, she tells him she cannot forget the memory of her dead husband Therefore, she is not yet ready to accept It is

Mr Dobbin who goes to Mr Osborn and gradually succeeds in reconciling

him with his son‟s wife When Mr Osborn dies, he leaves a good part of his fortune for his grandson, appointing Amelia as the boy‟s guardian

After the death of old Mr Osborne, Amelia, Joseph, George and Dobbin

go on a trip to Germany, where they encounter the destitute Becky Amelia and Joseph greet her in friendly manner but Dobbin appears to regard her with disgust Now Becky lives a life of gross self-indulgence She is drinking heavily, has lost her singing voice and much of her looks, and spends time with card sharks When she meets Joseph again, she vows not to let him escape another time Although Dobbin tries to warn Joseph about Becky, Joseph is willing to be Becky‟s victim They travel together to many places and although Becky still does not get a divorce from Rawdon, Joseph treats her as his wife

He eventually dies of a suspicious ailment after signing a portion of his money

to Becky as life insurance The full circumstance of his death is never established, but Becky comes in to a large sum of money from his insurance She spends the rest of her life on the Continent, where she is considered as the virtuous widow and wins reputation for benevolence and generosity

At the end of the novel, Amelia and Mr Dobbin are married and live in the happiest period in their life

CHAPTER 3: PICTURE OF the Victorian SOCIETY in the two novels “OLIVER TWIST” AND “VANITY FAIR”

In the 19 century, Britain became the most prosperous nation in the world However, the wealth only came to the capitalists who exploited the workers to the maximum, and to the upper class that lived on their reputation, inheritance and other unwholesome sources In fact, the happier the upper and middle classes were, the more miserable the lower one were, especially the children In Britain at that time, the gap between the rich and the poor became bigger and bigger day by day If looking outside, the society was a flowery picture, but looking inside, British paupers were groaning under the cruel exploitation, the terrific living and working conditions Moreover, it was the extreme differences

in living-working conditions of the rich and the poor that lead to the contrast in

their personalities The wicked natures of the upper class totally contrasted with the honesty and good-heartedness of the obscure “simple people” of the lower ones

3.1 The tragic plight of the poor and their good nature in cruel world 3.1.1 The tragic plight of the poor

a Living under horrible conditions of the workhouses

In the 19th century, in Britain the horrors of the workhouse were so popularly established in the British scenes that they were destined to become part of the British social legend Therefore, to witness the extremely miserable plight of the poor, we would visit the workhouses of that period through

“Oliver Twist” of Dickens

For most people at that time, workhouses were the places where poor homeless people worked and in turn they were fed and housed However, Dickens in his novel, “Oliver Twist”, showed us its real meaning He realistically portrayed the horrible conditions in a place which was considered

to be “a moral place established to assist the poor” Reading “Oliver Twist”, readers would shock when seeing how things really were, and how people

really lived in the workhouse

Opening “Oliver Twist”, we can easily catch the image of the sad and gloomy workhouse with a lot of pale children If someone has once read this novel, they cannot forget stinking, crazy and tottering tenements where the wretches lived “the houses on either side were high and large but very old…which had become insecure from age and decay, were prevented from falling in to the street by huge beams of wood….the kennel was stagnant and filthy; the very rat that here and there lay putrefying in its rottenness, were hideous with famine” (Oliver Twist) These houses were the places where the poorest class lived in How could they exist and work in such crazy dens which were very dirty, filthy and on the point of ruin It was not exaggerative that if a late twentieth century person suddenly found himself in the workhouse of this

period, he would be literally sick- sick with smells, sick with the atmosphere around him and sick with the hideous image of the putrefying rats

Under the realistic description of the author, the readers are not only shocked and haunted by the appearance of the workhouse area but are also moved to tears with the prison-like living and working conditions inside

The workhouses were operated on the principle that poverty was the result of the laziness and idleness, and that dreadful conditions would inspire the poor to better their own life Therefore, in the workhouse the poor, especially the children were treated cruelly The parish, Mr Bumble tried to make the workhouse environment as bad as possible There, the inhabitants were starved and slaved to the brink of death

Brutal diet for small children was the most vivid example to express how terrific living condition in the workhouses was “Three issued meals of thin gruel a day with an onion twice a week, and a half roll on Sundays” (Oliver Twist) were what the poor children could receive after a long day‟s work In fact, any one could die gradually with this regimen; meanwhile they were children in growing period Consequently, the extreme hunger spread over the workhouse and turned the small orphans in to the wild animals who were crazy with hunger After the meal, the bowls needed not washing because the boys had polished them with their spoons till they shone again Then, they continued sitting and staring at the copper with eager eyes as if they could swallow the brick oven They also tried to exploiting themselves in sucking the fingers assiduously with the hope of sticking some soup left on the fingers How pitiful they were No one could keep their tears when witnessing a meal

of the orphans

Thank to the “moral caring” of the workhouse, Oliver and his friends suffered the starvation for months and at last some died and others got crazy with the hunger They were so hungry that they were afraid one night they would eat their friends who slept next to them In addition, the extreme hunger compelled the smallest and weakest boy, Oliver Twist, to do the thing that was

regarded as an extreme large sin by the board members He walked up to the cooker after the meal to ask for more “please, sir, I want some more” How pitiful he was! He might know that asking for more soup was stupid and it was only the dream to get more but his hunger overcame his wise and he had to pay pride for his bravery action The master did not give him more but treated him

as a dog They gave the pitiful boy heavy beats, insult words and left him in the dark room Most readers are moved to tears with this scene because it evokes the sympathetic pain in their heart and haunted their mind

Apart from inhumane diet, in the workhouse the poor had to wear tore clothes, sleep on the floor with nothing but sacks for covering, and constant cold chill from both the wind and the dreary atmosphere of the building In the workhouse, the paupers were not “human beings” but just the nameless bodies that “skulked like shadow”, ate, slept like wild animals and died like the rats Dickens skillfully used these typical images as the symbols of all the poignant cries of the starved and unloved in the brutal world

Unable to bear such an awful living conditions, many children died in the dark corner of the workhouses Other escaped to London and established a criminal underclass These children much rather stole and were punished than slaved in the bad conditions of the workhouses Fagin‟s gang was an indispensable result of the horror conditions that the broken social system forced them to live in Describing the dens and the fates of its members, Dickens wanted to drive the readers‟ attention to the fact that criminality was the direct result of the poor law and the terrific workhouses In order to escape the pangs of hunger, the shadow of insecurity and the public scorn towards the paupers, poor children resigned themselves to the crime In fact, what happened to the poor was not their problem but because of the rotten society

forced them to commit

b Suffering oppression and injustice in the workhouses

The paupers in workhouses were those who suffered most from oppression and injustice They were unmistakably poor and were under-