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

Chapter 2: An introduction to “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens and “Vanity Fair” by William Makepeace Thackeray...13 2.1.. “Oliver Twist” of Dickens and “Vanity Fair” of Thackeray are t

Vinh university foreign languages Department

===    ===

Picture of the victorian society

in the two novels “oliver twist”

and “vanity fair”

Vinh, May 2009

TABLE OF CONTENT

Acknowledgement

Table of content

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Justification of the Thesis 1

2 Aims and Objectives of the Thesis 1

3 Scope of the Thesis 2

4 Method of the Thesis 2

5 Design of the Thesis 2

PART II: CONTENT 3

Chapter 1: Back ground 3

1.1 Historical Events of England in Victorian Ages 3

1.1.1 The Industrial Revolution 3

1.1.2 The Political Reforms 5

1.1.3 The Free Trade Campaign 6

1.1.4 The New Poor Law and the Appearance of the Workhouses 7

1.1.5 The Chartism 8

1.2 Critical Realism - a new trend in literature 9

1.2.1 What is the Critical Realism? 9

1.2.2.English CriticalRealism……… 10

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

Thackeray 13

2.1 An Introduction to “Oliver Twist” 13

2.1.1 The author- Charles Dickens 13

2.1.2 The work- “Oliver Twist” 17

2.1.2.1 The main characters 17

2.1.2.2 The plot overview 18

2.2 An Introduction to “Vanity Fair” 19

2.2.1 The author -William Makepeace Thackeray 19

2.2.2 The work- Vanity Fair 22

CHAPTER 3: PICTURE OF the Victorian SOCIETY in the two novels “OLIVER TWIST” AND “VANITY FAIR” 28

3.1 The tragic plight of the poor and their good nature in cruel world 28

3.1.1 The tragic plight of the poor 28

3.1 2 Good nature in cruel world 35

3.2 The luxurious life of the upper and middle class and their moral degeneration 39

3.2.1 The luxurious life of the upper and the middles class 39

3.2.2 Moral degeneration in the luxurious life 42

3.3 Social class distinction and money worship - the most burning problems in the Victorian society 47

3.3.1 Social class distinction 47

3.3.1.1 British social class structure 47

3.3.1.2 Social status as a measure of people’s value 48

3.3.1.3 Pursuit of higher social position 51

3.3.2 Money worship 54

3.3.2.2 Money was a base to measure people’s value 54

3.3.2.2 Relationship among people were destroyed by the supreme power of money 56

Part iii: conclusion 61References 63

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Justification of the Thesis

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

of English novels, the author was deeply attracted by the great observingpower and describing talent of the realistic writers in this period, especiallyCharles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray Although each of the twoauthors had their distinguish style and their own favorite themes, theirsimultaneous appearance in literature gave the readers the over-all picture ofEnglish 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 realismliterature is reflecting reality Since realistic literature is the truthful mirror oflife, realistic value is the author’s biggest concern when she studies literarynovels “Oliver Twist” of Dickens and “Vanity Fair” of Thackeray are tworealistic novels the author loves most because through these novels the authorcan come back to one of the most outstanding periods in history of Britain towitness the burning social problems happening at that time

In addition, reading “Oliver Twist” and “Vanity Fair”, the author is reallymoved by the two writers’ humanity By depicting the panorama of every daylife, they skillfully used their steely pens to forcefully attack the social evils

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

“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 werewhirling in the money and social ambition storm

- Social distinction and money worship as the most burning socialproblems

3 Scope of the Thesis

Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray were two greatestrealistic novelists who were famous for a great deal of interesting novels.However, two masterpieces “Oliver Twist” and “Vanity Fair” were the mostbeloved There are a lot of interesting things to study in these two novels butbecause of limited time and limited scale, the author only focuses on the mostoutstanding 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 backgroundknowledge of the historical events of England in Victorian Age as well as theknowledge of the Critical Realism Chapter 2 is an introduction to the twonovels “Oliver Twist” and “Vanity Fair” Chapter 3 is the main content of thisthesis, 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 modernmachines were invented and applied to production As a result, more and moreindustrial products were produced in Britain and appeared widely in everycorner of the world However, “the industrial revolution was no mere sequence

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

The changes brought to by the industrial revolution had both good andbad effects on English society With the economic development, Englandbecame one of the most powerful and prosperous nations in the world English

men owned such a luxurious life that everyone in the other countries wishedfor However, the economic development only benefited the upper and middleclasses, not the lower one Many workers felt into unemployment becausehand labors were substituted by machines in most factories Therefore, theycould 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 theindustrial revolution This problem first began when children, many below theage of 10, were employed by factories and mines The children were forced towork long hours under dangerous and unhealthy conditions, and their wageswere very little Thousands of children under ten, some as young as five, wereemployed by textile factories and mines, and forced to work in hazardousconditions, with little pay and sometimes for up to 16 hours a day Especially

in the workhouses, and in apprenticeship, children were abused cruelly by themasters 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 ofchildren, social reforming writers began to condemn child labor practices Themost effective attack on the evils of child labor may have come from CharlesDickens' novel Oliver Twist (1837-1839)

Because of the magic power of the industrial revolution, everything wasaltered, from the family and social relationship to the social class structure InEnglish society, there was a big gap between the rich and the poor Theconflict 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 socialposition In fact, almost human values were seriously destroyed during theperiod of industrial revolution For this reason, the moral degeneration becameone of the most serious problems at that time

“Literature is the mirror of the reality” so all of these problems werereflected truthfully in the contemporary works, especially in two famous

novels: “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens and “Vanity Fair” by WilliamMakepeace Thackeray In fact, there are many differences between these tworealistic novels Dickens, in “Oliver Twist”, showed much attention to themisery and the plight of the lower class, particularly the orphan children.Reading “Oliver Twist”, readers are moved to tears because of the images ofpoverty, starvation, and mistreatment of the powerful to poor children In themean time, Thackeray in “Vanity Fair”- originally named “Pen and PencilSketches of English Society”- gave a vivid picture of the luxurious but wickedlife 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 aresinging, dancing, eating, drinking and even cheating, betraying and swearing

in the through-night and overabundant parties For everyone living in “VanityFair”, vanity became the desire and the individual seeks; hypocrisy andsnobbishness became the manner of fashionable life

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

1.1.2 The Political Reforms

By the end of 18th century England was suffered from hardship, unrest andinjustice The English population at this time was eight millions but only onehundred and sixty thousand had the right to vote Those one hundred and sixtythousand people were the “crème of the society” They did not have to workbut 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 theparliament Along with these statements, the success of the American andFrench revolution had a deep influence on England The words “all men arecreated equal” awakened all people there Consequently, the need fordemocratic reform became irresistible and the industrial bourgeoisies startedthe activities demanding for voting reform These activities attracted a lot of

workers as well because they themselves also wanted to change their politicalposition 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 onlyallowed the industrial centers to nominate their representatives to parliamentbut also reduced the power of upper class land owners The first reform acthappened peacefully, marked the emergence of the middle class in Englishpolitical life.

After the first reform act, the industrial bourgeoisies persuaded theparliament to pass a series of factory acts which restricted child labor andlimited hours of working In 1867, the second reform act was passed, markinganother progress in democratic improvement This reform act gave the votingright to all members of the working class, except for the agricultural labors.However, the activities demanding further voting did not stopped DuringGrad stone’s second ministry, 1880-1885, the third reform act was signed As aresult, most of the males in rural and urban areas could vote Those threereform acts gave voting rights to middle class, then urban and rural votes in thecountry Thank to these acts people could raise their voice to protect theirprivileges 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 athigh level were enacted in England The purpose of these laws was to protectEnglish farmers from cheap foreign grain imports following the end of theNapoleonic wars The term “corn” referred not only “vegetable corn” but allkinds of grains

The first of the Corn Laws were introduced when the wars betweenEngland and France ended in 1815 It stated that no foreign corn would beimported in to England until the domestic corn reached a price of eightyshillings per quarter This resulted in the decreasing import and rising price

The Corn Laws only gave benefit to the landholders who owned themajority of profitable farm land, not to the workers On the contrary, theworking 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 couldnot 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 majorreform of the Corn Laws which happened in 1828 However, the effect of thisreform was negligible

Along with the restriction on trade put by the Corn Laws, the constant badharvests, the Hungry Forties, the soaring price of bread made the tension riseday by day in England As a result of the extreme tension, a movement torepeal 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 wereintroduced in England and this nation began to move towards the greaterprosperity 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 anew administrative area called the Poor Law Union, which required operatingthe workhouses as the principal channel for providing relief On theory, theworkhouse was a moral place where the poor who could not supportthemselves worked and in turn were housed and fed However, in fact, it wasoperated on the principle that poverty was the result of laziness and idlenessand that the dreadful living and working conditions would inspire the poor tobetter their own lives

If an able-bodied man entered the workhouse, his whole family had to enterwith him The conditions inside the workhouses were more terrific than those of

prisons Men, women, children, the infirm, and the able-bodied were housedseparately and given very basic and monotonous food such as watery porridgecalled gruel, or bread and cheese All inmates had to wear the rough workhouseuniform and sleep in communal dormitories Supervised baths were given once

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

Because of personal childhood experiences with debt, poverty, and childlabor, Dickens recognized these issues of the workhouses with sympatheticand critical eyes Dickens noticed that England’s politicians and people of theupper class tried to solve the growing problem of poverty through the PoorLaws and charitable workhouses, but Dickens knew that these things wouldnot be successful In fact, they were often inhumane Dickens’ view of povertyand the abuse of the poor can be seen in “Oliver Twist”, a novel about anorphan, brought up in a workhouse “Oliver Twist” which was written inresponse to the Poor Law, shows Dickens’s perspective of society in arealistic, original manner Through this novel, he imprinted on readers thenotion 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 wasthe 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 thepeople’s charters which consisted of six points The charter required theuniversal suffrage for every British men over 21 years old, the changes in

voting arrangement, the abolition of property qualifications for MPs, the secretvoting ballots, the annual elections to Parliament and the payment of MPs.One of the methods used by the chartists to persuade Parliament was thecollections of petitions The theory was that Parliament would be impressedwith the number of people who supported the chartists and would have to pushthrough the popular changes.

The first petition was presented to Parliament in 1839 However, it wasrejected and the chartists organized an armed uprising Finally, the leaders ofthis 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 anyconsideration In 1848, the last petition went to Parliament It consisted of fivemillion signatures but it also had the same result as the two preceding ones Itwas a farce

Although the chartist movement was not successful, it was a severe lessonfor the ruling classes who could not forget those days when the workers’ massmovement threatened the foundations of capitalism The Chartism was a vividevidence to show the progress of the working class and the politicaldevelopment of England Today, most of the chartist’s original demands areparts of British laws

In addition, it is necessary to say that the Chartists also refer to thoseworking class writers in the early Victorian Age The Chartist writersintroduced a new theme into literature that was the forceful struggle ofproletarians for their rights This topic quickly became an interesting issue formost 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 certainworks of nineteenth-century French literature and extending to late-nineteenth-

and early-twentieth-century literature in various countries “Realism” impliesthe attempt to describe contemporary life and society truthfully “as it was” Itrejects imaginative idealization in favor of a close observation of outwardappearances The realists paid much attention to the normal and daily things, toreproducing all the hitherto-ignored aspects of life and society, its mentalattitudes, physical settings and material conditions.

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

It is clear that critical realism is different from Romanticism When theromantics 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, wherehis soul can be saved from corruption The romantics also tried to constructdream worlds from their own imaginations as a refuge for their souls Incontrast, the realists did not run away or construct dream worlds but describethe facts honestly, search them in all sides and in all details They raised theirvoice to denounce the social evils and protect the poor and the oppressed However, the critical realism had both strengths and weaknesses On theone hand, the realists gave the satirical description, the strong denouncement tothe ruling classes and the profound sympathy for the common people On theother hand, the realists did not show us the ways to escape from prison Theydid 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 thereasonable solutions to the social contradictions The main tendency in their

works was not of revolution but rather of reformation Instead of someweaknesses, the critical realism was one of the most progressive literary trendswhich 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 todevelop and reach the height in Enlightenment literature It was the tradesmanand journalist, Daniel Defoe, and the printer Richardson who were pioneers ofthis trend in England At first, the realistic prose took the shape of short essayswhich were more objective, informative and descriptive than the romanticessays Then, novels were the main type to be used

In the second half of the 19th century, Realism was further developed bywhat Marx called “the present brilliant school of English novelists” Like therealists of the 18th century, the 19th century realists used their pens to exposethe facts, severely criticize the seamy sides and show their sympathy for themiserable However, the realistic novels of the 19th century went a further stepthan those of the 18th century They described the chief traits of the Englishsociety with much more vividness and greater artistic skill and criticized thecapitalist system from a democratic viewpoint They not only pictured theconflicts between separate individuals who stood for definite social class, butalso showed the broad social conflicts over and above the fate of mereindividuals Marx exactly commented that the realists had done more to showpolitical and social truths to the world than all the politicians, publicists andmoralists added together In fact, the English realists had a thorough view ofthe most burning social problems of their time They looked at life through theeyes 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 workerswere 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 the19th century not only gave a satirical description of the bourgeoisie and all theruling classes, but also showed profound sympathy for the common people Intheir best works, the greed and hypocrisy of the upper class are contrasted withthe honesty and good-heartedness of the obscure "simple people" of the lowerclasses Hence the use of humor and satire in the English realistic novels of the19th 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 sametime, bitter satire and funny is used to expose the seamy side of the bourgeoissociety Through the sketches of various negative characters given birth to bythe capitalist system, critical realism reveals the corrupting influence of moneyupon human nature

However, like the realists in other countries, English realists could put abig question to social problems but they could not find a reasonable answerbecause of the limitation of class ideology In most realistic works, the authorsdid 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 oftheir works, they often start with a powerful exposure of the ugliness of thebourgeois world, and close in happy ending for the oppressed

The greatest English realist of the time was Charles Dickens Withstriking force and truthfulness, he created pictures of bourgeois civilization,describing the misery and sufferings of the common people Another greatcritical realist, William Makepeace Thackeray, was also a talented writer of thecontemporary society Thackeray’s novels are mainly a satirical description ofthe 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 portnowadays His father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office However, he was notgood 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 andsent to prison in Marshal Sea Dickens had to leave school and work in ablacking warehouse, where he was employed to stick labors on bottles for shoepolish Those days in the warehouse were full of misery and humiliation In hismind, he never forgot the terrific smell and the starvation he experienced here.These unforgettable experiences and sufferings of his early childhood becameone of the decisive elements in the formation of his personality and served asfresh 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 aparliamentary reporter Being a reporter, he had a good knowledge aboutcurrent news and the most burning social problems, which was very useful forhis writing

Being a realistic writer, Dickens traveled a lot to many places to collectthe 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 thevicious, 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 ofhuman life and his social problems The lifelike reality of his works bringsreaders 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, wereloved by most readers due to its humane and realistic value

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

in Dickens’s works In his novels, Dickens always raised his voice to defendthe 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 losetheir heart and always tried their best for brighter future In addition, with aneternal belief in good quality of human nature, the author described hispositive characters to be static Their characteristics did not change in allsituations of life, even in the worst cases In a chaotic society, white could beturned into black, good into bad, right into wrong, but his characters remainedpure 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 worksexposed and attacked the social evils forcefully Cruelty, labor abuse,materialism and money worship became the most popular themes in hisnovels

In Dickens’s works, the conflict between the rich and the poor, betweentwo 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, whichdescribe 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 feelsympathetic and give a hand to the less fortunate

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

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

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

in the contemporary English society with its burning problems What Dickensdepicted was really true to life because he looked at life through the eyes of thecommon 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 heartbecause he had once suffered what they were suffering, experienced what theywere experiencing and seen what they were seeing

Generally speaking, Dickens’s work is universal His most prominenttheme is about child-labor and the pitiful plight of the orphans Anotherpopular 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 alsoone of the main themes in Dickens’s novels Adventuring gave his charactersopportunities to witness a lot of social burning problems Therefore, throughhis characters Dickens could give the readers the over-all picture of realityhappening at his time “Oliver Twist” was regarded as the best adventurousnovel By retelling the ups and downs life of Oliver, Dickens laid bare all ofthe social evils existing in the capital city Social corruption is an importantpart 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 andamusing in equal measure It is true to say that he’s an amazing socialdocumenter 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 hisunpolished novels In addition, some critics commented that Dickens’s worksare a harmonious combination between real and unreal His characters such asOliver Twist and David Copperfield were sometimes too good to be found inthe 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 andthe homeless Their life and their misery were mentioned emotionally with theprofound 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 OldCuriosity Shop (1840-1841), Barnaby Ridge (1841-1842) and especially

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

 The second period (1842- 1848)

In the second period works, Dickens began to describe the crimes thatarose from the bourgeois system itself Although Dickens showed his greatsympathy for the working class and his indignation towards the cruelty of the

ruling ones, he still believed that edification and reform could solve the socialconflicts.

Some famous works of this period are American notes (1842), MartinChuzzlewit (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 itappeared, it was quickly loved by the readers due to the burning socialproblem it mentioned: money worship

 Third period (1850-1859)

The novels written in the third period severed as the height of Dickens’ssocial criticism Dickens used his pen to make war against the social abuseslike moral corruption in the law courts, the cruelty and starvation at boardingschool Dickens was also very successful in describing and drawing a vividpicture of English life at his time He was considered as the Great LiteraryCommoner by which people meant the great democrat in literature

This period was marked by the appearance of “David Copperfield”, whichwas loved by the author most and also the peak in his literary career In thisbook, the writer used his own experiences of the miserable childhood as themain inspiration to write It was considered to be the biggest autobiographicalwork of Dickens Other novels of this period are Bleak House (1852-1853),Hard Times (1854), which focused on pointing out the main conflict betweenthe 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 “OurMutual Friend” During this period, the labor movement began to sink and theEnglish critical realism was decreased, the feeling of disillusionment wasexpressed obviously in the two books Humor can be found here and there inthe novels of this period It was the means of irony and satire In fact, therollicking 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 revealedthat 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 tohelp 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 installmentsbetween 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 motherkilled herself after his birth so he had to live in a badly-run home for youngorphans and then transferred to another workhouse for the adults There, Oliverhad to work very hard In addition, he was always kept in hunger and treatedcruelly 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 Thisaction was considered to be the large sin so he was kept in a dark, solitary roomand was treated brutally Because he could not tolerate the cruel treatment of theworkhouse, 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 aboutOliver’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 whowas at Oliver’s age Jack took Oliver to the house of his benefactor, Fagin Itturned out that Fagin was a professional criminal who trained the orphan boysinto 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 Oliverinto a thief After a few day of training, Oliver was sent on a pick pocketingmission 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 themerciful, rich Mr.Brownlow whose handkerchief was stolen However, a badperson named Monks had somehow a special interest in keeping Oliver in thegang so with Fagin he succeed in recapturing Oliver , and making him to jointhe gang once again and participate in their foul dealings Then Oliver wasmade 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 herprotector Rose, by whom he was kindly treated After a time, Nancy secretlyrevealed 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 betweenOliver and Rose herself They made some inquiry about the matter But Fagindiscovered Nancy’s action and told Sikes, who then murdered her A hue andcry was raised Sikes, while trying to escape, accidentally hung himself and therest of the gang was arrested Fagin was executed for his crime Monks was

now compelled to confess what remained unknown It was revealed that Rosewas the sister of Oliver’s unfortunate mother Finally, Oliver was adopted byMr.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, asthe only son of Richmond Thackeray After his father death, and his mother’sremarriage with Major Henry Carmichael Smyth, Thackeray was sent toEngland 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 Londonand started his career as a hard working journalist He used to use absurd pennames 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, NewMonthly Magazine and the Times His writing attracted first attention inPunch, where he satirized English snobbery

Thackeray’s life has profound effects on his literary career Reading hisnovel, we will see that his characters reflect all his important life-events andthe shadows of the people he met and left him with deep impression.Thackeray’s life really became the fresh material for his writing and providedhim 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 ofthe poor and the weak, Thackeray’s main topic was the luxurious, troublousand corrupted life of the “snobs” who lived in wealth and comfort but with theloveless and callous hearts Nowadays, people consider Thackeray to be thegreatest novelist who created the unrivaled panorama of English upper-middleclass life, crowded with unforgettable characters, displaying the realisticmixture 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 Thackerayneither called forth burst of rollicking laughter like Dickens nor did he open sowide the gate tears, but his gentle and kindly satire is exquisitely humorousand his simple and direct pathos is of extraordinary power

Thackeray’s writing is also a controversial topic for critics Some criticalpeople regard him as a man of cynical view of life Some others are repelled byhis realism and his focus on social moral corruption There are also somecritics saying that Thackeray’s writing for a living made his status as agentleman and as a great writer somewhat tenuous However, we can not denyThackeray’s talent and his great contribution to the global literature No onebut Thackeray can give readers the profound impression of a world, a society,

a time-certain manners of the aristocratic life Thackeray filled his novel withpeople, places and travel of the upper and middle class Almost all hischaracters are individualized, no matter how briefly they appear We knowclearly 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 literarycategories including article in magazine, novel/ fiction, non- fiction, play, short storyand 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 thesenovels 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 thisnovel Thackeray’s fame was established permanently It is “A Novel without aHero” that satirizes society in early 19th-century England Vanity Fair is anever-ending fair held in a town called Vanity, in which everything could bebought 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 notaccommodate 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 Itexpressed 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 novelThackeray succeeded in picturing the most massive and complex panorama ofEnglish society The Newcomes is notable for its critical portrayal of the

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

semi-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 andtalent 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 acourageous or intelligent man He is really attracted to Becky Sharp but situationsprevent 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 anunstable 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 Hehas 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 discoveringhis 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 herwith 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 andavaricious person He is also a brutal husband and a snobbish man who isalways 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 alsofaithful 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 astrong-willed, cunning, designing and flirtatious young woman, and alwaystries 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 avery 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 themwith his wealth and social position Therefore, she tries to pay her court toJoseph with the hope to marry him, but she fails because of warnings fromCaptain Osborne, Joseph's own native shyness, and his embarrassment oversome foolish drunken behavior that Becky has witnessed at Vauxhall

self-Because there is no longer any reason for Becky to stay with the Sedleyfamily, Becky says farewell to them after a lot of tears and kisses and entersthe service of the crude and profligate baronet Sir Pitt Crawley, who hasengaged her as a governess to his daughters At Sir Pitt's house, Becky spendsmost of her time ingratiating herself with Sir Pitt and ignoring her pupils Aftershort time, she succeeds in gaining his favor Sir Pitt Crawley is graduallymanipulated by Becky and after the premature death of his second wife, heproposes to her However, it turns out that she is already secretly married to hissecond son, Rawdon Crawley

Sir Pitt's elder half sister, the spinster Miss Crawley, is very rich, havinginherited her mother's fortune of £70,000 How she will bequeath her greatwealth 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 SirPitt once time, but she quickly finds Becky witty and charming and reallyinterests in this governess For some time, Becky acts as Miss Crawley'scompanion, supplanting the loyal Miss Briggs in an attempt to establish herself

in favor before breaking the news of her elopement with Miss Crawley'snephew However, the misalliance so enrages Miss Crawley that she quicklychanges 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 thename Pitt Crawley The married couple constantly attempt to reconcile withMiss Crawley, and she relents a little However, she only sees her nephew andrefuses to change her will

While Becky is rising in the world, Amelia's father, John Sedley, isseriously ruined The Sedleys and the Osbornes were once in ally, but thisclose relationship disintegrates after the Sedleys are bankrupted, and themarriage of Amelia and George is forbidden George ultimately decides tomarry Amelia against his father's will, primarily due to the pressure of hisfriend 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 Brusselsthe two couples meet again The newly wedded Osborne is growing tired ofAmelia, and he becomes increasingly attracted to Becky who encourages hisadvances

At a ball in Brussels, George gives Becky a note inviting her to run awaywith him He regrets this shortly afterwards and reconciles with Amelia, whohas been deeply hurt by his attentions towards her former friend The morningafter, he is sent to Waterloo with Captain Crawley and Dobbin, leaving Ameliadistraught Becky, on the other hand, is virtually indifferent to her husband'sdeparture 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 veryconcerned for the outcome of the war Should Napoleon win, she plans tobecome the mistress of one his marshals, and meanwhile she makes a profitselling 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

poverty with her parents Meanwhile, since the death of George, Dobbin, who

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

Becky also has a son, also named after his father, but unlike Amelia, whodotes on and even spoils her child, Becky is a cold, distant mother She continuesher ascent first in post-war Paris and then in London where she is patronized bythe great Marquis of Steyne, who covertly subsidizes her and introduces her to

eventually presented at court to the Prince Regent himself

Now Amelia has to confront a lot of hash situations She struggles to keepher son with her but her poor financial status makes it difficult for her tosupport him Finally, Amelia sorrowfully agrees to let Mr Osborn bring up theson as his own Nevertheless, Mr Osborn still does not accept Amelia as thedaughter-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 abhorrentsources: cheating at playing card, gambling, borrowing heavily from peoplearound them and cheating innkeepers, milliners, dress-makers, grocers, andothers who do business on credit

At the top of her success, Becky's secret relationship with the rich andpowerful Marquis of Steyne is discovered by Rawdon when he suddenlyreturns 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 hisunfaithful and designing wife Becky, having lost both husband and credibility,

is warned by Steyne to quit England and wanders the continent Rawdon andBecky'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 upwho knows her disreputable history and spreads rumors; Steyne himselfhounds her out of Rome

Amelia’s fortune now improves After twelve years abroad both JosephSedley and William Dobbin return to England Joseph establishes his sister andhis father a pleasant house, and does as much as possible to make his sister andfather happy Captain Dobbin now confesses his unchanged love to Amelia.However, although Amelia is affectionate, she tells him she cannot forget thememory 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 reconcilinghim with his son’s wife When Mr Osborn dies, he leaves a good part of hisfortune 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 andJoseph greet her in friendly manner but Dobbin appears to regard her withdisgust Now Becky lives a life of gross self-indulgence She is drinkingheavily, has lost her singing voice and much of her looks, and spends timewith card sharks When she meets Joseph again, she vows not to let him escapeanother time Although Dobbin tries to warn Joseph about Becky, Joseph iswilling to be Becky’s victim They travel together to many places and althoughBecky 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 neverestablished, 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 thevirtuous widow and wins reputation for benevolence and generosity

At the end of the novel, Amelia and Mr Dobbin are married and live inthe 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 tothe maximum, and to the upper class that lived on their reputation, inheritanceand other unwholesome sources In fact, the happier the upper and middleclasses were, the more miserable the lower one were, especially the children InBritain at that time, the gap between the rich and the poor became bigger andbigger day by day If looking outside, the society was a flowery picture, butlooking inside, British paupers were groaning under the cruel exploitation, theterrific 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 intheir personalities The wicked natures of the upper class totally contrasted withthe honesty and good-heartedness of the obscure “simple people” of the lowerones

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 sopopularly established in the British scenes that they were destined to becomepart of the British social legend Therefore, to witness the extremely miserableplight 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 poorhomeless people worked and in turn they were fed and housed However,Dickens in his novel, “Oliver Twist”, showed us its real meaning Herealistically 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 peoplereally lived in the workhouse.

Opening “Oliver Twist”, we can easily catch the image of the sad andgloomy workhouse with a lot of pale children If someone has once read thisnovel, they cannot forget stinking, crazy and tottering tenements where thewretches 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 hideouswith famine” (Oliver Twist) These houses were the places where the poorestclass lived in How could they exist and work in such crazy dens which werevery dirty, filthy and on the point of ruin It was not exaggerative that if a latetwentieth century person suddenly found himself in the workhouse of thisperiod, he would be literally sick- sick with smells, sick with the atmospherearound him and sick with the hideous image of the putrefying rats

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

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

Brutal diet for small children was the most vivid example to expresshow terrific living condition in the workhouses was “Three issued meals ofthin 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’swork In fact, any one could die gradually with this regimen; meanwhile they

were children in growing period Consequently, the extreme hunger spreadover the workhouse and turned the small orphans in to the wild animals whowere crazy with hunger After the meal, the bowls needed not washing becausethe boys had polished them with their spoons till they shone again Then, theycontinued sitting and staring at the copper with eager eyes as if they couldswallow the brick oven They also tried to exploiting themselves in sucking thefingers 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 friendssuffered the starvation for months and at last some died and others got crazywith the hunger They were so hungry that they were afraid one night theywould eat their friends who slept next to them In addition, the extreme hungercompelled the smallest and weakest boy, Oliver Twist, to do the thing that wasregarded as an extreme large sin by the board members He walked up to thecooker after the meal to ask for more “please, sir, I want some more” Howpitiful he was! He might know that asking for more soup was stupid and it wasonly the dream to get more but his hunger overcame his wise and he had to paypride 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 inthe dark room Most readers are moved to tears with this scene because itevokes the sympathetic pain in their heart and haunted their mind

Apart from inhumane diet, in the workhouse the poor had to wear toreclothes, sleep on the floor with nothing but sacks for covering, and constantcold chill from both the wind and the dreary atmosphere of the building In theworkhouse, the paupers were not “human beings” but just the nameless bodiesthat “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 poignantcries of the starved and unloved in the brutal world