to great lengths--enlisting Fagin and the Bumbles to insure that
Oliver can never gain his inheritance. But his hatred makes him
outsmart himself: if he hadn't gone looking for Oliver, he would
have kept the entire fortune for himself. He was the only person who
knew the boy's identity. Is he destroyed by a jealous passion, or is
he a twisted soul who'll use any excuse to commit crimes?
OLIVER TWIST: NANCY
Nancy is the hapless product of the slums, the pupil of Fagin, and
the abused mistress of Sikes. Although she is a prostitute and an
accomplice of crooks, she has the instincts of a good person. She
protects Oliver as soon as she sees the threat to him, even though it
means landing in trouble with Fagin and Sikes. More perplexingly,
she is faithful to Sikes because she loves him, in spite of his
abuse.
For many readers, Nancy is the most important character in the novel.
They argue that the most memorable scenes are the ones she is
in--when she visits Fagin's den, when she waits for Bill to come
home, or when she meets with Rose Maylie and Brownlow to help save
Oliver.
In contrast, other readers insist that she is just a cliche--the
typical prostitute with a heart of gold. They think that Dickens
glosses over the truth about a life like Nancy's. Why do you think
Dickens works to make her appealing? Does this make her more or less
realistic?
OLIVER TWIST: ROSE MAYLIE
At least on the surface, Rose is very different from Nancy. Though
both were orphans, Rose was rescued as a child by Mrs. Maylie and
grew up secure and protected. Like Nancy, she is compassionate and
devoted to Oliver, but in contrast Rose is innocent of the hardships
and evils of the world. Idealistically, she refuses to hurt Henry's
career by marrying him. Similarly, Nancy risks death to stick with
her man. Rose is intelligent enough to recognize that the threat to
Oliver is real and wise enough to go to Brownlow for help. She's
also open minded enough not to judge Nancy too harshly.
Oliver loves Rose because she is so beautiful and good. She
represents, for him, the idea of what a perfect woman should be.
After he is "adopted" by Rose and Mrs. Maylie he is able to feel
secure and happy.
Because Rose knew what it was like to be rescued from an unhappy
childhood, she urgently wants to rescue Oliver, and Nancy too. In
that way, she is a representation of all the good instincts of
Victorian society.
