Nancy- a Complex Representation of a Victorian Fallen Woman
Cynthia J. Smith
ENG 322 Dr. Rachel Carnell
Final Essay May 1st, 2012
Nancy- a Complex Representation of a Victorian Fallen Woman
In Victorian England, Charles Dickens’s novel Oliver Twist was well received and became popular literature. Many of the characters in Oliver Twist were the most degraded of London's inhabitants, so Dickens was careful to consider the manners of the age and intentionally avoided naming Nancy as a prostitute, and was vague about the deeds of the criminal element in the novel. Today in the media there are criminals of all kinds represented in print media, in film, and in reality TV. We live in a society of unregulated media, and almost nothing is left to the imagination involving the portrayal of violence and criminality. Larry Wolff examines the criminals in Oliver Twist, and the possibility of not only Nancy being a prostitute, but also the young boys under Fagin's watchful eye. Marcy Hess incisively shows that Nancy is a carefully wrought character that at once reflects the stereotypical traits of a Victorian prostitute, yet also has some of the characteristics of a virtuous middle class woman, “and thus renders false this supposedly truthful depiction of Nineteenth-century lower class prostitution” (Hess). Indeed, Nancy may be the most complex character in the novel. Even though she is a prostitute, and “the girl’s life had been squandered in the streets” (Dickens), she is the true heroine of the novel. Nancy is a fallen woman. Though her original nature is good, she is a victim of her environment and of circumstance. Nancy is a prostitute and a battered woman, who sacrifices herself to help Oliver; she is a complex representation of a Victorian lower-class prostitute in London. Dickens carefully crafted Oliver Twist in order to appeal to the queen and her subjects. Both Hess and Wolff examine Dickens’s 1841 preface to the novel to show his skillful development of the criminal characters to avoid censure and public outcry.
ENG 322 Dr. Rachel Carnell
Final Essay May 1st, 2012
Nancy- a Complex Representation of a Victorian Fallen Woman
In Victorian England, Charles Dickens’s novel Oliver Twist was well received and became popular literature. Many of the characters in Oliver Twist were the most degraded of London's inhabitants, so Dickens was careful to consider the manners of the age and intentionally avoided naming Nancy as a prostitute, and was vague about the deeds of the criminal element in the novel. Today in the media there are criminals of all kinds represented in print media, in film, and in reality TV. We live in a society of unregulated media, and almost nothing is left to the imagination involving the portrayal of violence and criminality. Larry Wolff examines the criminals in Oliver Twist, and the possibility of not only Nancy being a prostitute, but also the young boys under Fagin's watchful eye. Marcy Hess incisively shows that Nancy is a carefully wrought character that at once reflects the stereotypical traits of a Victorian prostitute, yet also has some of the characteristics of a virtuous middle class woman, “and thus renders false this supposedly truthful depiction of Nineteenth-century lower class prostitution” (Hess). Indeed, Nancy may be the most complex character in the novel. Even though she is a prostitute, and “the girl’s life had been squandered in the streets” (Dickens), she is the true heroine of the novel. Nancy is a fallen woman. Though her original nature is good, she is a victim of her environment and of circumstance. Nancy is a prostitute and a battered woman, who sacrifices herself to help Oliver; she is a complex representation of a Victorian lower-class prostitute in London. Dickens carefully crafted Oliver Twist in order to appeal to the queen and her subjects. Both Hess and Wolff examine Dickens’s 1841 preface to the novel to show his skillful development of the criminal characters to avoid censure and public outcry.