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Fagin
Fagin () is the secondary antagonist in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist''. In the preface to the novel, he is described as a " receiver of stolen goods". He is the leader of a group of children (the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates among them) whom he teaches to make their livings by pickpocketing and other criminal activities, in exchange for shelter. A distinguishing trait is his constant and insincere use of the phrase "my dear" when addressing others. At the time of the novel, he is said by another character, Monks, to have already made criminals out of "scores" of children. Nancy, who is the lover of Bill Sikes (the novel's lead villain), is confirmed to be Fagin's former pupil. Fagin is a confessed miser who, despite the wealth that he has acquired, does very little to improve the squalid lives of the children he guards, or his own. In the second chapter of his appearance, it is shown (when talking to himself) that he cares less for their welfare, than that t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oliver Twist
''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, after being raised in a workhouse, escapes to London, where he meets a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin, discovers the secrets of his parentage, and reconnects with his remaining family. ''Oliver Twist'' unromantically portrays the sordid lives of criminals and exposes the cruel treatment of the many orphans in England in the mid-19th century. The alternative title, ''The Parish Boy's Progress'', alludes to Bunyan's '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' as well as the 18th-century caricature series by painter William Hogarth, '' A Rake's Progress'' and '' A Harlot's Progress''. In an early example of the social novel, Dickens satirises child labour, domestic violence, the recruitment of children as criminals, and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monks (Oliver Twist)
Edward "Monks" Leeford is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists (alongside Bill Sikes) in the 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. He is actually the criminally-inclined half-brother of Oliver Twist, but he hides his identity. Monks' parents separated when he was a child, and his father had a relationship with a young woman, Agnes Fleming. This resulted in Agnes' pregnancy. She died in childbirth after giving birth to the baby that would be named Oliver Twist. Character history Background Monks was born from a loveless marriage and goaded by his own mother to hatred of Oliver, who, unknown to himself, is actually Monks's half-brother. Oliver has no idea of Monks's existence, but Monks knows of Oliver's existence; Monks also knows of the existence of a will left by his father (who despised him) which favours Oliver and not Monks; however, if Oliver ever should commit a criminal act (before turning twelve) he will be automatically disinherited, whereupo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oliver Twist (character)
Oliver Twist is the title character and protagonist of the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. He was the first child protagonist in a British novel.The full title was "Oliver Twist, or The Parish Boy's Progress." Background The orphan, young Oliver is born in a parish workhouse in an unnamed town. His unmarried mother dies during labour. Old Sally, who was present at the birth, takes from the dying woman a locket and ring. Mr Bumble, the Beadle, names the boy Oliver Twist. Oliver is sent to an orphanage, run by Mrs Mann, until he is nine years old, when he is returned to the workhouse. The orphans at the workhouse are starving because of their cruel treatment. They cast lots to decide who will ask for more gruel for them all, and Oliver is chosen. At evening supper, once the gruel is dished out and eaten, Oliver goes to the master and says "Please Sir. I want some more". He is then branded a troublemaker and offered as an apprentice to anyone willing to take him, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artful Dodger
Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist''. The Dodger is a pickpocket and his nickname refers to his skill and cunning in that occupation. In the novel, he is the leader of the gang of child criminals on the streets of London trained and overseen by the elderly Fagin. The term has become an idiom describing a person who engages in skillful deception. Role in the novel In the novel, Jack becomes Oliver's closest friend (although he betrays Oliver when Oliver is caught) and he tries to make him a pickpocket, but he soon realises that Oliver will not succeed and feels sorry for him, saying "What a pity it is he isn't a prig!" He also has a close relationship with Charley Bates. The Artful Dodger is characterised as a child who acts like an adult. He is described as wearing adult clothes which are much too large for him. Like an adult, he seldom gives in to childish urges: Ultimately the Dodger is caught wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nancy (Oliver Twist)
Nancy is a fictional character in the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens and its several adaptations for theatre, television and films. She is a member of Fagin's gang and the lover, and eventual victim, of Bill Sikes. As well as Nancy being a thief, a common suggestion is that she is a Prostitution, prostitute, in the modern sense of the word. At no point is this stated directly in the novel; rather it stems from Dickens describing her as such in his preface to the 1841 edition ("the boys are pickpockets, and the girl is a prostitute"). However, it has been speculated that he is invoking the term's then-synonymous usage referring to a woman living out of wedlock or otherwise on the margins of "respectable" society. In spite of her criminality, Nancy is portrayed as a sympathetic figure, whose concern for Oliver overcomes her loyalty to Sikes and Fagin. By the climax of the novel, she is emaciated with sickness and worry, and filled with guilt about the life she is l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ikey Solomon
Isaac "Ikey" Solomon (c. 1787 – 1850) was a British criminal who acted as a receiver of stolen property. His well-publicised crimes, escape from arrest, recapture and trial led to his transportation to the Australian penal colony of Van Diemen's Land (now known as Tasmania). He is widely regarded as the model for the character Fagin in Charles Dickens' novel ''Oliver Twist''. Early life and marriage Solomon was born into a Jewish family in Houndsditch, in the East End of London. He was one of nine children. His father, Henry Solomon, was a fence and introduced him to the criminal trade. Henry Solomon also worked in various places in London and once remarked "I have worked for every factory in London." Little is known about Solomon's mother except that she looked after her husband well into his old age. Solomon married Ann (or Hannah) Julian on 7 January 1807 in the Great Synagogue, Duke's Place, London. Ann was the daughter of Moses Julian, coachmaster, of Aldgate. Crim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Sikes
William Sikes is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists (alongside Monks) in the 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. Sikes is a malicious criminal in Fagin's gang, and a vicious robber and murderer. Throughout much of the novel Sikes is shadowed by his “ bull-terrier” dog Bull's-eye. Role in the novel Dickens describes his first appearance: His girlfriend Nancy reluctantly tolerates, but is intimidated by, his violent behaviour. However, when he thinks Nancy has betrayed him, Sikes viciously murders her. After police identify him as travelling with a dog, Sikes attempts to drown Bull's-eye to rid himself of his companion. In the end while trying to escape over the rooftops via a rope, a vision of the murdered Nancy's eyes terrifies him into losing his balance, falling with the looped rope around his neck and accidentally hanging himself. Sikes is a somewhat conflicted character. For instance, after preventing Nancy from keeping her midnight a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime and, by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are widely read today. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school at age 12 to work in a boot-blacking factory when his father John Dickens, John was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. After three years, he returned to school before beginning his literary career as a journalist. Dickens edited a weekly journal for 20 years; wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and nonfiction articles; lectured and performed Penny reading, readings extensively; was a tireless letter writer; and campaigned vigor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charley Bates
Charles "Charley" Bates is a supporting character in the Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist''. He is a young boy and a member of Fagin's gang of pickpockets. Bates serves as a sidekick to the Artful Dodger, whose skills he admires unreservedly. Bill Sikes's murder of Nancy shocks him so much that at the end of the novel he leaves London to become an agricultural labourer. In the novel Charley, along with the Artful Dodger, steals Mr Brownlow's handkerchief, a crime that Oliver is blamed for. Later in the novel, Bates delivers the bad news to Fagin that when the Artful Dodger was arrested for stealing a silver snuff box, he was positively identified by the owner, such that it is a sure bet he will be convicted in court. Charley believes that it is too bad he did not go out in a blaze of glory by stealing something of great value instead of a "common twopenny-halfpenny" snuffbox. Fagin tells him that the Dodger's glory will be in the memory of his comrades: "wasn't he a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Clayton Clarke
Joseph Clayton Clark (1857— 8 August 1937), who worked under the pseudonym "Kyd", was a British artist best known for his illustrations of characters from the novels of Charles Dickens. The artwork was published in magazines or sold as watercolor paintings, rather than included in an edition of the novels. Early life and family life He was born in Peel, Isle of Man, Peel on the Isle of Man in 1857, the son of Lauris and Eliza Clark. In 1889 he married Agnes Roberts (born 1872), and their children were: David (born 1891), Dora (born 1891), Constance (born 1893), Grace (born 1895), Josephine (born 1897), Rose (born 1898), Joseph Cecil (1900–1989), Cecil William (1900–1989), Alice Ivy (1906–1927), and Joseph Clayton Jr. (born 1911). Around 1892, Clark moved with his family to Chichester in West Sussex. Career Clark had many occupations during his lifetime, including designer of cigarette cards and postcards, and as a Fore-edge painting, fore-edge painter principally specia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fence (criminal)
A fence, also known as a receiver, mover, or moving man, is an individual who mens rea, knowingly buys stolen goods in order to later resell them for profit. The fence acts as a wikt:middleman, middleman between thieves and the eventual buyers of stolen goods who may not be aware that the goods are stolen. As a verb (e.g. "''to fence'' stolen goods"), the word describes the behaviour of the thief in the transaction with the fence. As is the case with the word ''fence'' and its derivatives when used in its other common meanings (i.e. as a type of barrier or enclosure, and also fencing, as a sport), the word in this context is derived from the word ''wikt:defence, defence.'' Among criminals, the ''fence'' originated in Thieves' cant, thieves' slang tracing from the notion of such transactions providing a "defence" against being caught. Thieves who patronise fences are willing to accept a low profit margin in order to reduce their risks by instantly "washing their hands" of illici ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
