Assignment-9
Paper no :- 9
Name :- Foram y.Vyas
Roll NO:- 23
M.A.:-1 Sem :- 2
Ic - Charles dickens as an observer of the 19th century English society
è Dickens was a ruthless critic of the victorian society. A note of satire runs through almost all his novels. Pickwick papers was hilarious comedy : still it exposel the corruption rampant in the election system and the general low moral climate of the society. But with oliver twist dickens almost emerged as a crusader against the social evils of his times. in oliver twist, Nicholas nickleby, bleak house hard times and little dorrit he flaycd the social institutions with devastating force
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è Edmund Wilson assert among that dickens was of all the great Victorian writers probably the most antagonist to the Victorian age itself. He not only gave poetic shape to the better characteristic of English life he also attacked the abuses in the society especially the workhouse educational system, debtors prisons pawn-broucersshope slums delay in law offices all the London haunts of crime and pain.
è He was the advocate of the down trodden and the oppressed he aroused the wnscience of the public and he became the heart and conscience of England. But what is remarkable about dickens is that inspite of attacking the Victorian society so vehemently he did not attangvnise it. His immense popularity is a testimony to the fact that he did not make himself hated inspite of the great ferocity of his satire.
è A very important point to note in the case of dickens as a satirist is that he was not the first to lunch a systematic battle against the social evils. Nor was he the first to notice and draw attention to them. He was not a pioneer in fact he was often behind the times.
è Dickens’s social satire has been criticized by a number of eminet critics on the grounds of a deficiency of intellectual strain in his writings. He appears to be rather superficial. The social evils are symptomatic of some hidden malady some things basically wrong with the system diclans does not care to investigate this malady or attack this system
è One might say that he direct his anger at the human beings the constitute society rather than at society as an institutions
è When dickens is described as a great entertainer. It is also impier that his characters mercly entertain and have no other relevance that they are not true mantifestations of human nature some critics go as far as to suggest that these humor character of diclans are simply ‘artistic irresponsibilities’ . they fail to appreciate the greta truth lying under these diverse manifestations of the spirit of humour
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è In the late 18th century laws were passed to allow ‘out door relief ‘ to the able bodied so that the workhouse could house only the old or disabled. The original plan was to offer minimum wage for the laboures.
è In the early 19th century therefore the need was felt to effect reforms in the poor laws. It was felts that a more suitable alternative solution was needed for the practice of out door relief which had become both wasteful and corrupt. Besides the system of administering relief also needed to be over huled.
ü The inefficacy of the reforms:-
There is no doubt that the 1834 measures were excellent in intention. Nevertheless even they failed to prove effective. The poor people contined to suffer.
Therefore dickens has directed his criticism as much against the system as against the individuals. He is equally critical of the system that degraded human beings and evolving or running such a system.
It should be noted that dickens main concern was the individuals as an integral port of the system. A system without human beings would be lifeless and even meaningless. Human beings without a system would tend to be confused.
Dickens felt working under a system that was desigmed to serve the societ.
Therefore dickens makes a very selective criticism in oliver twist.
It is hard to say if any reforms were really carried out as a result of dickens’s attacked on these laws.in fact the protests made bywriters are never so quickly effective but one things is certain: this novel as well as the others to follow definitely prepared a cliam in which a genuine need was felt to have a second look at the entire administrative set up and to change it.
Social criticism in “oliver twist”
ü Fierce protect against the tempory world
In pickwick papers dickens triumps over the world in which he was born.oliver twist in his fierce and indignant protest against it. Dickens ahowedimself a master of luminous humor in the first book.
ü the workhouse world:à
The workhouse world is full of a bitter and pitiful comedy. Hear dickens’s irony serves him as aahrp edged sword with which he attack.
The demons of cruelty and callousness. In the baby farm uncle the care of mpsmann twenty or thirty other juvenile offender against the poor laws polled above the floor all day without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing under the paren superintendence of an elderly female who received the culprits at and for the consideration of seven pence half penny per small head per week.
Here children suffer unimaginable crnelties a child dies as he is overlooked in tunrruing up a bedstead; another is ‘scalded to death when there happened to be a washing.’ The philosophers managing the workhouse were very deep philosophical men and when they came to turn their attention to the workhouse they ordinary folks we never have discovered the poor like when mpssowerberry offers oliver the cold bits of meat which were left for the dog trip and when his eyes glistem at the mention of meaf the angry dickens ourst out bitterly:
Whose blood is ice whose hear is iron; could have seen oliver twist clutching at the dainty view that the dog had neglected. I wish he could have witnessed the horrible avidity wiyh which oliver tore the ferocity of fanina. There is only one thing I would be to see the philosopher making the same sort of meal himself with the same relish.
ü The art of depicting the externals:à
A great many of dickens’s characters come alive before our eyes because of the faithful depiction of their physical appearance. Dickens had a very minute observation and he uncrringly caught the apparently trivial and meaningless gresturs which gave a character his individuality.
He was a snub-nosed,flat-browed, common faced boy enough and as dirty a juvenils as one would wish to see but he had about him all the airs and manners of a man.
A similar description brings alivemr.grimwing “mr.grimwing had a manner of screwing his head on one side when he spoke and of looking out of the corner of his eyes at the same time which irresistibly reminded the beholder of a parrot”
ü Tagging the characters:à
Another method dickens uses to give individual duality to his character is to give them tags sometimes these tags are physical: uriahheep has virtually no eye brows and no eyes lashes; peggoty’s blouse is always getting unbuttoned at the back; the ariful, dodger is always wearing a man’s coat which reachers nearly to his heals.
At last to conclude
Dickens is one of the immortals of English fiction. In his own days he enjoyed unprecedented and enviable popularity George scott writing in the contempory review 1869 remarked.
“whether our great-grand children do or do not read father certinaly did.mp scott did not know that dickens would be even more popular among his great –grand children.whatever may be the opinion of critics like f.r. leaveisthe generl reading public simply adores him”
Dickens seems to me one of the superems tests of literary taste. If readers have a theory of literature which will not accommodate him so much the worse for their theory ; if they have an outlook on life which is offended by him so much the worse for themselves.
