SOCIAL CRITICISM OF EARLY VICTORIAN LONDON THROUGH CHARLES DICKENS’S OLIVER TWIST
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52657/js.v12i1.3189Keywords:
Charles Dickens, Victorian Era, Social CriticismAbstract
This study examines social criticism in Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist, which reflects the social conditions of London in the early Victorian era. Employing a descriptive qualitative method, the study uses the novel as the primary source and relevant scholarly works as secondary sources. The findings show that Dickens foregrounds three major issues which are poverty, child exploitation, and social class inequality. The novel further critiques the workhouse institution, class-biased legal structures, and the moral insensitivity of Victorian society toward the suffering of the poor. The study concludes that Oliver Twist serves as a medium of social critique against structural injustice.
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