Abstract:Charles Dickens is one of the most famous critical realists in England. Oliver Twist is considered as one of his great masterpieces, criticizing various rotten phenomena in the British society of the 19th century. It can also be considered as “romantic realism”, showing Dickens’ optimism in his early period of writing. Since its publication, it has aroused wide interest in the field of literary criticism. Many learners have tried to analyze it from different angles. 

Fairy tale is an independent literary genre, usually focusing on celebrating the spirits of good begetting good and evil leading to evil by describing a fantasy world. It’s not hard to see there are a plenty of fairy-tale features handled skillfully in Oliver Twist. This thesis attempts to make a detailed analysis of its fairytale features.

The thesis is made up of five chapters. Chapter one consists of a general introduction to Charles Dickens and Oliver Twist. Chapter two introduces the evolvement, functions and features of fairy tale briefly. Chapter three is the backbone of this thesis, devoted to analyze the fairy-tale features in this novel specifically, dealing with two main aspects: polarized characterization and fairy-tale narrative mode. Chapter four depicts the reasons for the application of fairy-tale pattern in Dickens’ novels. Chapter Five summarizes the main points of the whole thesis.

Keywords: Charles Dickens  Oliver Twist  fairy tale  fairy-tale features  characterization

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Chapter One Introduction-1

1.1 Charles Dickens, a Great Critical Realistic Writer-1

1.2 Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens’ Classical Work-2

Chapter Two Fairy Tale and Its features-4

2.1 Evolvement and Functions of Fairy Tale-4

2.2 Features of Fairy Tale-4

Chapter Three The Fairy-tale Features Embodied in Oliver Twist-6

3.1 Characterization-6

3.1.1 Embodiment of Trueness, Kindness and Beauty-6

3.1.2 Incarnation of Falsehood, Wickedness and Ugliness-7

3.1.3 Helpers, Benefactors and Guardians-8

3.2 Fairy-tale Narrative Mode-9

3.2.1 Structure-9

3.2.2 Coincidence-10

3.2.3 Happy Ending-10

Chapter Four Reasons for the Adoption of Fairy-tale Pattern in Dickens’ Novels-12

4.1 Painful Childhood Experiences-12

4.2 Impact of European Children’s Literature-13

4.3 Influence of the Victorian Age-13

Chapter Five Conclusion-15

References-16