This is an A* level detailed Essay Plan which addresses the question 'How does Dickens present the character Nancy and what is her role in the novel Oliver Twist.' This essay plan was written particularly in line with CIE mark scheme but it will be applicable to other mark schemes too. It addresses...
Detailed Essay Plan: How does Dickens present the character Nancy and what is her role in
the novel Oliver Twist.
Intro
Firstly, Dickens presents Nancy as Oliver's maternal-like protector, she ultimately sacrifices
her life for him, saving him from the life of suffering that she endured. Secondly, Dickens also
uses Nancy as a didactic figure in order to expose the dangers and injustice of life for those
in poverty in Victorian England. Thirdly, Nancy is a victim of childhood abuse and
exploitation and leads a life of continuous suffering, however, as a result Nancy is seen as a
symbol of stoicism, her resilience and moral certainty when saving Oliver makes her a martyr
like figure which ultimately renders her one of the most admirable characters in the novel.
Fourthly, Nancy is the tragic victim of the novel, in Dickens' novel which has widely been
criticised for the fact that it often seems contrived, the brutal death of Nancy serves to
reenforce the hideous violence that underpinned Victorian society.
1. Oliver's maternal protector
Nancy's role in the novel most significantly is Oliver's maternal protector, who ultimately, is a
martyr and sacrifices her life in order to protect Oliver's. She is crucial in Oliver's
'happy ending and without her sacrifice he would not have been saved.
•When we are first introduced to Nancy's character, we are aware that she significantly
contrasts with the rest of the criminal underclass Oliver encounters.
Nancy seems to show a natural maternal instinct to Oliver when "She caught the hand which
Oliver instinctively placed in hers" this seems maternal, suggesting she wants to protect him.
• She then continues to reassure Oliver as Fagin and Bill torment him, she cries,
"Hush" she wants to reassure Oliver and comfort him and through her soothing actions she
seems to empathise with Oliver who symbolically Nancy can identify with, as she too has
been tormented by Bill and Fagin.
The reader is made aware of the sacrifices Nancy has made to protect Oliver in the past: 'I
have borne all this for you already …..She... pointed to some livid bruises upon her neck and
arms" (166) This would be shocking to a middle class reader who would find this theme of
domestic abuse incredible uncomfortable. Dickens wants to expose Nancy's selflessness and
arguably martyrdom and she tries to protect Oliver, evoking sympathy from the reader.
•Nany is immersed in the vices condemned by her society, but she also commits perhaps the
most noble act in the novel when she sacrifices her own life in order to protect Oliver.
Nancy's moral complexity is unique among the major characters in Oliver Twist. Dickens
furthers the debate that the time, where does morality come from? Dickens challenges
stereotype that the poor are immoral as Nancy is anything but, she is Oliver's protector and
ultimately the reason he is able to secure a future with the Maylie's and Mr Brownlow.
2. Expose the injustice and danger of poverty
Nancy is also used by Dickens to present the absolute dangers and injustice of a life in
poverty. Nany is subject to childhood exploitation and ruthless domestic violence which
Dickens presents in order to further his argument of the appalling conditions in which the
poor would live, exposing the real life effects of the ugly capitalist world built on exploitation
and no regard for the poor.
• Nancy is presented as a sympathetic figure who acts as a foil to the evil Fagin:Knowing the
dangers that lie ahead for the child, she can't look Oliver in the eye:
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