Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, or The Parish Boy's Progress

Hisup Shin (Ewha Womans University)
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Oliver Twist

, subtitled “The Parish Boy's Progress”, represents a defining moment in Dickens' career since it marks the beginning of his serious commitment to fictional writing. It also displays the first noteworthy appearance of the unique mélange of different outlooks and stylistic approaches that is one of the most often remarked aspects of Dickens's literary works. Published in monthly numbers between 1837 and 1839 – its first complete three-volume edition appearing in 1838 – the novel set the tone of what was to follow in his prolific literary output, as it hinges on the clash between individual desire and harsh social realities, the hallmark of modern realist prose fiction. Noticeably free of the extemporaneous and incidental qualities of writing that had previously earned…

1540 words

Citation: Shin, Hisup. "Oliver Twist, or The Parish Boy's Progress". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 October 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3083, accessed 19 March 2024.]

3083 Oliver Twist, or The Parish Boy's Progress 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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