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" Oliver Twist": a Teacher's Guide

" Oliver Twist": a Teacher's Guide

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AUTHOR Cashion, Carol; Fischer, Diana TITLE "": A Teacher's Guide. INSTITUTION WGBH-TV, Boston, MA. PUB DATE 2000-00-00 NOTE 26p.; ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre presents "Oliver Twist." AVAILABLE FROM Educational Print and Outreach, WGBH, 125 Western Ave., Boston, MA 02134. Tel: 617-492-2777, ext. 3848; Web site: http://www.wgbh.org. PUB TYPE Guides Classroom - Teacher (052) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Class Activities; *Classics (Literature); *; Learning Activities; *Literary Criticism; *; Public Television; Secondary Education; Teaching Guides; *Television Viewing; Thematic Approach; Units of Study IDENTIFIERS Dickens (Charles); *Oliver Twist; *Response to Literature; Theme (Literary); Victorian Period

ABSTRACT This teacher's guide for public television's 3-part adaptation of 's "Oliver Twist" provides informationthat will help enrich students' viewing of the series, whetheror not they read the . The guide includes a wide range of discussion and activityideas; there is also a series Web site and a list of Webresources. Informational material in the guide includes a section about looking at film;a section called "From Novel to Film"; biographical materialon Charles Dickens; and a section about Victorian England. The guide presents viewingstrategies for each of the three episodes and gives suggestions for keeping viewing journals. It also organizes the discussion questions and activities(both pre-viewing and post-viewing) by episodes and featuresa thematic focus for each episode: Love and Marriage in Victorian England (Episode I);Poverty, Identity, and Destiny (Episode II); and Cowardice, Courage, andRedemption (Episode III).(NKA)

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND This document has been reproduced as DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS received from the person or organization BEEN GRANTED BY originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. S. 1 olf.niffe, C",1 Aer Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent BEST COPY AVAILABLE TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES official OERI position or policy. C/) INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 Exxon Mobil Corporation Kenneth R Cohen 5959 Las Colinas Boulevard Vice President Irving, Texas 75039-2298 Public Affairs

Dear Educator,

We are pleased to provide you with this teacher's guide for Oliver Twist, an adaptation of Charles Dickens's classic tale, premiering on EXXONMOBIL MASTERPIECE THEATRE, Sundays, October 8-22, on PBS.

Our Web site at www.pbs.org/masterpiece provides additional information on this program for you and your students. I hope you'll find these educational materials and EXXONMOBIL MASTERPIECE THEATRE programming helpful in motivating your students to learn more about classic literature, its authors, and characters.

We consider these classroom materials an integral part of our commitment to broaden the appeal of the classics to students, and we commend your role in enhancing student interest. If you have any suggestions on how we can improve our EXXONMOBIL MASTERPIECE THEATRE educational outreach efforts, or would like to share how these materials were beneficial in your classroom, please write to me at EXXONMOBIL MASTERPIECE THEATRE; 5959 Las Colinas Boulevard; Irving, Texas 75039.

Kenneth P. Cohen Vice President, Public Affairs '`/ t I L rl _Irnvi a +!--__adimer on tsriwski7,77trxr, Loit( cfi-01 fet\; - e CD\.1-1*0 ,. 44. 4 igt.e 041.'!" \ I. r I Ow '114 , zap- a `m

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v. Welcome to EXXONMOBIL MASTERPIECE THEATRE'S adaptation of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist. This teacher's guide provides information that will help enrich your students' viewing of the series, whether or not they read the novel, including a wide range of discussion and activity ideas. In addition to using the teacher's guide, we hope you will visit and bookmark the series Web site www.pbs.org/masterpiece/olivertwistwhere you will find extensive resources to support the series.

Broadcast Schedule The three two-hour episodes of Oliver Twist will air on most PBS stations from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM EST. Check local listings for broadcast and repeat Off -Air Taping Rights dates and times in your area. Educators may tape Oliver Twist and use it in the classroom EPISODE I for one year after broadcast. Sunday,* October 8

Purchasing Videocassettes EPISODE II To purchase videos of Oliver Twist ($39.95, wci 000) Sunday, October 15 Or EXXONMOBIL MASTERPIECE THEATRE adaptations EPISODE III of or , or to request a free Sunday,* October 22 catalogcontact WGBH Boston Video at (800) 949-867o. (No public performance rights available.) Note: Oliver Twist will air on Mondays in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Orlando, San Diego, Salt Lake City, and Pittsburgh.

$29.95 WG890

Help Us Help You! Ordering Additional Guides You may receive a survey form from our If you would like to order additional independent evaluator, Goodman Research teachers' guides, contact: Group, asking what works (and doesn't) about Oliver Twist Guide this guide and accompanying Web site Please WGBH Educational Print and Outreach take the time to fill out and return this survey 125 Western Avenue Your views are very important to us You can also fill Boston, MA 02134 out a survey during the month of November on the e-mail: [email protected] Web site (and we will enter you in a drawing to receive free Oliver Twist videocassettes). In addition, Exxon Mobil Corporation generously supports these guides and is always happy to know what you think. Please feel free to communicate with them as well.

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Explore this database Find up-to-date covering thirty years Look for teachers' guides Click here for information program listings of EIXONMOBIL and a literary timeline about the new collection for the current season. MASTERPIECE THEATRE. covering the whole series. of programs by American authors.

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Challenge your .". The young orphan Oliver Twist Tees a cruel wirldtouse for the dirty streets of when he falls In a life and world around with a nefarious gang. Ae the shrewd/strut Dobger, the menacing FegIn and the vicious Bill Shires lead students to test their : Oliver deeper into a criminal life, a dark conspiracy is revealed around him. Readers have been fascinated the time of his most and shocked by Dickens' tale of life on the mean streets of London ever since the story was first published knowledge of Dickens in 1517. popular works. andOliver Twist . V al' I la j _ M.

Invite your students to Find strategies for using the different publish their thoughts Web features, an electronic version of this here about the film, the guide with relevant Web links and novel, or the author. resources, and an article by ahighschool English teacher describing his experience teachingGreat Expectationsas it was publishedone episode a week.

kW% Mfim ikitanal EXXONMOBIL MASTERPIECE THEATRE'S AMERICAN COLLECTION debuts October25 with the premiere of Cora Unashamed, based on the short story by Langston Hughes. This new series, the centerpiece of EXXONMOBIL MASTERPIECE THEATRE'S 3oth anniversary celebration, will present seminal works by American literary masters, including Hughes, Willa Cather, Esmeralda Santiago, James Agee, and Eudora Welty. Visit www. pbs. org/ masterpiece /americancollection.

_7/7:7419- f f 41 X-./,,. ,.. -4"-- -e c''' Ol Alir ''''' :I' A ; ,v olk, Mmintike 1141.r Oliver Twist is made up of three two-hour programs. We have suggested how you might break up the programs to be viewed over several days.

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Met Synopsis Not Synopsis Young Agnes Fleming becomes pregnant by the Oliver is taken to live in the workhouse, where he is charming but feckless Edwin Leeford, and cannot branded as a troublemaker when he dares to ask for understand why he won't marry her. The truth is he more gruel. He is sold as an apprentice to an under- is stuck in a loveless, forced marriage to the soulless taker and is nearly found by Edward, who has and greedy Elizabeth Leeford, who lives abroad with learned Oliver's identity. Oliver runs away, and he is their epileptic son, Edward. Leeford sees a future spotted by the , who takes him to with Agnes when he learns he is to inherit a fortune 's den. He meets and the terrifying Bill from a rich uncle in Rome. Elizabeth follows Leeford Sikes. Edward, now calling himself , has hired to Italy and reads his new will. It leaves his money Fagin to set Oliver up as a criminal and disgrace him to Agnes and her unborn child, who will inherit his in the eyes of Brownlow, Leeford's best friend and father's fortune if he reaches adulthood without the administrator of his fortune. The plan backfires committing a crime or disgracing his family. Elizabeth when Oliver's innocence is proven to Brownlow and poisons Edwin. Mother and son go in search of the warm-hearted man takes him into his home, Agnes, knowing they must kill her to inherit the unaware that Oliver is his dear friend's lost son. money. Edward's attempt to murder Agnes fails, and Fagin and Sikes force Nancy to grab Oliver outside V she, having learned Leeford is dead, flees her dis- Brownlow's home. Fagin tries again to defame Oliver PAIL. it graced family and travels on foot to a small seaside by sending him to burglarize Brownlow's country , town. There, in the workhouse, she gives birth and home. and Toby Crackitt force a terrified dies, telling no one her name. The child is christened Oliver to climb through a window, and he is shot by Oliver Twist by the parish and sent to be the footman. raised at a baby farm. Suested timing pads Su. Aged Mooring Segments Day 1 Day 1 41 minutes 43 minutes Start: Episode opening Start: Episode opening End: Mrs. Mann leaving Sally's deathbed. End: Brown low looks at Agnes's portrait "Stone dead. Nothing to tell after all." and sighs,"Edwin!" Day 2 Day 2 4o minutes 40 minutes Start: Fagin showing Monks the sleeping Oliver Start: Edward and Elizabeth Leeford in Paris End: Brownlow's argument with Mrs. Bedwin End: Agnes standing at the cliff Day 3 26 minutes Day 3 Start: The wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Mann 3o minutes End: Conclusion of episode Start: Brown low playing the piano End: Conclusion of episode iientronOroban 'Check local listings. Oliver Twist will air 210g1unt. on Mondays in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Orlando, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Tart favorof your Vote and Pittsburg. and Interest is mostearnestly solicitedon behalf of PRANCESROBERTS, www.pbs.org/masterpiece/olivertwist IN HER NINTHYEAR, Totallydestitute. Nancy and Bill Sites

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Clet Synopsis Sikes drags Oliver from Brown low's country house and leaves him for dead in a ditch. Oliver makes it back to the door, where he collapses and is recognized by Mrs. Bedwin, Brown low's housekeeper, who takes him in Meanwhile, Monks has managed to obtain the locket Agnes wore when she died in the work- house, the key to proving Oliver's identity. Fagin and Monks track Oliver to the country house, where they WhTt7ho you are seen and recognized by Oliver and Rose Fie-thing; Agnes's sister, who has been raised by Brown low. To help your students keep track of the plot during Nancy overhears Fagin and Monks plotting against the six-hour film and to focus their viewing, you may Oliver, and visits Brown low in London to alert him want to have them keep a viewing journal Possible to Oliver's danger. Brown low suspects Oliver's true formats include identity when Nancy describes Monks. She protects Fagin and Sikes, but the Dodger tells them about her 1 After each viewing session, have students spend visit. Sikes murders Nancy. A mob pursues Sikes five minutes writing down observations or plot and Fagin. Sikes falls to his death and Fagin is summaries Before the next viewing, ask volunteers arrested. Monks is forced to reveal all he knows to read their entries about his half-brother, and Oliver learns his identity 2To help keep track of all the characters, divide and secures his inheritance. journal pages into four columns Sall,,ested Ulelefing Segments CharacterLocationRelationship Good or bad Day 1 to Oliver influence 41 minutes on Oliver Start: Episode opening Characters include Oliver, Edwin Leeford, Agnes End: Brown low's piano duet with Dr. Losborne Fleming, Elizabeth Leeford, Edward Leeford Day 2 (Monks), Brownlow, Fagin, Bill Sikes, Nancy. minutes 3Make a page for each character as they are intro- Start: Bill and Nancy argue duced. During or after each episode, have students End: Fagin's arrest note the important events that happen to each char- Day 3 acter, including conflicts, climaxes, and resolutions 3o minutes that affect them. They could also do this journal in Start: Tea at Brownlow's two columns: students can record specific events End: Conclusion of episode Fagin and Clonhs in the left-hand column and their observations and analysis of each event on the right. 4After viewing, students can use their journals to create a Chain of Events graphic organizer.

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They may need to include one or more parallel plot strands that ultimately come together at the end. Other Web-based resources that may be helpful to students are the map of Oliver's London and the "Who's Who," found at the series Web site.

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KMWILLI Post-Uiciug Discussion lOomd@ 1 Ask students to describe the opening scenes of Oliver Twist: setting, mood, music, action, colors, dialogue. How does your impression of Agnes change when the scene moves from her death at the cousTluir 4312, workhouse to the meadow scene with Edwin? How G.j. Baynes does your understanding of and feelings about the cliff scene change the second time you see it?

2When she is carried into the workhouse in labor, Agnes is asked her name "I've lost my name," she Thematic Focus: answers. What does she mean? What do names Love and marriage in Victorian England symbolize, or stand for, in this story? Where does Bohn Mowing Oliver get his name? This film adaptation of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist 3On the board, brainstorm a list of words to begins with a love story: the tale of Oliver's parents, describe Edwin Leeford. Circle the positive words, Agnes Fleming and Edwin Leeford. The events in the underline the negative ones. Is he presented as a film are set in motion by the obstacles these two victim, a villain, or both? Explain. How is he viewed "star-crossed lovers" face. Use the questions below by each of the following: Agnes, Captain Fleming, to prepare students to identify and compare Victorian Mr. Brownlow, Elizabeth Leeford? Whose view of customs and attitudes toward marriage with those Edwin Leeford is closest to your own? of their own culture and time. 4How does the story of Agnes and Edwin offer a 1 In American culture, why do people marry? How critique of Victorian marriage and morals? What do do most individuals select their marriage partners? you think Dickens believed the basis of marriage should be? How would the story of Agnes and Edwin 2How does our society view an "out-of-wedlock" be different today? How might it be the same? birth? Adultery? How common is divorce in our culture? In what ways have our society's attitudes POstUieving Mil/Ries changed? [Ask students to interview parents and 1 Thinking back to the opening scene of Agnes on older adults to answer this question.] the cliff, write an interior monologue for her. What's going through her mind? What has led her to Agnes Fleming contemplate suicide and why does she refrain from doing so?

2In Paris, Edward Leeford is eager to hear any message for him from his estranged father, Edwin. What does Edwin Leeford think of his son? Do you think he is a "bad seed," as his father fears, or a product of bad circumstances? What is his relation- ship with his mother? What effect does she have on him and on Edwin? Write a letter from Edward to his father in which he explains how he has become the man he is.

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Thematic Focus: Mrs, Mann Poverty, identity, and destiny Fagin's den that he has never known before? Why Boron Uiruing do you think the screenwriter decided to make The last section of Episode I provided a glimpse of a Fagin a magician? What do you think Dickens Victorian workhouse and the "baby farms" that wanted his middle-class readers to understand housed orphaned infants in Victorian England. about the world of London criminals and Copy and distribute "Down and Out in Victorian prostitutes? What does Dickens believe is the England" on pages i8 and 19. Then have students relationship between poverty and criminality? read the biography of Dickens on pages i6 and 17. What do you think the relationship is today?

1 What was the philosophy behind workhouse relief 4Why is Edward Leeford (Monks) looking for the poor? Why were families separated within for Oliver? What does he want Fagin to do? the workhouse? Why were they fed meager rations? Has Edward changed since Episode 19 How? 2 What was the attitude of most middle-class 5Dickens could have chosen to make Oliver the Victorians toward people in their society who lived poor, orphaned son of a man and woman who were VAr in poverty? What is our attitude today? Do we view also poor, yet he did not Why do you think he gave the poor in our own nation in the same way as we Oliver an upper-class background? Does it weaken view the poor in less developed countries? Why or or strengthen Dickens's social message about the why not? nature of poverty and the poor? 3What experience of poverty and working-class life did Dickens have? Look for how you think his expe- Post-Twig Wadies riences influenced his portrayal of poverty and 1 Write or enact a debate between a proponent of criminality as you watch. the New Poor Law and a Victorian-era reformer who opposed the law. Both voices should use the life of [Ad-Moving Discussion Oliver Twist as evidence for their arguments To 1 List the characters you met in Episode II who do prepare, make sure students read "Down and Out in A not live in poverty. What does each character see Victorian England" and do additional library and when looking at Oliver? How does their judgment Web research (for suggested Web sites, see page 9) and treatment of Oliver reflect who they are, what 2Look for present-day articles about poverty, they believe, and what their values are? both in this country and others, in newspapers and 2Recall or replay two scenes from the episode: periodicals. What attitudes, morals, and laws do i) Oliver asks for "more" and is brought before the these articles reflect? How would the article be dif- * IfSIVI Board (about 3 minutes from the beginning), and ferent or the same if it had been written during the O,Tack Cleaner Al rin the and PrreE. 2) Oliver and Sowerberry visit the home of a poor period of the New Poor Law? ood, thatinhabit,n tic LIOW isof Ito woman who has died of starvation (about i2 minutes }. behindIttes.resides 3Have students research poverty statistics for your he hopes Lovett's,in C by 'susing Bre in). How do these scenes demonstrate the hypocrisy community and compare these with national figures. raetionto his his best of those who devised and enforced the New Poor il. What does "poverty" mean in your community? borns Law? How and why was poverty treated like a crime? PROVIDED Does holding a full-time job necessarily mean that a FoR UPPEI 'attend thefollowing vnton, Seaton, plates 3As portrayed in Oliver Twist, is the criminal person is above the poverty line? What social supports Wolilston,the firm are available locally for people falling below or just ilarDePoet Billing underworld better or worse than the workhouse? December What does Oliver find in his first days living in above the poeity line? 1 it

Post-Neving Discussion 1 Why did Mr. Brownlow and Mrs. Bedwin argue at the end of Episode II? Why does Brownlow come to his country house, and who does he find there? What does Brownlow learn about himself by helping -.7..1111111W Oliver?

Thematic Focus: 2 Is Nancy a heroic figure? Why does she return to Cowardice, courage, and redemption Bill? Have Dickens and the screenwriter made her motives understandable to you? Before %dog 3 What did you learn about Edward Leeford in the Episode III turns on the actions of Nancy and Mr. scene in which he apologizes to Oliver? How is his Brownlow, two characters from entirely different life changed by his encounter with Oliver and worlds who struggle to do what is right. Before its Brownlow? happy conclusion, Oliver Twist takes viewers through dark moments and difficult choices. 4 As they pass the gallows, Oliver asks Brownlow why Fagin is condemned for his crimes, yet Edward 1 In this episode, Brownlow observes: "You can be remains free. What answer does Brownlow give? for the good, or you can be for the bad. Or you can What explanation would you have given Oliver? be miserably in between." Invite students to recall a time when they were faced with a difficult moral 5What is revealed by the text of Edwin Leeford's choice. Have students write about their thinking letter to Agnes? Why do you think screenwriter Alan process and their decision in the context of Bleasdale made Leeford's words the last lines spoken Brownlow's observation. in the film? 2 The final episode is subtitled: "In which all is 6 Introduce the concept of poetic justice, "in which revealed...." As a class, make a list of the major plot virtue is rewarded and vice punished, often in an lines that have been developed in the first two especially appropriate or ironic manner" (from The episodes (focusing on Oliver, Brownlow, Monks, American Heritage Dictionary). Was poetic justice Fagin, Nancy, and Sikes). (Students could use this as served in each main character's case? an opportunity to begin their Chain of Events graphic organizers mentioned on page 5.) Make a prediction Post-dining Actithties about how each thread in the plot will be resolved by 1 Each of the following characters faces a moral the end of the film. challenge or difficult choice in this episode. Select one character, define his or her dilemma, and describe how the character resolved it. Write or improvise a monologue in the voice of the character J. as he or she weighs the choice and its consequences. 38, LAST Nancy HAIrMARK Edward Leeford (Monks) Fagin Rose Fleming Bill Sikes T inanufairturtr he SolidLeather 0 EuamelLeather Portmanteaus, Bags, Officers'& Water-proof I PortableTrunks, Coat 2Since the publication of Oliver Twist, many readers WritingIron &Brass Be Desks,Dressing have had difficulty understanding Nancy's fidelity &e. &e. C Ste. to the brutal Bill Sikes. Did you find it natural or 11- Trienh4' b.pe,./. rated to Oarreoges unnatural2 Probable or improbable? Read A Dickens's "Preface to Oliver Twist," written for the 1841 edition of the novel, on the Web site. How does he defend the character he created? Paraphrase his argument and respond to it. 11

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The Web site for Oliver Twist provides extensive resources for both you and your students. The fol- 41110i1 lowing are suggestions for some additional sites that you may want to visit, either to support your teaching of Oliver Twist and other Dickens or Victorian novels, or as support for student research assignments. Toby Crachitt left. Synopsis of Oliver Twist Oliver and fellow www.sprog.auc.dkrriber/olisum.htm orphans, right. If your students are not reading Oliver Twist, you may want to share with them this plot summary to help them better understand the changes made by the OFF M.1Ptali screenwriter. The Victorian Web op r http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/ otiRESIDUESand Adadnidiso Charles Dickens by Executors to be delivered Vete. either victov.html of Personal of e www.helsinki.fi/kasv/nokol/dickens.html the Residue, end benefit Votes forthe me f The Victorian Web offers varied information on the i, or se Sonia rising Residue of the hi This vast array of Dickens-related materialhis life, or Part of imposed by Victorian era, including political and social history, the Duties of Mon family, work, homes, and morewas compiled by a i of having rtate, and of Personal Mother, authors, technology, philosophy, religion, science, d itedaoes father ot Finnish scholar. or the chord sr their Descendants, dernmaed, visual arts, design, and more. Blood. toil,e irangen in In. c. 28. Charles Dickens's Cad's sill Place and as OW. www.perryweb.com/Dickens/index.html Victorian Serial Publishing Y.-1 No. www.eiu.edurmultilit/English5005-01/bethhelde- VEIL ra 4 We This eclectic Web site provides information about .1 brandtserialr.html inIntot thePos000l/ ,..&tote, /4,F.,,,,A Dickens's home, Gad's Hill, as well as daily quotes, / el.,,,,d ,M,/, .. This student paper gives detailed information about v biographical information, crossword puzzles and 4 'l ,,/,',/, Mamma Sisk ,, lr; serial publishing, the reasons behind it, and the .1 or . ('.., J' 'e i fi character matches, online texts, and more. e effects on plot and the publishing industry. ir,,,,;,,,/,,, ,,, David Perdue's Charles Dickens Page Ole AVIO; The Poor Laws of England Villiii.0.0 www.fidnet.comrdap1955/dickens/index.html , 11.1.1.,,1 Compiled by a Dickens enthusiast, this site includes www.hazlitt.org/e-texts/poverty/ch7.html information about his work, illustrations, maps, a Excerpted from Henry Hazlitt's 1973 book, Conquest .1.:f...i::....i,.:..,'....r,.;...... '...... *..,...i.a..c...e...'..i....:ads-4:-.,....d....'..'...... timeline, Dickens in America, Web links, and an of Poverty, this chapter provides information about ,7--,,.i,.,...... ,...... the Poor Laws, including extensive excerpts from the Arndt., 1. alphabetical list of characters from Dickens's works. d the folle.ing ...... ,h. SALK 183z Commission Report...... f. l'i...... 1 . c.,,ri. ,,,,t rUff.1.10 ...... 1.).31'.. Imaging Victorian England /...... re,".'ar.14-".ivtosh' ...... www.stanford.edu/dept/english/victorian/ The Victorian Poorhouse ,,,,...0 r,,,,,,. dickens/marsh/main.htm humwww.ucsc.edu/dickens/OMF/spencer.html This article describes the realities and conditions in This Web site provides detailed descriptions of Wile...... Dickens's London, with details about how it relates Victorian poorhouses. .1 ...... 11, ...... to his life and work. Among the images is a bottle Graphic Organizers stJA ...... of Warren Blacking Polish. www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/actbank/torganiz.htm The Peel Web www.graphic.org/brainst.html http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/mbloy/ These sites provide examples of a number of graphic peel/peelhome.htm organizers for classroom use. Named for Sir Robert Peel, a key Dickens-era Web-Based Teachers' Guides reform legislator, the Peel Web provides important www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cy912.html ter Our historical context, including infitfulation about These "cyberguides from SCORE (Schools of INavowal 1>irtetion. political organizations, popular movements such as California Online Resources for Educators) offer Chartism and trade unions, and economic affairs teachers' guides for a range of ages and literary works such as the Anti-Corn Law League and the Poor Law. based on California's language arts content standards. Includes many primaiy source documents. Guides for other subjects are available at the home page: w-ww.score.ki.ca.us. 12 The Miter's Purpose an index card. Use the cards for a character 1 In his preface to Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens lays identification game: players get a bonus point for out for his readers the organizing theme of his novel convincing a judge that Bleasdale's words about "I wished to show, in little Oliver, the principle of Fagin apply to the character on the card. Good surviving through every adverse circumstance, Seriazathyro and triumphing at last." Take Dickens's statement of purpose as your topic sentence and extend his 1 Imagine you are Dickens, writing furiously month explanation, writing or speaking in his voice: How to month to meet a printing deadline for the next did the story of Oliver Twist demonstrate your faith in installment of your serialized novel. How difficult is the ultimate triumph of goodness? it to keep control of a complex plot? Try it yourself over a five-day period. On day one, create a catchy 2 What are the other messages and themes of Oliver title and write a plot summary of your first chapter, Twist? What did Dickens want his readers to learn introducing at least six characters. Submit another and understand? As a class, briefly review how the plot summary each day for the rest of the week. 11 novel touches on each topic below and brainstorm Trade your five-part serial story with a classmate and Tuesday Even more themes for the list. Then, have students choose act as editors for one another's work. Are there T oconsider one of these themes and, in the voice of the author, inconsistencies in the story? Are there loose threads eargnin the rAndllestheWIk explain how the story explores it, beginning, as that need tying up? Characters left hanging? If you Inthelastwholosi Dickens did, with the phrase "I wished to show..." had a chance to revise, would you begin the story in e PifoltsQa/e. the New Poor Law the same way? What special skills does a writer need Ofte,es ape money and materialism to be able to compose a serialized novel under the Queatear charity and love pressure of a monthly deadline? Find out more toorites, woman as nurturer about serialization at "Stay Tuned for Our Next 211044,9 hypocrisy Episode" on the Web site. You may also wish to follow courage and cowardice Stephen King's progress as he writes his next serial- mew 1Pyift mss. "the best and worst shades of our common ized novel and distributes it via the Web asme Oahe nature" (www.stephenking.com). poetic justice The Manatler's Art Eighatog Character 1 Select and replay a scene from the film that is at 1 Write a one-paragraph description of three of the least two minutes in length. Assign students a single major characters in the film: Agnes Fleming, Edwin film technique or directorial choice to observe. Leeford, and Elizabeth Leeford. In Dickens's novel, scenery (interior set or exterior setting) these three do not appear until Chapter 51, where costumes and makeup their history is briefly given by Monks (Edward lighting Leeford) and Mr. Brownlow in less than four pages. editing (cuts) "I couldn't have written any of them," says screen- camera angles writer Alan Bleasdale, "without having the scent of Share student notes on techniques. Then view them off the page from Dickens." Read Dickens's another scene and evaluate how the scene's effects text found at the Web site, then reread your character (emotion or tone, dramatic moments, humor, sus- descriptions. How much material did Bleasdale have pense, plot advancement) are created by the series to work with? In the text, where do you detect "the of specific choices the filmmakers made. scent" of the characters? 2 In his serialized novel, Charles Dickens juggled 2 Screenwriter Alan Bleasdale said of Fagin, "He two or three locations and plot lines simultaneously. does things which we know are morally wrong, but From month to month he would move freely because he does them with real charm, we don't between them as the plot advanced. The film version judge him in the same way." How did you respond to borrows this idea, but moves between scenes at even Fagin? Recall a scene that demonstrates Fagin's shorter intervals. View one of the segments suggested "charm." Literature is rich with characters who are (each about ten minutes long), and ask students to morally flawed, yet appealing. With a partner, name count how many scenes the filmmakers juggle, and four or five characters from other books or films how many cuts between scenes are in the segment. who fit this profile. Without disclosing the character's Then discuss: what is the effect of editing the film in name, write a brief description of each character on this way? 13 www.pbs.orgimasterpieceolivertwist 5 Greene? Use characters from Great Expectations and Oliver Twist to support your position.

2In Oliver Twist, Dickens satirizes the notion that the poor are immoral and criminal by nature. "I have great faith in the Poor," he wrote. What is the message of Great Expectations about poverty,wealth, and good moral character? Which novel makes Dickens's case for the poor more convincingly? Why? Oliver 3What similarities in plot did you notice between Great Expectations and Oliver Twist? The earlier novel Episode I plot and its Start: Leeford leaves Agnes for Italy was criticized for the unevenness of its (around 3o minutes in) reliance on coincidence. Does the construction of End: Brown low looks at Agnes's portrait the plot show that Great Expectations is the work of a more mature, seasoned writer? (You may want to Episode III read the essay on adapting Oliver Twist on pages 14-15.) Start: Brown low and Mrs. Bedwin (about 19 minutes in) Historicil Ceded End: Brown low at the piano 1 What is the responsibility of the state to its poorest Cosi r aliftalt° citizens? What should the state require of those who , 3Have students experience the role of director by Wiftet. Weat.sllasUte creating a prompt book for a scene from the film. receive its aid? In Dickens's time, both these ques- tions were hotly debated. In our own time, the argu- Refer students to the Web feature "From Text to , Screen," and have them choose one of the scenes to ment continues. work with. After printing out the script, students Use Web or library resources to learn about the should describe the physical scene they are creating Welfare Reform Act passed by the U.S. Congress in ra and annotate the script by providing stage and line 1995. Then read "Down and Out in Victorian delivery directions, cutting lines as they see fit, and England" on pages 18 and 19 and do further Web and determining the overall message of the scene. library research about the New Poor Law. How does the Welfare Reform Act compare with the New Poor R.Gon eliver Fuld Law? Make a two-column chart and answer the fol- to freak' Ezpectationz lowing questions: Pairing this film with a reading of his masterpiece What did the bill's backers believe was wrong years later gives students an opportunity totrack with the old system of welfare or relief? the consistent themes in Dickens's work and evaluate What were the provisions of the new law? his development as a writer. Was the new law intended to discourage reliance on government relief, create opportunitiesfor 1 How are Oliver and young Pip alike? How do Fagin work, or both? and Sikes compare with Magwitch? The novelist and How did the bill address the needs of children critic Graham Greene argues that "only late in his in poverty? of career did Dickens learn to write realistically Why was the new system criticized? human beings." Do you agree or disagree with What did the bill assume about the causes of poverty? OF TWO Other historiccontemporary issues you could BIZEirlIge AT A 5 explore and contrast in a similar manner are views liSrigahnITAINIIIII on child labor (and the development ofchild labor /7(0)11511i1MILIALBio...... laws) and the development of criminal gangs. TOWNMALL, 1E02, du It 4th. Jane,celebrate the parsingof On the what way to of deciding in For the purpose 9 TIM 0111ZIL 411121111WOOD IN ReformMR. TEOWLAII celebrate the pass- feels anxious to of the this Meetingmay evince ahigh appmval ananiniousty,Tantsuch a manner as the feelings of BacolodReform Rill, in tinse not hurt a Dinner ing of the and at the sameMeeti 4g conceives Measure, be of apublic benefit, And that this an event, 14 celebrating"M beneficial darer in opinion. mode of liable to abuse. those who way will be the beet other measure appointed to given to thepreferable FOOT, to anIllumination, or Committee be and be far given, and that a That a Dinnerbe accordingly be at liberty toattend that any Inhabitant empowered to act. arrange alldetails. be open, and members be and that five for the use of That the Committee-.-- .^..mmittee, .- 4u. Matgatmtes 61),.i>4°' ,,41,,,,, )4:V,,,-. 0. VV.WillETIE, I'l 4000%51ZgallEV 1100103VVIDES,AND e'1, girxv©Na cni Mug M TFIR 8S011.43TILVVr. WILED PLN AME A BOOK you have read that could easily ACCOUNTBOsOIN;eNBp ATI be made into a film. Identify a book that would be very difficult to adapt into a ZOS1`Ar6443 Activities screenplay. What are the differences 1Look up the definition of "coincidence." Writea 4"j between these two books? What are the challenges short personal narrative about a coincidenceyou filmmakers face when they set out to bringa novel to the screen? experienced. Would this narrative work asan episode in a novel, play, or film? Why doyou think Screenwriter Alan Bleasdale, who dramatized the producer and the screenwriter of Oliver Twist Oliver Twist, was delighted to have the opportunity to agreed that a plot based on a series of coincidences adapt a Dickens novel. But he faced more than a few was "a big problem for a modern audience"? challenges. Copy and distribute "From Novel to Film on pages 14, and 15 to help students understand some NM 00: Breileping Charanters of the choices he made. Discussion Lift 0: Adapting the Piot 1What tools and techniques can a writeruse to develop characters in a novel? Discussion 1What were the problems Bleasdale identified with 2Read aloud or distribute a passage of narration the plot of Oliver Twist? from the novel listed below, which can be found in the Web-based version of the teacher's guide (or in 2Oliver Twist was published as a serial novel (see your own copy of Oliver Twist). What can a filmmaker the information about serialization on the Web site.) do to replace the information about character and c How does Bleasdale think this may have contributed to the plot? setting that is lost when a narrator is eliminated? (Answers could include using dialogue, the actors' abili- 3What is the novel's "back ties to communicate emotions and inner thoughts, story"? What did Bleasdale scenery, costumes, sound.) have to do in order to bring the Suggested passages: "back story" to the front of his Oliver and Sowerberry in pauper's home. screenplay? Chapter 5, beginning "They walked on, forsome 4In the novel, the reader time..." to paragraph ending "so like the rats he does not learn Oliver's iden- had seen outside." tity until late in the story. Fagin's den. Chapter 8, beginning "Oliver, Bleasdale lets the viewer in groping his way with one hand..." to paragraph on the secret in the first ending "...youths who offered them." episode. If there is no Introduction of Sikes, Chapter i3, beginning mystery for the viewer, "The man who growled out these words..." where does the dramatic Activities tension come from? 1Reverse the screenwriting process. Takea scene 5Often in films, from the film and rewrite it as narration and dialogue, screenwriters adapt the plots using a page from any Dickens novel as a model for and change the endings of previously published style. Start with a clip from the film or a portion of books. What do you think about script available at the Web site in the "From Text to that? What are the rights of the original author? Are there limits to how much something can or should be changed? How would you feel about this adaptation if you were Dickens? 15

Rose Fleming

www.pbs.org/masterpiece/olivertwist Screen" section How did you replace with prose what you saw and heard in the film?

2Go through a list of the major characters in Oliver Twist and assign a rating, 1-5, for how completely or convincingly each character is developed in the film. As a class, discuss your top-rated characters and explain the basis for your rating. Now reread Bleasdale's comments about character development in the film. Which major characters in the film were minor characters in the novel? Which characters did Alan Bleasdale wish to alter, and why? Are your top-rated film characters those who are Bumble and Satuerberry closest to the pages of the novel, or the modified or newly drawn-characters? If you have not seen a film version, would you like to? What advice would you offer a screen- Part writer and a director on how to preserve, on Activity screen, what is best about the book? What is the In the "From Text to Screen" feature on the Web site, biggest challenge the filmmakers will face? students can read excerpts from the text of Dickens's novel and link to the film script (and actual video) 2Did you ever see a movie that was made from a for the same scene. Study the pages side by side and book you hadn't read, and then go back and read the examine how Alan Bleasdale used and adapted novel? What was your reaction to the book? Did your Dickens's dialogue for his screenplay. feelings about the movie change after you'd read the Discuss Bleasdale's adaptation in the context of book? How much do you think the order in which these different elements: you experience somethingnovel first, then movie, or movie first, then novelaffects what you believe Length:Has Dickens's original dialogue been is the best "presentation" of the story? shortened or expanded? Speculate why Bleasdale made the changes he did. Activity Language:Specifically, how has the wording been 1Write the screenplay for the opening scene of a changed? What do you think Bleasdale's aim film based on your favorite book What will be the was? Does the new dialogue have the same tone? opening shot? Which character or characters will The same meaning? appear first? Write the opening dialogue or Genre:To adapt a novel for the screen, is some voiceover narration. Include notes on casting sug- change in dialogue always necessary? Why? Is gestions, costumes, music there speech that works in a novel that doesn't translate to the screen, and vice versa? Where? Audience:Bleasdale adapted the novel to make it More appealing to a modern audience. Identify specific points where he did this.

Part Ph Reading vs. Viewing Discussion 1What is your favorite book? Has a film ever been made of this title? Have you seen it? If you have, tell about your reaction to the film. Did the images and presentation of the characters match up with the vision and understanding you took away from reading the book? How were the plot, characters, dialogue, and setting adapted for film? se CREENWRITER Alan Bleasdale cherished an ambition to bring a Dickens novel to the screen for 25 years. As a teenager he read Iwoos AND VALUABLEOPP liTOCK OP LINEN WO Dickens's novels, and loved them all. "When ITV rang and asked if I'd dramatize Oliver Twist I said BERDASIIER Y, nosi yes immediately," says Alan. "I'd been waiting 25 HITS,CAPS, 6.e., AT THE ANOP OF years for this phone call. When I put the phone down A I did cartwheels around the house." But he admits he the characters' motivation throughout and whilst was daunted by the enormity of the task ahead of him. writing it, I could be plucking up the courage to get 11 Street, HARTLEPOI "I was scared, because with Dickens you're to the point where I enter the same arena as Dickens." rzty;pt. vrt, entering the playground that basically consists of per cent. below .6W.of A. Bleasdale set to work, unraveling the story back- the regular be found,on selling, Shakespeare, Dickens, and Tolstoy. Suddenly I was wards. The result is two hours of drama before young to be no Pt playing with the big boys. Dickens is undoubtedly Oliver Twist even takes his first breath. The drama- PC `6"4 A th`N'l one of the greatest writers who ever lived and facing rioted&OF Cambries, Phi tization tells the story of how Oliver is conceived and 9d. do. the at 3d. yard,worth up to him was hard to do." best Stylesin born out of wedlock to Agnes Fleming in a work- from 14d.to lad the Trade 9i oolen. So, in the summer of 1997 Bleasdale sat down house, and how he becomes an orphan. Cloth to reread Oliver Twist, Dickens's most enduringly "The world I've created before Oliver is born is S4 loh as. 84 4 popular novel. "Oliver Twist was one of the first I ever still Dickens's world, but inevitably because it was read, so I must've been only about 13. Reading it 11.11. only a few pages in the original novel and I've turned USEtic SH[01 nearly 4o years later was a very interesting experience. it into a couple of hours drama, I've developed it ow!PrxTuarai I'm still stunned by what an incredible piece of work considerably. Some of the book's minor characters, it is and have to keep reminding myself that this was HuTupooi. like Oliver's father Edwin Leeford and his wife basically Dickens's first major attempt at a novel and Elizabeth, were fascinating people to me, but they that he was only in his mid 2os when he wrote it. It is were really only mentioned in passing or appeared quite an astounding achievement." as walk-ons. Because Dickens was writing at such a Turning a novel written in 1837 into a television furious pace and was making it up as he went along, serial for today presented Alan with major chal- certain things just get thrown away. Genius that he lenges. He explains: "Obviously I read it a second was, he just kept on writing and threw those pages time round with a different eye than when I was over his shoulder. So I've followed along behind barely a teenager. There were three things that I was him, picking them up." anxious about. Firstly, the level of coincidence that exists in the story; then the perhaps SAVING P.m' the plot line in place, Bleasdale accidental anti-Semitism in relation to was determined to overthrow many of the Fagin and finally the occasional blasts of clichés often associated with Dickens. One sentimentality. J of the areas where this is demonstrated is "These are areas that I thought in the characterization and casting of Oliver. might be problematic for a modern tele- "Oliver experienced dreadful cruelty, and vision audience and it is a testimony to Dickens was ruthless in showing that to his readers Dickens's brilliance that despite these and I'm really only intent on showing the audience difficulties the book remains a real the same thing. But I just don't believe that a boy page-turner even today. who had Oliver's upbringing until the age of io, "What I think he did, because of a boy who'd experienced such hardship, would be writing in monthly installments, was literally make it up as he went along. By the end he'd painted himself into a corner and the only way out was to do this back storyof about 4 or 5 pages at the endwhere he explains everything at incredible speed. I suddenly realized that -1k1 III this rather problematic part of the E novel was actually my solution. By beginning near with this material, the audience would understand STOLENHouseat Middleton,Night orearty From aDwelling late onMondaylast, asmall Ilartlepool,Morning www.pbs.org/masterplece/olivertwist ouTuesday Watclanaipe.scrolled e Gold("hai*,wilt!Assorlsoutail-kel. c 111* rirourior. Siebgellesv113161:1111r.r...41:1117Airstrir.hiliiiecty. 71.i.."a114:1°1611 TM "LSCIA:Ferrier., _14421.aillit:VESTS'S'''. " 1". GAZCFI'S'? 40Laze.-

quite the boy Dickens describes. It was as if his gen- states that Edwin Leeford dies in Rome the day after tility had never been touched and bruised, but I just Elizabeth Leeford arrives in the city, without any don't buy that. detail of what happened between the two of them. "Our Oliver is sweet, has great decency and Bleasdale has written in a dramatic encounter between husband and wife. MA"CitF,WS. strength, but he's been dragged up dreadfully and AMESVIING, it's a great compliment to his inner strength that he Once Leeford is dead, Elizabeth and Monks dis- FITZWALTRR, Meltord, Miss cover they only inherit his money if they can getrid EST RAS, survives as he does. So I've tried to give the character iarne V Md. entitled a toughness, a hardness and a sense of determination." of Agnes. Bleasdale has therefore written in their it., ia One search for Agnes, Monks's failed attempt to murder adaptations t Biker 'bid her, and their subsequent mission to seek out Oliver Bleasdale's EpiSode I tells the story of Oliver's parents and discredit him in the eyes of Mr. Brownlow, the Agnes Fleming and Edwin Leefordwho in the guardian of Leeford's will. The character and role of Mr. Brownlow is novel appear almost as an afterthought at the end of Mr.SELBY,DERR developed considerably. In Bleasdale's version, he jard Sinclair, Mr.01{ his story, where Dickens-quickly ties-up-all the loose )ickyDarling,Ile willsing is not only Edwin's closest friend, but also the Dr S, In which1 3on ends. Bleasdale puts them up front and tells their salad of Jenny story in much greater detail. guardian of his will. It is therefore to him that Mrs. 1os R. D E F.One Act,entitled As in the novel, the television dramatization Leeford and Monks have to discredit young Oliver. seem, in

opens with the frail Agnes Fleming giving birth to To do this, they enlist the help of Fagin and he 11-srDe Oliver Twist in the workhouse in a small town. decides to send Oliver with Bill Sikes to burgle Bleasdale's town is by the sea and is called Brownlow's country house. The encounters between Bruntmarsh. In the novel, Dickens gave the town the Oliver and Brownlow in the Bleasdale version are ,,,pi!gr.,,,::::/:9)7...... _..,:kr,;..irltiir..,.7.11),:ti:::.z:::_!::::::,..,:

fictitious name of Mudfog, but it was most probably therefore planned, rather than being a series of ?At sAl i ------.... based on Chatham in Kent. coincidences. 'that Parish," % WWI Although the character of Mrs Mann exists in itlitANS, After Oliver's birth, Bleasdale then goes back in ,,,11:11.8TT, from Dickens's novel, Bleasdale's Mrs. Mann is actually OLSPINCR ASCU, time to cover nes's story. It details her family orsaancs)I:7 4by based on another Oliver Twist character, Mrs. Corney. !Pr.fii.' : Die. PINSSNT relationships, her love affair with Edwin Leeford, Charade) Sr Because she is part of a double act with Mr. Bumble, (a rantonimic her resulting pregnancy, her departure from her H,W.VINING, home town, her journey to the town of Oliver's birth, Bleasdale switched their names around. "I couldn't IOSTALS..... En.ANDSolltiONsw, and her death. In Dickens's novel Agnes is described cope with Bumble and Corneysounds like a very bad as OSSONYORE, simply as "a good looking girl...found lying in the couple of third-rate comedians in the 194os." street;she had walked some distance, for her shoes 0 Meridian Broadcasting 1999 were worn to pieces; but where she came from, or Used with permission where she was going to, nobody knows." Bleasdale's Agnes is a fully rounded character. T THE END Of Dickens's novel, it isrevealed

that when Edwin Leeford meets Agnes, he -" , is already married to, but separated from, an older woman (Elizabeth), this marriage having been arranged by their families. Dickens hints that Elizabeth is an unappealing woman, but we learn little more about her. Bleasdale has created a whole hideous character for Elizabeth Leeford and also a much more intricate portrait of her disturbed son Edward Leeford, otherwise known as Monks. Bleasdale's character of Edwin Leeford is '1 fleshed out considerably. In Dickens, he is a shadowy figure, whereas Bleasdale has created a careless, charming fellow, who, despite his decent intentions toward Agnes and others, is actually rather weak. In Agnes Fleming Bleasdale's version we witness how Leeford travels and her father, to Rome in order to receive his inheritance from his top. wealthy Uncle Richard. Elizabeth Leeford is deter- Edwin Leotard, mined to get her hands on this money and she bottom. therefore pursues him In the novel, Dickens simply

1 8 worked long hours in squalid conditions, supervised by cruel masters. Though Dickens lived away from cztx ahze t;a,deara,e/dzce; adaleve his family for only four months (his father came into aeZaa a6cZ.( eara s aie 7e-d aZiflee an unexpected inheritance), the traumatic experi- ence shaped the rest of his life. He came to believe lede fled- esteeicionaw-sect deedez, that money and position in Victorian England meant everything. His early encounters with such grave diatezacm.=L6se ley ceeic conditions gave Dickens rare and deep insight into 4 life's inequalities and greatly deepened his writing. Dickens soon returned to school where he 4ece,aidera/ealiao2 wad p Zed mioza excelled. He loved reading, especially adventure stories and magical tales. At this time, Dickens aildeiwe 0za Leepter4wievelielemem-- began submitting "penny-a-line" material (whereby Lieci,A Zeersd 14-zeo, % Led writers were paid per line for their work) to the British Press. Such submissions largely took the form Oliver Twist, Chapter 5 of factual information about fires, accidents, and police reports. His parents could not afford to complete his HIS DESCRIPTION of Oliver Twist may also education, and at 15 Dickens reluctantly left school to begin the tedious routine of a law clerk. SVIXOTIEDI: capture the haunting childhood of its The MUSIC Ferrier,.lee author, Charles Dickens. Feeling alone in Shorthand played an odd but key role in his career. Coloneltoyasont, Cont ai the world at the age of 12, Dickens saw While clerking, he taught himself this skill and ysttlate Crn Carlssede firsthand the horrors Victorian England cast upon immediately parlayed his newfound knowledge into CAN , a job as a newspaper reporter. Dickens left drudgery "VISCALT the poorparticularly the young. Frightful living . 11r A conditions and cruel work situations were the order behind for good, finding the excitement and intel- of the day. lectual stimulation he'd been looking for in writing. Writing saved Dickens, both financially and ICKENS FIRST WORKED at the Mirror Of emotionally. As an adult, he set his life's work on Parliament, founded by his uncle, and exposing social ills, using his boundless talents and gained a reputation for accuracy, quick- energies to spin engaging, poignant tales from the ness, and sharp observation. He covered Mr. WYndi streets. He also introduced new accessible forms of MenrY Fd the Reform Bill debates, legislation that extended publishing that proved immensely popular and voting rights to the previously disenfranchised, an Mrsjoisden, influential. Dickens's keen observational style, Mrs VV5"; experience that both cemented his commitment to To w%' precise description, and sharp social criticism have reform and at the same time instilled in him a life- kept his large body of work profoundly enduring. long suspicion of reformers. Mirror of Parliament did Charles John Huffam Dickens was born not pay its writers when the government was in February 7, 1812, near , England, the recess. At such times, Dickens relied on freelance second of eight children. Dickens's father was court reporting for various newspapers such as the employed as a.minor civil servant in the Naval Pay -liberal daily Morning Chronicle, where he soon took a mr. corr. Office, a job that required the family to move a num- ofisth Morgan, staff position. Such work sharpened his ear for con- Motley, , ber of times. The Dickenses spent many of Charles's versational speech and class mannerisms, which he The Pleasure early years fairly pleasantly in Chatham but made called on later to portray characters with remarkable their final move to a miserable part of London. realism. Charles's father lived beyond his means, and At this time, Dickens also started publishing floundered financially. tales and sketches of street life under the pseudonym Two days after Charles turned 12, his father was -- "Boz" in periodicals such as Monthly Magazine, Bell's Plat*, thrown into Marshalsea Debtor's Prison. Charles Yroseitoe, Weekly Magazine, and Morning Chronicle. They were was already working at the Warren Blacking immensely popular and were ultimately collected in Company, pasting labels on bottles of shoe polish; two books, and Sketches by Boz he'd left school at age to to help support the family These sketches set Dickens's reputation as aflaneur, Now he was on his own, while the rest of the family the French-derived literary term for "connoisseur roomed in a jail cell with the elder Dickens. Young of street life." Dickens lived in a miserable lodging house and -4 9

www.pbs.org/masterpiece/olivertwist '416int 4711.111kAkS to newspapers regarding social reform. In 1842, he visited America for the first time and shocked his hosts by denouncing slavery. He publishedAmerican Notes upon his return to England, criticizing many ""te aspects of American life and setting off a furor among Americans. Dickens depicted his low opinion of American manners in his 1842-43 novel . Dickens had used humor wonderfully to liven up the dark truths of his novels; in the 184os he refined his style, widening his range with literary devices such as symbolism. In , for example, he uses the toxic London fog to symbolize society's oppressive treatment of the downtrodden, his familiar theme. Dickens still offered funny, Book publishers Edward Chapman and William irreverent characters and situations, ti-ut now his Hall were so impressed with Sketches by Boz that in tone was somewhat bitter, often taking the form of 1836 they asked Dickens to write a series of stories biting satire. to accompany illustrations by Robert Seymour, one ICKENS ALWAYS HAD an interest in theater, of England's most popular comic artists. Their plan and later in his career, he took great was for Dickens to write 20 monthly installments pleasure in producing and acting in ama- that they would sell for one shilling each. Dickens's teur dramas. He collaborated with author friends warned that such a publication mode might Wilkie Collins on a play called , which cheapen his reputation. Up until then, serials were his theatrical company performed for Queen used largely for inexpensive reprints of classics or Victoria in 1857. That same year, Dickens left his trivial nonfiction. Dickens found just the opposite of wife for actress . Around this time, these predictions. Known as , the Dickens also began to give public readings for pay, serial was enormously well received both critically throughout Europe and America. and popularly, and made Dickens a celebrity at the Dickens continued editing periodicals, beginning age of 24. The first run sold 400 copies; the last run the weekly in 1850, which featured sold 40,000. All of Dickens's future novels would installments of , among other works. In appear in serial installments, setting a new Victorian 1859, he began a new weekly titled , trend in publishing. where , , and the Dickens used his first payment of 29 shillings unfinished Mystery of Edwin Drood appeared in seri- from The Pickwick Papers to marry Catherine Hogarth, alized segments. with whom he would eventually have ten children. Dickens's final days were spent at his home Dickens idolized Catherine's younger sister, Mary, Gad's Hill, an estate he'd admired as a child. He who is thought to be the model for Rose in Oliver Twist. continued his public readings in London. On June 8, Mary's untimely death at age 17 greatly affected him 1870, he had a stroke after a full day's work and died N 1837, Dickens began editing a monthly called the next day. Some of his friends claimed his death Bentley's Miscellany, a collection of fiction, was hastened by the public readings he gave of the humor, and other features published by final murderous scene between Bill Sikes and Richard Bentley. In the second issue, Dickens Nancy from Oliver Twist. began installments of his first novel, Oliver Twist. The book was largely an indictment of the New Poor Law, legislation that Dickens felt institutionalized ill-treatment of society's least fortunate. Bentley put out the book in three volumes in 1838. Dickens continued publishing novelsincluding (1838-39), (184o-41), (1843), and David Copper field (1849-50)as well as essays and letters

4 it ArofF V v. . tteesiterebyfoalsSte *routstileIrovrosidPaeo i!lm us inprosecuted hie ill be d dieIL Mootdrirr1lieff"as from children, to end "negative influences" on the .7-6Aev,mmei4 young. Brothers and sisters were kept apart to avoid the "natural" inclination of the poor toward incest. After inmates were split up by age and sex, no health-related separation took place: the ill, insane, onetortah, and able-bodied all lived together. Meals were purposely inadequate, consisting fr. mainly of single pints of gruel, a few ounces of erneiimied bread, and water. Rooms measuring 2o feet long accommodated upwards of 3o people. Most inmates Leed ez#14/6"ce shared a bed. Heating was overlooked; often a block of rooms shared but one fireplace. Work involved back-breaking labor such as stone splitting, mill from Sketches by Boz driving (on treadmills), bone crushing (for fertilizer), and heavy housework. The least able-bodiedthe old, the sick, and the very youngsuffered most of all. o CHARLES DICKENS described the Victorian The workhouse was administered by unpaid parish, the British local government unit bureaucrats, headed by the beadle, an elected responsible for administering to the neigh- official. These civil servants treated workhouse resi- borhood's poor. The system was a miserable dents with scorn and cruelty, reminding them with one, cruelly and purposefully inadequate at aiding Biblical passages how lucky they were ("Blessed are society's least fortunate. The Victorian attitude the poor..."). toward the poorone of shamewas largely to blame for this harsh treatment of society's downtrodden. The Peor Los Parishes were first instituted with the Elizabethan UrletIntl01 MOPEDS and the Pm Poor Law of 16oi, which organized tax-collected The Industrial Age and the financial opportunities assistance. The poor were divided up into two groups: surrounding it led to a rapidly growing middle class the "impotent" (the sick and elderly, those classed in early 19th-century Britain. Previously, the aristo- "would work but couldn't") and the "able-bodied" cratic upper classone that scorned working for a (thought of as "could work but wouldn't"). The livingdictated economic and social influence. Now impotent were given outdoor, or out-of-almshouse, the bourgeoisie, including factory owners, managers, relief, while the able-bodied were brutally beaten to and purveyors of new services, wanted its place in "right" their paths. Not all parishes were the same: society and needed to legitimize labor. They put forth some didn't have almshouses, and others were known a new ideal of work as moral virtue: God loved those for kinder treatment. To prevent droves of paupers who helped themselves, while "burdens on the pub- from inundating the parishes with better arrange- lic" were sinful and weak. This attitude validated the ments, the 1662 Settlement Act stated that people middle class by giving it someone to look down on. had to prove "settlement" before receiving relief Subsequently, welfare in Dickens's time was from a parish. Proof consisted of birth in the parish, based on deterrence rather than support. Parish marriage (for women), or working in the parish for a workhouses, the last resort for the homeless year and a day. Labor contracts were often made for poor, were made as miserable as possible to 364 days to prevent settlement rights. discourage reliance on public assistance. The 1782 Gilbert's Act changed some conditions Upon entering, inmates were stripped, for the better. This act allowed parishes to join searched, washed, given shapeless striped together in building poorhouses and to share clothing to wear, and shorn of hairin expenses. In 1795, the Speenhamland System, short, they were treated like criminals. another reform named for the Berkshire village of Husbands and wives were separated into Speen where it began, was predicated on the idea men's and women's quarters to "avert that "the present state of the poor requires further breeding." Mothers were taken away assistance than has generally been given them." 21 AND En... CHUNCDYARD, ABBEY www.pbs.org/masterpiece/olivertwist 103 BATII, JOALE, 4.7v11 OtSI1AW 3301610 ss,5817.40sT35C120, natoodoNativosrra, DAtablAhal tr. STD A\A. AND CEPS

Disastrous harvests and growing population stirred sampling. The Commission concluded fears among the ruling class that the peasants might from the questionnaires that, as a rule, family revolt as they had in ; thus, allowances were allowances led to bigger families. Commissioners initiated in Speen. Laborers received subsistence agreed that the old Poor Law was too expensive and relief according to income, price of bread, and num- wasteful. ber of children in the family This system spread Results compiled by the Commission resulted in quickly through the south of England, most heavily the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. This act took in what were known as the "Swing" counties, a par- power out of the hands of local parishioners and ticularly impoverished part of the country. The gave it to elected officials representing a central Speenhamland System is believed to have saved authority and middle-class values. It also took away countless families in the Swing counties. relief from the poor outside government institutions Unfortunately, a recession in 1815 and more it was either the workhouse or nothing. These industrialization led to further unemployment. Riots harsh changes were aimed at the able-bodied poor, and poaching became the rule of the day. Between but hit the infirm, old, and very young much harder. 1824 and 1830, crime in rural areas increased 3o The New Poor Law also made mothers of illegitimate percent. The Swing counties saw riots come to a head children responsible for the child's support. in 1830. Rabble-rousing journalist William Cobbett wrote a blistering article in the November 27, 1830, ChM Labe? Los Political Register blaming the Swing riots on hunger In less rural environs, industrialization led to a need and the poor laws. for cheap labor. Lenient labor laws made children a prime source of workers. The desperately impover- 1111144.0 sibear moor, TG Peep Law Geffomissiego d1832 ished often sent their children off to factories, mines, e 11.010061"..r:s".: An 1832 Commission was established to review the and workshops. Parish officials, too, sent their its**,tre.c ammo..013115, poor laws. Twenty-six investigators visited about young charges off, viewing such situations as divine )at 111011raet0141e1"1" I *ad" COgrieliSel* 3,000 parishes, each official believing outdoor relief opportunity. Children worked long hours at the lowest OMISLe 64 4 ts 1.6 loot" or allowances harmful to the poor. Britain at this rates. Ruling classes saw this as a positive circum- warik...000wit Imi"iso.....a1.004"4.1 ea time was divided into 15,000 parishes, and with no stance, because such children didn't depend on 'assadtaseis*/ doefore!..." annual trends compiled, a national picture was not parish relief. gee $rem readily available. Commissioners were also Child labor was so common in the late 18th and 05.0.14. "ger. influenced by the economist , early 19th centuries that in 1802 Parliament passed Iwo) the British Health and Morals of Apprentices Act, quite popular at this time, who had stated in his DO.) Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) that popu- the first law regulating child labor. It stated that lation would increase faster than food supplies. War pauper children (those receiving charity) under the and disease were necessary to kill off the extra popu- age of 9 could not work in cotton mills, and those lation, unless people limited their offspring. under 14 could not work at night. The workday was A questionnaire was also sent out, with only io 12 hours long. In 1819, the law was extended to percent of parishes replying. The data collected include all children. These laws weren't paid much from the questionnaires were not reliable: badly heed until 1833, when the Factory Act provided for phrased questions didn't distinguish between family inspections. allowances on wages and wage subsidies, and the Some children helped their parents pay off lack of responses precluded a random debts, as did the youthful Dickens. Debt was a crime in Victorian England, and debtors were sent to prison until they could pay off their creditors. Such prisons were filthy, rat-infested places where inmates usually lived with their entire families during the period of incarceration. Family members were free to come and go as they pleased. The 12-year-old Dickens ate with his family at Marshalsea Debtor's Prison and slept in a squalid rooming house near the Warren Blacking Polish factory. Credits This teacher's guide was produced by the Educational Print and Outreach department of the WGBH Educational Foundation. Director of Educational Print and Outreach EXXONMOBIL MASTERPIECE THEATRE Karen Barss is a production of WGBH Boston.

Writers EXXONMOBIL MASTERPIECE THEATRE Carol Cashion is a trademark of the Diana Fischer WGBH Educational Foundation. Advisory Board Robert McBride Andrea McCarthy Georgia Scurletis EXXONMOBIL MASTERPIECE THEATRE Design and this teacher's guide are fully funded Douglass Scott by Exxon Mobil Corporation. Cara Jos lin Photo Researcher E)KonMobil Debby Paddock Closed captioned for deaf and Print Production hard-of-hearing viewers Lenore Lanier Gibson Photography ©United Productions, pagei7 courtesy Special thanks to Emily Lovering John Gunnison-Wiseman Antique objects by Lisa Abitbol for WGBH Typeset in Filosophia, Bureau Grotesque, and Bickham *0-1-.- "4:,v Oliver Twist is a Diplomat Films pro- 61e-Gle duction for United Productions and WGBH Boston. The executive produc- ers are Michele Buck for United Productions, Alan Bleasdale for Diplomat Films, and Rebecca Eaton for WGBH Boston

000 WGBH Educational Foundation Mr. Bumble and Permission is granted for reproduction of this print- ed material for educational use only All other rights Mrs. Mann, top. reserved. Other than as discussed above, no part of the Teacher's Guide for Oliver Twist may be reproduced, Fagin, bottom. stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo- copying, recording or otherwise, without prior writ- ten permission of the WGBH Educational Foundation, iiiWestern Avenue, Boston, MA 02134

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:111m3 tt Exxonlviobit October 8 through October 22 Masterpiece A young orphan escapes from the work- \ house and falls in with a gang of thieves. Crlheatre- Charles Dickens's classic tale features a c secret will, a villainous half brother, and a prostitute with a heart of gold The three- part adaptation opens with a prequel dram- 020 atizing the background to the elaborate plot. November 5 Queen Victoria and her Highland servant .make quite a couple in this acclaimed 1997 MC171 UM8,211mnui feature film, co-produced by EXXONMOBIL Wednesday, October 25, MASTERPIECE THEATRE and starring Judi Dench repeating Sunday, October 29 as Her Majesty and Billy Connolly as her plain EXXONMOBIL MASTERPIECE THEATRE'S AMER- spoken Scotsman John Brown. Dench's . ICAN COLLECTION premieres with Langston performance won an Oscar nomination. Hughes's haunting story of an African Atherican woman's confronta- tion with death, abortion, and loneliness in rural Iowa in the November 12 early 19oos. Working as a Three resourceful children save the day when domestic, she lives only for their family is thrown into distress by the her daughter and the neglect- mysterious disappearance of their father. ed child of her employers. Based on E. Nesbit's belOved novel, first pub- Regina Taylor and Cherry lished in 1906, and starring Jenny Agutter, Jones star. Michael Kitchen, and Richard Attenborough

Mesh nut our trbb site tuusuphenegg/mstappion@ And coming this vintedsping... for updated program listings and schedules, Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina as well as teachers' guides, essays and Henry James's The Amencan interviews, special features, and informa- Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters tion about the last 3o years of EXXONMOBIL And more! MASTERPIECE THEATRE. 4 'NoletkovV:_ EducationaRrint and Outreach -j. ! www.vhbh.OrgWGrBoston),125 Western:Avenue fdA02134 'k!!0,

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