Dickens Criticism of the 1834 Poor Law in Oliver Twist Essay -- Charl

Dickens' Criticism of the 1834 Poor Law in Oliver Twist Dickens criticised the 1834 poor law in many different ways within the first five chapters. He does this firstly by cleverly portraying the Victorians attitudes towards the poor. He does this in chapter 1 by referring to Oliver as 'the item of mortality' suggesting how lowly his position in society is. Also the difficulty of Oliver's birth and the fact his mother dies, gives us some idea of the dangers of child birth in Victorian society and the amount of negligence his mother receives from the surgeon. Another way he shows the attitudes towards the poor is by describing the unfeeling and clearly drunk nurse who was 'tasting in the corner' instead of taking care of Oliver and his dying mother. Dickens characterisation is another form of criticism he gives the poor law. He gives the characters names which reflect the type of person they are and the lives they lead. He does this very well in chapters two and three where he describes Mrs Mann. He describes her as nothing but a common thief that steels money from...