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  • Early Figurative Allusions to Oliver Twist
  • William F. Long (bio)

Our understanding of the contemporary reception of Oliver Twist derives from its early press reviews, the frequency with which extracts from it appeared in public journals, and the speed with which imitations and stage adaptations of it emerged (Tillotson 398–400; Chittick 107–21; Paroissien (Bibliography) 51–54, 97–109; Kaplan 399–415; John 51–62). Scattered references to it in letters, diaries and other literary works are also indications of the interest it generated (Tillotson 399–400, Paroissien (Bibliography) 121–24). An additional manifestation of its early impact, however, has gone largely unnoticed. Gratuitous references to the novel and its characters began appearing in newspaper stories. These allusions, disparate, slight and ephemeral in themselves, suggest the rapid assimilation of images contained in Oliver into the public psyche.

Dickens's work was published as a serial in Bentley's Miscellany between February 1837 and April 1839, and the earliest editions of the completed novel appeared in November and December 1838, October 1839 and March 1840 (Tillotson xlviii–li). The allusions presented here appeared between 1837 and 1840, at a time when its earliest readers were encountering the novel.1 [End Page 136]

Allusions to Oliver: supplicant, low-born, oppressed, denigrated and supplicant again

The connotations of the opening workhouse scenes of Oliver were immediately apparent to its first readers: "The best illustration of the present state of the poor laws" a commentator remarked in February 1837.2 A very long and continuing line of figurative allusions to the supplicant Oliver followed. One of the first occurred during April 1837 when clergy of the Established (Protestant) Church in Ireland gathered in Dublin and maximized discussion by attending daily communal dinners. Some press reports commented slyly on the enthusiasm with which the scheme was received by participants "in a land where dinners are rare phenomena on the majority of lay tables." It was also noted that organisers could expect to "meet many an Oliver Twist,"3 a laconic reference to the hardship feared by the Church if its support through compulsory tithe payments by a largely reluctant and poor Catholic population were reduced. That possibility fuelled widespread debate in Britain and Ireland about the "voluntary principle;" that is, the wisdom or otherwise of defining a "state" (and hence "compulsorily" supported) form of religious worship. The controversy which contributed to the debate was eventually addressed, in part, by the Tithe Rentcharge (Ireland) Act of 1838.4

An instance of Oliver as a representation of someone of low social standing surfaced in March 1838. Reactionary Tories, then in opposition, were expressing reservations about the performance of their leaders, Peel in the Commons and Wellington in the Lords. The former, in particular, was criticized for seeming to empathize with aspects of the liberal policies of the Whig ministry. An anti-Tory commentator sarcastically observed:

They have lost all patience with the cautious manoeuvring of Peel; and as to the Duke [… the] conqueror of Napoleon has status in the land. He is not a man of yesterday–a creature without a grandfather; and to him some right of independent action is unwillingly conceded. But that Oliver Twist should dare to assume to himself freedom of thought and action, is nothing short of intolerable impudence […] he must be given to know that he owes his position to aristocratic toleration.5 [End Page 137]

The Whig's Reform Act of 18326 was followed by calls for further change in the parliamentary franchise. In May 1837 the Morning Chronicle urged "Union among Reformers,"7 implying that liberals, radicals and Irish members of the Commons–the latter led by Daniel O'Connell–should combine to support a Whig government.8 The conservative Times mockingly remarked that the thing which most needed reforming was the English vocabulary–"reform," instead of simply meaning "change" having now seemingly come to stand for "change necessarily for the better." It noted the extreme views of some within the suggested "Union" and was particularly scathing about the pro-Catholic and separatist sentiments of O'Connell.9 An Irish liberal newspaper responded to the idea of a revised vocabulary by producing a mock "Tory Dictionary in...

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