The setting for the novel is Victorian England, but Dickens subscribes to the idea, popular at the time, that England can be divided into two halves: the city and the country. The country is preferable by far to the city, which is crowded, dirty, and dangerous. When Oliver first reaches the city in Chapter 8, led by the Artful Dodger, it seems unlikely that his fortune could take a turn for the better in his new environment:
A dirtier or more wretched place he had never seen. The street was very narrow and muddy, and the air was impregnated with filthy odours. There were a good many small shops; but the only stock in trade appeared to be heaps of children, who, even at that time of night, were crawling in and out at the doors, or screaming from the inside.
Oliver's first impression of the city, which has been the beacon of hope for his future, is that it is dirty, smells awful, and is bursting at the seams with children who don't really seem to belong anywhere.
It is difficult at first to see how the country is much more idyllic than the city. Oliver has gone from a bad place in rural Mudfog, where he was born, to an even worse place in London. But Oliver's childhood in the country took place in the crowded workhouse, which functioned something like a city in miniature. Like London, it had too many people, too few resources, and extremely limited opportunities for socioeconomic advancement. Over the course of the novel, it becomes clear that Dickens does idealize the country, but specifically the country that, under industrialization, is increasingly accessible only to people in the Maylies' social class and above. In Chapter 32, Rose tells Oliver that their trip into the country will cure his fever:
The quiet place, the pure air, and all the pleasures and beauties of spring, will restore you in a few days[.]
Now that he is living with the Maylies, Oliver has access to Rose's version of the country, which is a comfortable retreat from crowds and dirt. This more elusive country is beautiful, restorative, and full of the possibilities of spring.
In Chapter 39, the passage in which Nancy crosses the city to speak to Rose suggests that even the city might be a different environment for the rich than for the poor:
She tore along the narrow pavement, elbowing the passengers from side to side and darting almost under the horses’ heads, crossed crowded streets, where clusters of persons were eagerly watching their opportunity to do the like. [...] When she reached the more wealthy quarter of the town, the streets were comparatively deserted, and here her headlong progress seemed to excite a greater curiosity in the stragglers whom she hurried past.
Nancy's journey through town parallels a retreat into the country in that there is more room to move and breathe the farther she gets into the "wealthy quarter." She no longer has to elbow people out of the way to get where she needs to go. This fact in itself is a metaphor for the way wealth makes it possible for people to survive in the city without resorting to violence or crime. Still, Nancy draws the "curiosity" of strangers in the wealthy quarter because she obviously does not belong there. Dickens's novel suggests that it might be possible for the city to offer the same benefits as the idyllic country, but currently those benefits are only available to the wealthy.
The setting for the novel is Victorian England, but Dickens subscribes to the idea, popular at the time, that England can be divided into two halves: the city and the country. The country is preferable by far to the city, which is crowded, dirty, and dangerous. When Oliver first reaches the city in Chapter 8, led by the Artful Dodger, it seems unlikely that his fortune could take a turn for the better in his new environment:
A dirtier or more wretched place he had never seen. The street was very narrow and muddy, and the air was impregnated with filthy odours. There were a good many small shops; but the only stock in trade appeared to be heaps of children, who, even at that time of night, were crawling in and out at the doors, or screaming from the inside.
Oliver's first impression of the city, which has been the beacon of hope for his future, is that it is dirty, smells awful, and is bursting at the seams with children who don't really seem to belong anywhere.
It is difficult at first to see how the country is much more idyllic than the city. Oliver has gone from a bad place in rural Mudfog, where he was born, to an even worse place in London. But Oliver's childhood in the country took place in the crowded workhouse, which functioned something like a city in miniature. Like London, it had too many people, too few resources, and extremely limited opportunities for socioeconomic advancement. Over the course of the novel, it becomes clear that Dickens does idealize the country, but specifically the country that, under industrialization, is increasingly accessible only to people in the Maylies' social class and above. In Chapter 32, Rose tells Oliver that their trip into the country will cure his fever:
The quiet place, the pure air, and all the pleasures and beauties of spring, will restore you in a few days[.]
Now that he is living with the Maylies, Oliver has access to Rose's version of the country, which is a comfortable retreat from crowds and dirt. This more elusive country is beautiful, restorative, and full of the possibilities of spring.
In Chapter 39, the passage in which Nancy crosses the city to speak to Rose suggests that even the city might be a different environment for the rich than for the poor:
She tore along the narrow pavement, elbowing the passengers from side to side and darting almost under the horses’ heads, crossed crowded streets, where clusters of persons were eagerly watching their opportunity to do the like. [...] When she reached the more wealthy quarter of the town, the streets were comparatively deserted, and here her headlong progress seemed to excite a greater curiosity in the stragglers whom she hurried past.
Nancy's journey through town parallels a retreat into the country in that there is more room to move and breathe the farther she gets into the "wealthy quarter." She no longer has to elbow people out of the way to get where she needs to go. This fact in itself is a metaphor for the way wealth makes it possible for people to survive in the city without resorting to violence or crime. Still, Nancy draws the "curiosity" of strangers in the wealthy quarter because she obviously does not belong there. Dickens's novel suggests that it might be possible for the city to offer the same benefits as the idyllic country, but currently those benefits are only available to the wealthy.
The setting for the novel is Victorian England, but Dickens subscribes to the idea, popular at the time, that England can be divided into two halves: the city and the country. The country is preferable by far to the city, which is crowded, dirty, and dangerous. When Oliver first reaches the city in Chapter 8, led by the Artful Dodger, it seems unlikely that his fortune could take a turn for the better in his new environment:
A dirtier or more wretched place he had never seen. The street was very narrow and muddy, and the air was impregnated with filthy odours. There were a good many small shops; but the only stock in trade appeared to be heaps of children, who, even at that time of night, were crawling in and out at the doors, or screaming from the inside.
Oliver's first impression of the city, which has been the beacon of hope for his future, is that it is dirty, smells awful, and is bursting at the seams with children who don't really seem to belong anywhere.
It is difficult at first to see how the country is much more idyllic than the city. Oliver has gone from a bad place in rural Mudfog, where he was born, to an even worse place in London. But Oliver's childhood in the country took place in the crowded workhouse, which functioned something like a city in miniature. Like London, it had too many people, too few resources, and extremely limited opportunities for socioeconomic advancement. Over the course of the novel, it becomes clear that Dickens does idealize the country, but specifically the country that, under industrialization, is increasingly accessible only to people in the Maylies' social class and above. In Chapter 32, Rose tells Oliver that their trip into the country will cure his fever:
The quiet place, the pure air, and all the pleasures and beauties of spring, will restore you in a few days[.]
Now that he is living with the Maylies, Oliver has access to Rose's version of the country, which is a comfortable retreat from crowds and dirt. This more elusive country is beautiful, restorative, and full of the possibilities of spring.
In Chapter 39, the passage in which Nancy crosses the city to speak to Rose suggests that even the city might be a different environment for the rich than for the poor:
She tore along the narrow pavement, elbowing the passengers from side to side and darting almost under the horses’ heads, crossed crowded streets, where clusters of persons were eagerly watching their opportunity to do the like. [...] When she reached the more wealthy quarter of the town, the streets were comparatively deserted, and here her headlong progress seemed to excite a greater curiosity in the stragglers whom she hurried past.
Nancy's journey through town parallels a retreat into the country in that there is more room to move and breathe the farther she gets into the "wealthy quarter." She no longer has to elbow people out of the way to get where she needs to go. This fact in itself is a metaphor for the way wealth makes it possible for people to survive in the city without resorting to violence or crime. Still, Nancy draws the "curiosity" of strangers in the wealthy quarter because she obviously does not belong there. Dickens's novel suggests that it might be possible for the city to offer the same benefits as the idyllic country, but currently those benefits are only available to the wealthy.
