The mid-nineteenth century saw many landmarks for Jewish equality in England. In 1837, Queen Victoria made Moses Haim Montefiore the first Jew to be knighted, and in 1855, Sir David Salomons becamethe first Jewish Lord Mayor of London. The biggest step toward equality, however, was the Jews Relief Act, passed in 1858, which repealed the law barring Jews from Parliament. Later that year, Lionel de Rothschild entered Parliament as a Jewish member of the House of Commons. Ten years later, his son became the first Jewish member of the House of Lords.
These leaps toward equality in England, however, did not immediately end prejudices against Jews. The depiction of Fagin in Oliver Twist fits into the tradition of negatively depicting Jews in British literature, harkening back to Shylock in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Barabas in Marlowe’s Jew of Malta, and even as far back as “The Prioress’ Tale” by Chaucer, which relates the actions of despicably violent and immoral Jews. So where do Dickens and Fagin fall in this history of Jews in literature? |
Scholar Deborah Heller explains, “Fagin ranks second only to Shylock as one of the most memorable and infamous Jews in all English literature. He is a fence, that is, a receiver of stolen goods, and he has in his employ a group of children and young adults whom he has educated to thievery and prostitution while posing as their protector. The children, who are all homeless orphans (as is Oliver), live with Fagin in his house. It is a kind of boarding school offering instruction in crime, though its gaiety is more characteristic of summer camp. Fagin’s evil is directly related to his financial unscrupulousness, as is traditional in the negative stereotype of the Jew with which Dickens and his readers were familiar. Fagin embodies many characteristics long associated with Jews in English literature, particularly dramatic literature: he is dishonest, thieving, treacherous, avaricious, and ultimately cowardly. Moreover, he is not only a thief but, indirectly, a murderer as well. He arranges for the capture and execution of those members of his gang who have outlived their usefulness and are dangerous to him. Fagin also From a collections of Henry Mayhew’s street characters, published in London Labour and the London Poor, 1861. incites Bill Sikes to the climactic murder of Nancy, after failing in his efforts to incite Nancy to poison Sikes...”
It is worth noting that Dickens defended himself when Oliver Twist was charged with being anti-Semitic, claiming, “Fagin, in Oliver Twist, is a Jew, because it unfortunately was true of the time to which that story refers, that that class of criminal almost invariably was a Jew. But surely no sensible man or woman of your persuasion can fail to observe: firstly, that all the rest of the wicked dramatis personae are Christians; and secondly, that he is called a ‘Jew,’ not because of his religion, but because of his race...”
Considering all of the political and social changes Jews experienced between 1837 (when Oliver Twist was written) and 1863 (when Dickens wrote his defense above), it could be that Dickens was simply adjusting to the new mentality of his audience. Either way, when Dickens wrote Our Mutual Friend a year later, the prominent Jewish character of Mr. Riah was portrayed as the epitome of virtue.
It is worth noting that Dickens defended himself when Oliver Twist was charged with being anti-Semitic, claiming, “Fagin, in Oliver Twist, is a Jew, because it unfortunately was true of the time to which that story refers, that that class of criminal almost invariably was a Jew. But surely no sensible man or woman of your persuasion can fail to observe: firstly, that all the rest of the wicked dramatis personae are Christians; and secondly, that he is called a ‘Jew,’ not because of his religion, but because of his race...”
Considering all of the political and social changes Jews experienced between 1837 (when Oliver Twist was written) and 1863 (when Dickens wrote his defense above), it could be that Dickens was simply adjusting to the new mentality of his audience. Either way, when Dickens wrote Our Mutual Friend a year later, the prominent Jewish character of Mr. Riah was portrayed as the epitome of virtue.