ANALYSING THE ANTISEMITIC CONSTRUCT OF FAGIN THROUGH THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING OF STEREOTYPES

Fagin in Dickens’ Oliver Twist unveils the English literary tradition and social reality of London Street Jews revealing antisemitism as a part of the Victorian culture. To create an archetypal supervillain who endangers the life of innocent juveniles, Dickens borrows from the antisemitic literary customs of his time to create a villainous character approved and hated; a Jew. Fagin’s exaggerated characterisation is modelled on medieval antisemitism and is reflective of Dickens’ antisemitic ideology and the then social reality of Jews living on London Streets. Dickens accepts and reflects on the antisemitism of his age to establish a Jew as the immutable villain of the London society. This paper critiques the antisemitic unconscious of Dickens reflected through the character of Fagin and further analyses his method of creation impregnated with elements of literary and traditional antisemitism for his villainous portrayal.