Abstract:

Oliver Twist is Dickens’s first important novel which reflects social problems. Although
Nancy is not a main character, she has an irreplaceable function in the development of the novel. She
struggles between goodness and evil and is the key character who leads a happy ending of Oliver
Twist. Nancy has rich and complicated inner world and dual characters as well. Because of her
contradictory characters, the image of Nancy is closer to life and worthy of our research. This paper
aims to investigate the dual characters of Nancy and explore her choice of destiny, through analysis on
her personality and the background of the British society.

Key words: Oliver Twist, Nancy, Choice of destiny

摘要：

《雾都孤儿》是查尔斯•狄更斯第一部重要的反映社会问题的小说。南希虽为小说中的一个次要人物，在小说的发展中却有不可替代的作用。她在善恶之间徘徊，是让整个故事走向圆满结局的关键人物。南希这一人物形象有着非常复杂、丰富的内心世界，具有典型的双重性格。正因为这样一种复杂的性格，这个人物才更贴近真实生活，这个人物性格之复杂才值得我们探究。本文试对南希的双重性格进行分析，并结合人物的性格特征及英国当时的社会现状探析她的命运抉择。

关键词：《雾都孤儿》， 南希，命运抉择

1. Introduction
Charles Dickens is one of the most influential novelists in the Victorian Age of Britain. His works enjoy unprecedented fame all the time, especially his novels and short stories. Dickens’s lifelong creative writings always keep pace with the age. He takes the realistic technique to reveal hypocrisy, greed and cruelty of upper class and the bourgeoisie. He shows great sympathy for miserable situation of the lower class, especially for children, women and the elderly. He describes the struggle of common people who are awakening with serious attitude. At the same time, he sings high praise of the   truth, the kindness and the beauty of humanity with pride of idealism and romanticism and looks forward to a more reasonable society and more good life. Oliver Twist is a typical representative of his works, which exposes the poor life of people living in the bottom of society and the darkness of capitalism.