Oliver Twist Adaptations

Oliver Twist Adaptations

This article relates to Fagin the Thief

Charles Dickens' works have been adapted and retold in countless forms. In the case of Oliver Twist, the most notable adaptations have been straightforward retellings of the original storyline. For example, the West End musical adaptation Oliver! largely adheres to Dickens' plot, although it omits the events before Oliver ends up at the workhouse; it also sets up a final showdown between Mr. Brownlee and Bill Sikes, with the custody of Oliver at stake. Oliver! was later adapted into the musical film of the same name, which won a 1968 Oscar for Best Picture, one of the only musicals in history to do so.

The first film adaptation was produced as a silent film in 1909, and many others have followed. The most recent film adaptation was 2021's Twist, based on a novel by the same name; it featured Michael Caine as the Fagin character and Lena Headey as a female version of the Bill Sikes character. It received terrible reviews and was nominated for two Raspberry awards, including for the category "Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel." Dickens' story has also been retold internationally, including in India (Manik) and in Mexico (Las Adventuras de Oliver Twist), and as an animated 1988 Disney film about stray animals in New York City (Oliver & Company).

Allison Epstein's addition to the canon, Fagin the Thief, takes the perspective of Fagin. Though other works have also taken different characters' perspectives, the more common ones are based on Jack Dawkins, aka the Artful Dodger, including Terry Pratchett's novel Dodger and the 2023 miniseries The Artful Dodger.

Perhaps one of the reasons Fagin has been an underrepresented character in the past is the antisemitism associated with Dickens' portrayal; for example, Fagin is largely referred to in the beginning of the book as "the Jew." Dickens was taken to task for this stereotyping and subsequent printings did attempt to eliminate this moniker from the latter half of the book. But modern adaptations have struggled with representing the character without also falling into antisemitic stereotypes. According to Epstein, who immersed herself in Oliver Twist adaptations while she was working on Fagin the Thief, "What I've seen is you can have an interesting adaptation of Fagin, but you can't have an interesting adaptation of Fagin that's Jewish. So many adaptations step back so fast, as if to say, 'We're making this interesting, compelling villain who's sashaying onto the stage doing all these interesting things. He can't be Jewish when he does that, because then that's an antisemitic caricature.'" In her book, she says, "I want him to be Jewish and interesting at the same time."

Filed under Books and Authors

This article relates to Fagin the Thief. It first ran in the March 26, 2025 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.

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