Fagin (Charles Dickens)

Fagin in the cell, engraving by George Cruikshanks in the original edition of the 1837 novel

Fagin is a controversial fictional literary figure in the social novel " Oliver Twist ", which the English writer Charles Dickens published between 1837 and 1839. Fagin is portrayed by Dickens as a disgusting-looking fender of Jewish origin and leader of a gang of thieves who turn poor orphans into thieves and later leave them to their fate. Greed and avarice also belong to the characteristics of the figure.

Public discussion about the fictional character Fagin

The literary figure of Fagin was already part of Charles Dickens' lifetime and is still the subject of sometimes very controversial discussions. For example, in Dickens' novel "Oliver Twist" generations of readers in the English-speaking world had been taught prejudices about Jews. The anti-Semitic stereotypes with which Dickens draws the character of Fagin in the first edition of his novel were tempered by Dickens himself in later editions. Notwithstanding this, Fagin is referred to by Dickens as "the Jew" in 257 passages. In order to justify his portrayal of the character Fagin, Charles Dickens had stated, among other things: “I always speak well about them [the Jews], whether at home or in public”, but “unfortunately it is also true that these Kind of criminals are almost exclusively Jews ”.

In the numerous media adaptations of the novel "Oliver Twist", especially film adaptations, the corresponding passages are often shortened or completely eliminated. The British theatrical version of "Oliver Twist" from 1948 with Alec Guinness as the actor of Fagin was only shown in the USA in 1951 after scenes perceived as anti-Semitic had been cut from the film with a total duration of twelve minutes.

Representation of the character Fagin in film and television (selection)

• Oliver Twist (1933) , by William Cowen: Here Irving Pichel played Fagin.
• Oliver Twist (1948) , by David Lean. Here Alec Guinness played Fagin.
• In the Broadway play Oliver! (1964) played Clive Revill Fagin.
• In 1982 George C. Scott played Fagin in a television production.
• In 1985, Eric Porter played Fagin in a television production.
• Oliver Twist (2005) , by Roman Polański. Here Ben Kingsley played Fagin.
• Oliver Twist (2007) , by Coky Giedroyc. Here Timothy Spall played Fagin.
• The BBC2 Dickensian series was produced between 2015 and 2016 . Here Fagin was portrayed by Anton Lesser .

Literature (selection)

• Henning Thies (ed.): Major works of English literature. Individual presentations and interpretations . 3rd edition. Kindler Verlag, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-463-40271-8 , p. 354 f. (Excerpt from Kindler's new literary dictionary ).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Geoffrey Nunberg: The Way We Talk Now . Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston / New York 2001, p. 126.