【正文】 Introduction Charles Dickens was the greatest representative of English critical realist. Oliver Twist marks the very beginning of Dickens literary life. It directs at the nieenthcentury English Poor Laws with a bitter invective. As an unknown shorthand reporter of twentyone, with a single tale just published in a magazine, he referred casually to ―my proposed novel ‖ in a way that shows it must in conception and materials have resembled this. But since he knew publication was ―hazardous‖, writing was deferred while he concentrated his forces (and used some of its matter) on sketches and short stories for various newspapers and periodicals. ―I have perhaps the best subject I have ever thought of…. I have thrown my whole heart and soul into Oliver.”[1](p2) That its general purpose was clear in his mind is event from his latterwritten preface: “I wished to show in little Oliver, the principle of Good surviving through every adverse circumstance, and triumphing at last,” [2](p3) The panions among whom he was to be tried were the criminals‘ miserable world in London. The book was known to Dickens by close observation and various experience. In Oliver Twist, Dickens portrays all kinds of characters in London, especially those who live in underworld, such as Oliver Twist, Fagin, Bill Sikes, the Artful Doger and Nancy. A major concern of Oliver Twist is the question of whether or not a bad environment can irrevocably poison someone‘s character and soul. As the novel progresses, the character who best illustrates the contradictory issues brought up by that question is Nancy. As a child of streets, Nancy has been a thief and drinks to excess. The narrator‘s reference to her ―free and agreeable…manners‖ indicates that she is a prostitute. She is immersed in the vices condemned by her society, but she also mits perhaps the most notable act in the novel when she sacrifices her own life in order to protect Oliver. Nancy has a double character, with ―soul of goodness in things of evil.‖ Nancy‘s moral plexity is unique among the major characters in Oliver Twist. The novel is full of characters who are all good and can barely prehend evil, such as Oliver, Rose, And Brownlow, and characters who are all evil and barely prehend good, such as Fagin, Sikes, and Monks. Only Nancy prehends and is capable of both good and evil. Her ultimate choice to do good at a great personal cost is a strong argument in favor of the incorruptibility of basic goodness, no matter how many environmental obstacles it may face. She is a good girl, though she grows up in a evil world. There are many researches on Oliver Twist, this poor little boy. This paper is mainly concerned on Nancy. Oliver does not know anything of evil, and he speaks standardized English, though he grows up in a disguised kind society. Comparing with Oliver Twist, Nancy is true. Nancy is different, and she prehends virtue and evil. By concrete description, it reflects the darkness of that society and the plexity of human nature. 1 Nancy’s Double Character Acts in Oliver Twist When Oliver sees Nancy at the first sight, he sees Nancy ―wore a good deal of hair, full of curlpapers in, not very neatly turned up behind。 and Bill was to do this 。s decision to meet Brownlow and Rose on London Bridge reveals the symbolic aspect of this bridge in Oliver Twist. Bridges exist to link two places would otherwise be separated by an impassable chasm. The meeting on London Bridge represents the collision of two worlds unlikely ever to e into contactthe idyllic world of Brownlow and Rose, and the atmosphere of degradation in which Nancy lives. On the bridge, Nancy is given the chance to cross over to the better way of life that the others represent, but she rejects that opportunity, and by the time the three have all left the bridge, that possibility has vanished forever. Waiting for Nancy is only an endless miserable world. Nancy’s Human Nature Influence to Her Double Character Nancy, a prostitute, embodies for Dickens all the degradation into which poverty force otherwise good people. Rose, on the other hand, represents all the purity that es from good breeding. Both women embody the feminine passion that pels them to help Oliver. That feminine passion, maternal and sisterly directed toward Oliver, is also what binds Nancy to her vicelover Sikes. The same loyalty to a loved one that would be a virtue in Rose is a selfdestructive force for Nancy .Her love for Sikes and her passion for Oliver together pel her to sacrifice her own life. Though Dickens clearly approves of the second emotion for more than the first, it is likely that they stem from the same impulse in Nancy‘s character. The meeting between Rose and Nancy is one of the most emotionally heightened situation in the novel. It39。s a hard matter to get to see you, lady. If I had taken offence, and gone away, as many would have done.[9](p 258) Nancy has been familiar with harsh behavior, she understands nobody looks her as a normal girl, and is willing to talk with her. Just before she meets the girl, so many servants downstairs even are not willing to send message for her. So when she heard Rose39。[10](p 259) It is easy to imagine that how hard times this girl have ever experienced,―…… the alley and the gutter were mine, as they will be my knows the life she lives is criminal and violent. However when she makes her decision to tell the news about Oliver, from that moment, she bees a great person.I am about to put my life ...... In you hand. She realizes revealing the plots to Rose maybe lead her death. However, in order to saving Oliver, a boy she hardly knows, she fets herself, even her life. Compared with Rose, she is more respectabl