Was Charles Dickens anti-semitic

Answer 1

There is no indication that Charles Dickens ever was anti-semitic. Some have argued that he was, based on the fact that he had made Fagin, the villain of Oliver Twist, a Jew. Dickens had however based Fagin on a real person who had been convicted - in real life - for doing the exact same things (recruiting and training children for pickpocketing and other petty crimes) as Fagin: the - Jewish - criminal Ikey Solomon.

Charles Dickens is on record as stating: "I have no feeling towards the Jews but a friendly one. I always speak well of them, whether in public or private, and bear my testimony (as I ought to do) to their perfect good faith in such transactions as I have ever had with them" and he later removed almost all mentions of Fagin's Jewishness from the text of Oliver Twist when he found that these gave offence to his Jewish friends and acquaintances.

Answer 2

Some scholars argue that Charles Dickens exhibited anti-Semitic attitudes in his portrayal of Jewish characters in his early works such as "Oliver Twist." However, others believe that his views evolved over time and that he became more sympathetic towards Jewish characters in his later works. Ultimately, it is a topic of debate among literary critics and historians.