The Artful Dodger
Encyclopedia
Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in the Charles Dickens
novel
Oliver Twist
. Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that respect. As a result he has become the leader of the gang of child criminals, trained by the elderly Fagin
. He becomes Oliver's closest friend (although he betrays him when Oliver was mistakenly caught) and he tries to make him a pickpocket, but soon realizes that Oliver won't, and feels sorry for him saying "What a pity ain't a prig!". He also has a close relationship with Charley Bates
. Ultimately the Dodger is caught with a stolen silver snuff box and presumably sent to a penal colony in Australia (only alluded to in the novel). The Dodger chooses to consider himself a "victim of society," roaring in the courtroom "I am an Englishman; where are my rights?" The judge has little patience with the Dodger's posturing, and orders him out of the courtroom immediately after the jury convicts him of the theft. Dickens describes him this way:
The nickname "Artful Dodger" is still commonly used to refer to someone who is good at avoiding responsibility or the consequences of his or her actions. "Artful Dodger" is also rhyming slang for "lodger
".
Dickens had first used a similar term in his previous novel, The Pickwick Papers
. At the close of Chapter 16, Sam Weller refers to the recent schemes of Mr. Jingle: "Reg'lar do, sir; artful dodge."
The Artful Dodger, though a pickpocket, is not a heartless character. He has a great respect for Fagin, to whom he delivers all of the pickpocketing spoils without question.
The role of the Artful Dodger has been played by several notable performers. British actor Anthony Newley
played the character in a 1948 film
adaptation of the story. The role was amplified in the musical Oliver!
. The part was first played by Martin Horsey (actor, director and author of "L'Chaim"), and later by Tony Robinson
, Davy Jones
, Steve Marriott
and Phil Collins
among others. Elijah Wood
also portrayed the character. He was played by Harry Eden
in Roman Polanski
's big-budget 2005 film version
.
In the 1968 film Oliver!
, Jack Wild
played the role and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Others to have played the role in amateur productions include Ben Elton
, Robbie Williams
, and Hayley Smith
.
In the 1980 ATV series The Further Adventures of Oliver Twist, the Dodger was played by John Fowler. When Oliver is sent by Mr. Brownlow to a boarding school, he finds the Dodger already there, and it is revealed that thanks to Oliver's uncle Harry Maylie the Dodger escaped transportion and was instead enrolled in the school. The two friends re-unite, and when Oliver flees the school the Dodger follows him back to London. Oliver is made to believe by Noah Claypole, Noah's girlfriend Charlotte and Mrs. Carraway (Mr. Brownlow's corrupt new housekeeper) that Mr. Brownlow is ill to the point of death. After Dodger rescues Oliver from his imprisonment by Claypole in the Brownlow cellar, he and Oliver are forced to take to the streets to uncover the truth, encountering Mr. Bumble, the villainous Monks and their old mentor Fagin
along the way.
In Walt Disney
's 1988
animated feature film
version of Oliver Twist, Oliver and Company, the character of the Artful Dodger was changed to a streetwise anthropomorphic mutt
simply named Dodger. The voice was provided by musician Billy Joel
.
In 2001, the Artful Dodger was the subject of an Australian children's show called Escape of the Artful Dodger
. The show followed the Artful Dodger's adventures in the Australian penal colony in New South Wales, as well as his eventual redemption. Oliver Twist and Fagin also appeared.
In the 2003 Twist
film, a modern-day retelling of the story, the Artful Dodger is called Dodge and is played by Nick Stahl
. The film is told from his point of view, where he's a drug addict influenced by Fagin.
In the BBC
adaptation of Oliver Twist in 2007, in which he is played by Adam Arnold, the Artful Dodger is shown to care deeply about Nancy. He is shown to have been very upset about her eventual death and is also shown to be slightly jealous of not being Nancy's favorite when Oliver is being nursed by her after being shot.
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, published by Richard Bentley in 1838. The story is about an orphan Oliver Twist, who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to...
. Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that respect. As a result he has become the leader of the gang of child criminals, trained by the elderly Fagin
Fagin
Fagin is a fictional character who appears as an antagonist of the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, referred to in the preface of the novel as a "receiver of stolen goods", but referred to more frequently within the actual story as the "merry old gentleman" or simply the "Jew".-Character:Born...
. He becomes Oliver's closest friend (although he betrays him when Oliver was mistakenly caught) and he tries to make him a pickpocket, but soon realizes that Oliver won't, and feels sorry for him saying "What a pity ain't a prig!". He also has a close relationship with Charley Bates
Charley Bates
Charley Bates is a supporting character in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. He is a young boy and member of Fagin's gang of pickpockets, and sidekick to the Artful Dodger. Charley, along with The Artful Dodger, steal Mr. Brownlow's handkerchief, a crime Oliver is blamed for...
. Ultimately the Dodger is caught with a stolen silver snuff box and presumably sent to a penal colony in Australia (only alluded to in the novel). The Dodger chooses to consider himself a "victim of society," roaring in the courtroom "I am an Englishman; where are my rights?" The judge has little patience with the Dodger's posturing, and orders him out of the courtroom immediately after the jury convicts him of the theft. Dickens describes him this way:
"With these last words, the Dodger suffered himself to be led off by the collar, threatening, till he got into the yard, to make a parliamentary business of it, and then grinning in the officer's face, with great glee and self-approval."
He was a snub-nosed, flat-browed, common-faced boy enough; and as dirty a juvenile as one would wish to see; but he had about him all the airs and manners of a man. He was short of his age: with rather bow-legs, and little, sharp, ugly eyes. His hat was stuck on the top of his head so lightly, that it threatened to fall off every moment--and would have done so, very often, if the wearer had not had a knack of every now and then giving his head a sudden twitch, which brought it back to its old place again. He wore a man's coat, which reached nearly to his heels. He had turned the cuffs back, half-way up his arm, to get his hands out of the sleeves: apparently with the ultimated view of thrusting them into the pockets of his corduroy trousers; for there he kept them. He was, altogether, as roystering and swaggering a young gentleman as ever stood four feet six, or something less, in the bluchers.
The nickname "Artful Dodger" is still commonly used to refer to someone who is good at avoiding responsibility or the consequences of his or her actions. "Artful Dodger" is also rhyming slang for "lodger
Lodger
Lodger may refer to:* Lodger , a 1979 art rock album by David Bowie* Lodger , a Finnish indie rock band* Lodger , a short-lived supergroup comprising members of Powder, Supergrass, and Delicatessen...
".
Dickens had first used a similar term in his previous novel, The Pickwick Papers
The Pickwick Papers
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club is the first novel by Charles Dickens. After the publication, the widow of the illustrator Robert Seymour claimed that the idea for the novel was originally her husband's; however, in his preface to the 1867 edition, Dickens strenuously denied any...
. At the close of Chapter 16, Sam Weller refers to the recent schemes of Mr. Jingle: "Reg'lar do, sir; artful dodge."
The Artful Dodger, though a pickpocket, is not a heartless character. He has a great respect for Fagin, to whom he delivers all of the pickpocketing spoils without question.
The role of the Artful Dodger has been played by several notable performers. British actor Anthony Newley
Anthony Newley
Anthony George Newley was an English actor, singer and songwriter. He enjoyed success as a performer in such diverse fields as rock and roll and stage and screen acting.-Early life:...
played the character in a 1948 film
Oliver Twist (1948 film)
Oliver Twist is the second of David Lean's two film adaptations of Charles Dickens novels. Following the success of his 1946 version of Great Expectations, Lean re-assembled much of the same team for his adaptation of Dicken's 1838 novel, including producers Ronald Neame and Anthony...
adaptation of the story. The role was amplified in the musical Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
. The part was first played by Martin Horsey (actor, director and author of "L'Chaim"), and later by Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson is an English actor, comedian, author, broadcaster and political campaigner. He is best known for playing Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder, and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History. Robinson is a member of the Labour Party...
, Davy Jones
Davy Jones (actor)
David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...
, Steve Marriott
Steve Marriott
Stephen Peter Marriott , popularly known as Steve Marriott, was an English musician, songwriter, and frontman of several notable rock and roll bands, spanning over two decades...
and Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
among others. Elijah Wood
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II , then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's...
also portrayed the character. He was played by Harry Eden
Harry Eden
Harry Eden is an English actor who won a British Independent Film Award in 2003 for Most Promising Newcomer for his role in Pure....
in Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
's big-budget 2005 film version
Oliver Twist (2005 film)
Oliver Twist is a 2005 British drama film directed by Roman Polanski. The screenplay by Ronald Harwood is based on the 1838 novel of the same title by Charles Dickens....
.
In the 1968 film Oliver!
Oliver! (film)
Oliver! is a 1968 British musical film directed by Carol Reed. The film is based on the stage musical Oliver!, with book, music and lyrics written by Lionel Bart. The screenplay was written by Vernon Harris....
, Jack Wild
Jack Wild
Jack Wild was a British actor who is best remembered for his performances in both stage and screen productions of the Lionel Bart musical Oliver! with Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, and Oliver Reed. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 16 for the role of the...
played the role and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Others to have played the role in amateur productions include Ben Elton
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton is an English comedian, author, playwright and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV....
, Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
, and Hayley Smith
Hayley Smith
Hayley Smith is the name of two fictional characters:*Hayley Smith , on Australian soap, Home and Away*Hayley Smith , in satirical cartoon comedy, American Dad!...
.
In the 1980 ATV series The Further Adventures of Oliver Twist, the Dodger was played by John Fowler. When Oliver is sent by Mr. Brownlow to a boarding school, he finds the Dodger already there, and it is revealed that thanks to Oliver's uncle Harry Maylie the Dodger escaped transportion and was instead enrolled in the school. The two friends re-unite, and when Oliver flees the school the Dodger follows him back to London. Oliver is made to believe by Noah Claypole, Noah's girlfriend Charlotte and Mrs. Carraway (Mr. Brownlow's corrupt new housekeeper) that Mr. Brownlow is ill to the point of death. After Dodger rescues Oliver from his imprisonment by Claypole in the Brownlow cellar, he and Oliver are forced to take to the streets to uncover the truth, encountering Mr. Bumble, the villainous Monks and their old mentor Fagin
Fagin
Fagin is a fictional character who appears as an antagonist of the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, referred to in the preface of the novel as a "receiver of stolen goods", but referred to more frequently within the actual story as the "merry old gentleman" or simply the "Jew".-Character:Born...
along the way.
In Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's 1988
1988 in film
-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:* Act of Piracy* Action Jackson, starring Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone* The Adventures of Baron Munchausen* Akira* Alice...
animated feature film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
version of Oliver Twist, Oliver and Company, the character of the Artful Dodger was changed to a streetwise anthropomorphic mutt
Mixed-breed dog
A mixed-breed dog, also known as a mutt or mongrel, is a dog whose ancestry is generally unknown and that has characteristics of two or more types of breeds. A mixed-breed may be a cross-breed dog, a random-bred dog, or a descendant of feral or pariah dog populations...
simply named Dodger. The voice was provided by musician Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
.
In 2001, the Artful Dodger was the subject of an Australian children's show called Escape of the Artful Dodger
Escape of the Artful Dodger
Escape of the Artful Dodger was an Australian children’s television series first screened on the Nine Network in 2001.Escape of the Artful Dodger is the story of Jack Dawkins, who was introduced in the classic Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist...
. The show followed the Artful Dodger's adventures in the Australian penal colony in New South Wales, as well as his eventual redemption. Oliver Twist and Fagin also appeared.
In the 2003 Twist
Twist (film)
Twist is a 2003 Canadian drama film and a queer retelling of Charles Dickens' classic, Oliver Twist.-Plot:The plot is updated to the present day, and moved out of the London poor house onto the streets of Toronto. In addition, the tale is told not from Oliver's point of view, but rather that of Dodge...
film, a modern-day retelling of the story, the Artful Dodger is called Dodge and is played by Nick Stahl
Nick Stahl
Nicolas Kent "Nick" Stahl is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film The Man Without a Face and then embarked on a successful career as a child actor...
. The film is told from his point of view, where he's a drug addict influenced by Fagin.
In the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
adaptation of Oliver Twist in 2007, in which he is played by Adam Arnold, the Artful Dodger is shown to care deeply about Nancy. He is shown to have been very upset about her eventual death and is also shown to be slightly jealous of not being Nancy's favorite when Oliver is being nursed by her after being shot.