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Nancy A thief and compatriot of Fagin and Bill Sikes. Alan Bleasdale on Nancy: "...she is strong enough to stand up to Bill, but she does keep returning to the end of his fist, which none of the middle class characters can understand and, nor in a way, can I. It is unfathomable, but it is unfortunately a fairly common phenomenon. One thing is clear to me, Nancy loves Bill Sikes and she is not frightened of him. She remains loyal to him and Fagin throughout." Emily Woof plays the unfortunate Nancy who forms a strong connection with young Oliver and seems to be a force for good in a menacing world: "The turning point for Nancy is meeting Oliver; she sees this young innocent boy and knows the abuses that lie ahead. Meeting him brings out a natural compassion in her; she tries to protect him from the same fate that befell her. Looking at him, she sees herself at his age, when she too was a young innocent and she has now been totally corrupted by the life she's led.
"The flip side to all this is that life with Fagin is often a lot of fun, but her natural intelligence disallows her from being happy with her lot. Nancy wants more from life, but she knows that it's too late for her, so she channels those desires through Oliver."
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