Question To what extent does Dickens present love and marriage as a battle in "Oliver Twist  with reference to "Wuthering Heights?" Response  Dickens presents love and marriage as a battle as status, deceitfulness, violence and hatred. Love is portrayed as a battle as male and female relationships were based on social and financial profit rather than affection and care. He presents the battle through his contrasting character pairings and the negative language used. Dickens shows loves in a complex way he first shows it as a business, for financial and status benefit, he also shows love and marriage as romanticized; displaying that battling for love is worthwhile. The main points of this essay are the partnerships of Bill and Nancy, Agnes and Mr Leeford, Mr Bumble and Mrs Corney also Harry and Rose. In some ways, Dickens does present love and marriage as a battle. This is shown in Sikes and Nancy's relationship as it is based on deceit and violence. The quote, "I'll split your skull against the wall,  shows how their relationship was filled threats and was a constant battle for Nancy to have any form of affection. The way Dickens organised the novel building up to Nancy's death was to make Sikes more threatening near the climax of the novel. This quote also foreshadows Nancy's death. This type of relationship was not uncommon in the Victorian period; wife beating was prominent occurrence in Victorian times. It was socially acceptable and may have been seen as a characteristic of the lower class but domestic violence was prevalent in all classes. Even though the general audience of the novel say Sikes is a threatening brute, others say they feel sympathy for Sikes as his threats and cursing are almost like one of a pantomime characters. Sikes and Nancy's relationship is very similar to Heathcliff's and Isabella's relationship as he is very abusive towards her. Sikes's and Heathcliff's abuse is physical, making the characters of Nancy and Isabella have low self-esteem, yearning for love of the men. A critical response of Nancy said she would have had to been delirious or have extremely low self-esteem to in love with the vile person that is Sikes. Her low self-esteem and his brutish behaviour makes their relationship complicated, hence a battle. Dickens does present love and marriage as a battle through the bitter couple of Mr Bumble and Mrs Corney. Their struggles as a couple are almost comedic and light hearted compared to the rest of the novel. Mr Bumble's and Mrs Corney's relationship is a battle as it's only based on financial profit not love. This is shown in the