Was Charles Dickens antisemitic?

The Encore! Educational Theatre Company is currently presenting the popular musical Oliver! here in Jerusalem. Several members of Beit Knesset Hanassi have already been to see the production, more have already bought their tickets for this week -- and some are even involved in the production, which very much captures the joyous spirit of Lionel Bart's translation of Oliver Twist from book to stage. 

One of Charles Dickens' best-known works, Oliver Twist has raised much discussion over the years as to whether the author was antisemitic. At the heart of the debate is Dickens' portrayal of one of the antagonists in the tale, Fagin, as a Jew. Fagin, who deals in stolen property, is a plainly unsavoury character who trains young boys as thieves and pickpockets. He is amoral, selfish -- and is very pointedly referred to on countless occasions as a Jew. 

The musical is quite different. Lionel Bart, who created it, was himself Jewish and the stage version of Fagin is a much more nuanced character than the book version: he does display some feelings towards his fellow humans and even contemplates the prospect of teshuvah. Indeed, in the Encore! production, only the musical accompaniment to Fagin's songs yields any suggestion at all that Fagin is Jewish. 

So was Dickens an antisemite? On account of Fagin's notoriety, he has his own quite detailed entry in Wikipedia (here), which chronicles both Dickens' initially unfavourable attitude towards Jews with his subsequent conduct on learning that Jews found his portrayal offensive. Those who visit Beit Shmuel this week will doubtless reach their own conclusions.