 Thackeray even included Dickens in this criticism for his portrayal of the good-hearted streetwalker Nancy and the charming pickpocket, the Artful Dodger, in "Oliver Twist".Ainsworth's "Jack Sheppard" portrayed a real-life prison breaker and thief from the eighteenth century in flattering terms.In contrast, Thackeray sought out a real-life criminal whom he could portray in as unflattering terms as possible.