An orphan endures a harsh life in a workhouse before fleeing to London, where he falls in with a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the criminal Fagin, and eventually finds a better life, exposing the cruelties of poverty and child labor in Victorian England.

A young man journeys from a difficult childhood to maturity, exploring social injustice, personal development, and the complexities of human relationships.

A crofter's daughter has a child by an outlaw and is condemned to death when it is stolen by a midwife's mad daughter.

A man fakes an engagement to a typist to please his rich aunt.