Olivia Twist

Violence and sexual arousal are intertwined in a disturbing way. Jack grabs Olivia until his "fingers burn into her flesh." He pushes her, he slams her into a wall, he knocks the wind out of her while dancing roughly with her, he tells her: "Shut your mouth!" He admits: "There was something about her that brought out a fierce side of him, something primitive that made him want to throttle her one minute and protect her the next." Jack thinks of Olivia threateningly: "He wanted to find her and make her hurt as much as he did." Olivia is attracted to the "barely restrained ferocity [lurking] behind his ice blue eyes." It's mentioned that Olivia's mother was beaten by her father, enough that her mother ran away and died in childbirth, alone. Some graphic violence described intensely. A child is gagged and whipped. A murder is described in detail: "Knifing through cloth and flesh made a very distinct noise." Engaged fight scenes with bones cracking, blood spurting. Olivia knees someone in the nose, cracking it. Jack fights with knives and an umbrella. A gun is fired and held to someone's head.

Jack wants to "kiss Olivia senseless," and they do share touches and kisses in intimate settings. Olivia's nurse does not want Olivia to become a prostitute, so she raises her as a boy. Prostitutes are grabbed at, girls are not safe around men. Women are objectified, called "whores," "light skirts," and are used for their bodies and their jewels. Jack watches longingly as a waitress's "ample bosom" nearly falls out of her corset.

"Damn," "dammit," "hell," "whore," "whorehouse," "tosser."

Olivia's first nurse takes swigs from a bottle throughout the day. Olivia doses the maid at her uncle's home with laudanum, an opiate, so she'll not be aware when Olivia sneaks out at night. Men drink ale in pubs. Champagne and wine are consumed at parties.