Dickens' Use of Characters in Volume One to Present the Themes of Great Expectations
'Great Expectations' is a novel by Charles Dickens about a young,
working class boy called Pip, brought up by his sister. Pip
mysteriously inherits a large amount of money and is given the
opportunity to become something he thought he would never be…a
gentleman. The novel explores themes such as: Revenge, Family and
Education.
Another theme of 'Great Expectations' is the distinction of classes in
Victorian society and their importance. In Victorian times, there were
lots of ways of deciphering which class a person was from, by simply
looking at, or listening to them. When Pip first meets Magwitch, he
notices that he is "a man with no hat", the sign of a lower class
person, although Pip is too afraid to look down on him due to this at
the time. Higher-class people were thought to be superior to people in
the lower classes and they hardly ever mixed or socialised. There was
very little mobility between classes. Victorian society is in vast
contrast to our own modern society because nowadays, people are a lot
more accepting of others and are less discriminative of people who are
dissimilar to themselves. Victorians in higher and lower classes were
treated very differently to each other, whereas in modern times
everybody is treated relatively equally and status, jobs, titles and
money are a lot less significant.
The class system is relevant to 'Great Expectations' because this is
the main theme of the novel and it is present from start to finish.
'Great Expectations' is all about the barrier between higher and lower
class people and how it is sh...
... middle of paper ...
...m because it is as though Pip has taken advantage of
him and showed him the cold shoulder when all Joe ever showed Pip was
love and devotion.
Through 'Great Expectations' Dickens has shown us the lives, problems
and happiness' that people from every type of background can
experience and share. There is a moral to the story and this is not to
look down on people who are less fortunate because you might not
always be who you think you are. For example, Estella looked down on
Pip for being from a working class, common background but she was
unaware that her father was a criminal and her mother a servant. The
nicest people in the novel are the ones who can accept people from all
walks of life. Dickens also tried to show us that wealth is not
everything. It can change people tremendously and it does not buy
happiness.
sweet name for a small sweet boy; Magwitch - is he a witch? Or evil?
Dickens seems to develop characters who are so compelling that the reader needs to know what’s going to happen next...
Change is a very common, but huge part of a person’s life. Change will cause a person to be completely different from who they are. The infleunce of other people cause a person to change one’s personality. Other’s change one’s personality.
develop an overall theme of good and evil in the story and to create a
I have chosen to look at how the relationship of Pip and Magwitch develops during the novel. I have chosen 3 key scenes in which Magwitch and pip meet and I will look at how each is portrayed in terms of character, development, setting and the messages or morals that dickens is trying to convey.
We see Pips sister, who is a bossy person and her husband, Joe, who is
The convict then disappears and is eventually recaptured. Then Pip is sent to Satis House which is occupied by an old woman called Miss Havisham, there Pip is attracted to her daughter, Estella. Later Pip travels to London where he is to be trained as a gentleman, paid for by an anonymous benefactor whom he presumes is Miss Havisham. Pip stays in London for many years and in due course learns that Magwitch, the convict, is his benefactor. This shatters his dreams of marrying Estella and as the story unfolds he learns that Magwitch is Estella's father.
along with the rest of his family to work in a factory to help repay
In the novel ‘Great Expectations’ there are three women who Dickens portrays differently to his contemporary’s, writers such as Austen and Bronté, and to the typical 19th century woman. These three women go by the name of Mrs Joe (Pips sister), Miss Havisham, and Estella. Mrs Joe who is Pips sister and Mr Joe’s wife is very controlling and aggressive towards Pip and Mr Joe. ‘In knowing her to have a hard and heavy hand’. This shows Dickens has given Mrs Joe very masculine qualities, which is very unusual for a 19th century woman. Mr Joe has a very contrasting appearance and personality to Mrs Joe. ‘Joe was a fair man, with curls of flaxen hair on each side of his smooth face, and with eyes of such a very undecided blue that they seemed to have somehow got mixed with their own whites.’ In many ways Dickens has swapped the stereo type appearances and personalities of 19th century men and women. Dickens portrays Miss Havisham to be rich but lonely women. ‘I should acquit myself under that lady’s roof’. This shows Miss Havisham owns her own property which is Satis House. This woul...
"I must entreat you to pause for an instant, and go back to what you know of my childish days, and to ask yourself whether it is natural that something of the character formed in me then" - Charles Dickens
his life, and emotions. You must understand that Pip can be a selfish person, but all
find out he was a orphan when he was young as he said, "I never saw my
Review of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens In Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, the reader is quickly attracted to the book by the author's use of very vivid and emotional details. Dickens' structure and language allow the reader to experience life-like situations from this novel. Realistic, bold characters and an up-tempo plot keep the reader interested. Dickens uses different themes to allow the reader to compare this novel to their own lives. He allows them to add their own feelings while deeply portraying the feelings that he would have felt while reading this.
Literature varies in many ways. Two ways in which this can happen can be between escape literature and interpretive literature. According to Literature Structure, Sound, and Sense, “Literature of escape is that written purely for entertainment… Literature of interpretive is written to broaden, deepen, and sharpen our awareness of life.” In the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, interpretive literature is more evident than escape in regard to the fact that it was written not only for pleasure, but for a deeper understanding that the reader may grasp.
Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations (1861) has great significance to the plot. The title itself symbolizes prosperity and most importantly ambition. The main character and the protagonist, Pip (Philip Pirrip) was born an orphan and hand-raised by his sister Mrs. Gargery and her husband Joe Gargery. Pip was a young boy when he was threatened by a convict, Magwitch, at his parents’ grave to aid him. Pip nervously agreed to lend him a hand and was haunted day and night of the sin he committed which involved stealing food and tools from his Mr. and Mrs. Gargery’s house. Later on, he is called for at the Satis Manor by a rich woman, Miss Havisham. There he met a beautiful young girl, Estella, to whom Pip falls in love with. The novel being divided into three volumes, Pips great expectations arise soon after visiting the Satis Manor.