Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
analytical Essay
1278 words
AP Great Book Assignment: Great Expectations
The 544-page, Bildungsroman novel, Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens is considered a classic because it has stood the test of time, appealing to generation after generation of readers while still remaining relevant to them. Published in 1861, Dickens created a coming-of-age story that is similar to his other novel, David Copperfield, but Great Expectations is considered to have reflected parts of his own life. There are several parallels between Pip and Dickens. Both had a difficult upbringing; they both experienced unstable, economic stability as children; and they were both orphaned-- Pip through the loss of his parents, and Dickens metaphorically when he was separated from his family to become a child laborer when he was only 12 years old.
This Victorian-era novel reflects a time in England of great political change as the throne passed from King George III to the Prince Regent in 1812, the Prince Regent to George IV in 1820, George IV to King William in 1830, and King William to Queen Victoria in 1837. It also exhibits the Industrial Revolution that England experienced through the imagery of new technologies such as the London steamboats. The growing technological advancements and the social and political unrest cause the novel to be set in the years from 1812-1840.
The story follows Pip’s life as he grows from a young boy into a gentleman of England. Pip lives in three areas during the course of the novel—the quiet countryside in Essex, England as a child; the center of the bustling, industrialized London during his time as a gentleman; and Egypt for an 11-year period after the he loses his wealth. Even though all three places must have greatly affected Pip’s life in di...
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...ddy has taught him to read and write, that Orlick had robbed Uncle Pumblechook but was arrested, and that Miss Havisham had passed away. Joe leaves without telling Pip, but before going, Joe pays off Pip’s debts. Pip goes after him and plans to propose to Biddy, only to find that Joe and Biddy had been recently married. Disappointed, Pip wishes them both happiness and decides to go to Egypt with Herbert after all.
Eleven years later, Pip returns to England a changed man. He has learned the importance of working for a living and tries to convince Biddy that he is content with being a bachelor. He later wanders to the ruins of Satis House and thinks about Estella and the recently deceased Drummle. He sees Estella in the garden, and they leave together hand in hand. This scene is significant because Pip finally gets to be with Estella after all those years apart.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the 544-page bildungsroman novel, great expectations, by charles dickens is considered a classic because it appeals to generation after generation of readers while still remaining relevant to them.
- Analyzes how the victorian-era novel reflects a time in england of great political change as the throne passed from king george iii to the prince regent in 1812.
- Analyzes how dickens chose to focus on the psychological and moral development of the protagonist rather than the changes the country experienced itself.
- Analyzes how the novel begins in a cemetery on christmas eve in 1812 where young philip pirrip is confronted by an escaped convict named abel magwitch.
- Narrates how pip created a massive amount of debt for himself during his time in london, including his best friend herbert pocket, the trustworthy startop, wemmick and the cruel bentley drummle.
- Analyzes how pip feels inclined to stay with magwitch after taking him abroad, since he has declined to spend any more of his benefactor’s money.
- Analyzes how pip is optimistic about magwitch's future, and herbert offers him a job in the middle east. joe symbolizes love and understanding, guiding him between good and evil throughout his life.
- Analyzes how pip returns to england 11 years later a changed man. he learns the importance of working and convinces biddy that he is content with being bachelor.
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- Great Expectations by Charles Dickensanalytical essay“Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens This assignment is looking closely at a novel written before 1900. The book is called “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens. The novel is in the first person, autobiographical form, that it is Pip who looks back at his past life and recounts the event which led to the situation we find him in at the last chapter. Dickens creates some memorable people, realism is found in his settings.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes "great expectations" by charles dickens. the novel is in the first person, autobiographical form, where pip looks back at his past life and recounts the event which led to the situation.
- Explains that pip and magwitch appear in the opening sequences of the novel, but don't return until chapter 20.
- Explains that pip's mother, father, and five brothers died when he was a young boy. he had to live with his sister and her husband, the blacksmith joe gargery.
- Analyzes how magwitch is an escaped convict who fears for his life, but is a quiet religious man.
- Describes how pip met the convict when he was standing by his family's gravestones. he was scared and didn't know what to do until magwitch turned up at the house.
406 wordsRead More - Pip's Character In Great Expectations By Charles Dickensanalytical essayThe change first starts when he meets Miss Havisham and her adopted daughter, Estella, Estella treats him as if he was a poor servant. Pip strives to change himself so that he could meet Estella’s standards and gain her approval. On one occasion, Pip showed his ambition, after he meets Estella; he becomes quickly obsessed with wanting to better himself. Pip said, “I knew I was common, and I wished I was not common.” Pip then begins to take extra lessons from his friend, Biddy; he would do anything to be less “common and course.” In addition, Pip has a simple dream of becoming a blacksmith, like his brother-in-law Joe, but after he is apprenticed by Miss Havisham. Pip became restless; he felt ashamed of his small house. So, when he receives new from Mr. Jaggers about his “great expectations” Pip jumps at the opportunity to be educated, rich, and socially accepted. Pip left his friend Joe, to better himself. Pip said, “I was lost in the mazes of my future fortune, and could not retrace the bypath we had trodden together.” As a gentleman, Pip’s ambitions cause him to be ungrateful to his friends, and his lavish way of life causes his friend Herbert to go into debt. Pip’s great ambitions cause him to lose sight of what is really
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how in charles dickens' novel great expectations, pip dreams of becoming a "gentleman of great expectations." he becomes arrogant, ambitious, and loyal as he grows up.
- Analyzes how pip showed his kindness throughout the novel, such as when he brought a piece of pork pie to the convict who seizes him.
- Analyzes how pip's kindness is replaced with ambition. he is ungrateful to his friends and his lavish way of life causes his friend herbert to go into debt.
- Analyzes how pip learns that being loyal to friends and not despising those less fortunate than he is, that is what makes a true gentleman.
- Analyzes how pip, as a young child, proves that he is kind, but grows into ambitions, and becomes loyal to all those around him. he learns to change his ways and lives happily with loved ones.
999 wordsRead More - Summary of Great Expectationsanalytical essayThe story is told by Pip, a grown man describing his experiences as a young common labouring boy in the early Victorian period. He sometimes tends to narrate the story as if through the eyes of an innocent child. The effect that has on the reader is that it brings out both a mature and young adventurous side in us, it also makes us feel sorry for Pip in a way, because of the way he was treated by his merciless sister. For example when Pip?s uncle Mr Pumblechuck tells Pip he has to go and entertain a woman he doesn?t know called Miss Haversham, his sister forces him to go even though he doesn?t want to with a threat. ?If Miss Haversham wants a boy to go and play there and of course he?s going, or I?ll work him?. The explanation for this is she never wanted Pip in the first place as he was dumped on her, so she was happy to get rid of him.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how dickens introduces miss haversham to great expectations. the story is told by pip, a common labouring boy in the early victorian period.
- Analyzes how pip is introduced to estella at miss haversham's mansion, where he is informally greeted by a pretty young girl who refers him as 'boy'.
- Analyzes estella's description of the room, which was lit up with wax candles and not a glimpse of daylight.
- Describes hiss haversham as the strangest lady he's ever seen sitting in an armchair at the dressing table. she was dressed in satins, lace, and silks of all white.
- Analyzes how miss haversham's effect on pip and the whole story was immense. he met estella and saved her from rotting to death in satin house after she got jilted by a rich english man.
736 wordsRead More - Paperanalytical essayMany people would leave their family behind for their own “great expectations”. In Charles Dickens’, Great Expectations, Pip is born a content, common boy but as the novel progresses, he becomes less happy with being poor. Pip meets the beautiful, rich Estella, and is taunted by her about being poor. After that, Pip is no longer happy to work the rest of his life as a common boy in the forge. When a strange lawyer comes to his home, offering him fortune and a chance to be a gentleman, Pip does not hesitate to go with him and leave his family behind. Once he has left, he beings to look down on the “common people”. He treats them poorly and believes that he is above them. In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens reveals the theme that money and social status can change relationships by character and bildungsroman in the writing.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how charles dickens' great expectations reveals the theme that money and social status can change relationships by character and bildungsroman in the writing.
- Analyzes how dickens uses character to show the reader that opportunity for money and fortune cause pip to leave the people who raised him.
- Analyzes how charles dickens uses bildungsroman to get the theme across to the reader. pip treats his family badly once he goes to london.
- Analyzes how charles dickens uses character and bildungsroman to make the theme that relationships can be changed by a gain in social class and fortune.
691 wordsRead More - The place where Pip began his childhood was in the marshes of Kent in England. This place represented his naivety. Pip, surrounded by escaped convicts in his poor and tacky home, showed a significant lack of experience in the world. Not only did he listen to anything the convict said, but he did so because the escaped convict terrified
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how dicken's great expectations describes the dirty, polluted victorian-london environment in which pip was raised, and how these environments affected him.
- Analyzes how pip began his childhood in the marshes of kent, england, where he was surrounded by escaped convicts in his poor and tacky home. his sister raised him to be an amenable child.
- Analyzes how pip's early teen life was spent at havisham’s estate, which represents a transition between his humble beginnings and snobby end.
- Analyzes how pip ends his journey in the disgusting city of london, where he becomes spoiled, snobby, and pretentious. he insults the one who cared for him most and acts embarrassed that joe is his family member.
- Analyzes how the places pip grew up in affected him. the marshes made him innocent and naive, while havisham's estate introduced him to the world of the aristocats.
493 wordsRead More - Charles Dickens' Great Expectationsanalytical essayLiving in a world where much about a person’s character is measured by wealth, it has become increasingly important to maintain a separation between material characteristics and intangible moral values. Pip, in Dickens’ Great Expectations, must learn from his series of disappointments and realize the importance of self-reliance over acceptance to social norms. Through his unwavering faith in wealthy “ideals,” such as Miss Havisham and Estella, Pip develops both emotionally and morally, learning that surface appearances never reveal the truth in a person’s heart.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how pip, in dickens' great expectations, must learn from his series of disappointments and realize the importance of self-reliance over acceptance to social norms.
- Analyzes how pip, through spending time with estella, picks up the desire for social improvement through physical or emotional games, and realizes the difference between fantasy and reality.
- Analyzes how pip's emotional transformation is evident through his perceptions of his role in society, from being a victim of circumstances to rising above and taking an active position in his journey through life.
- Analyzes how pip believes that he remains stagnant and those around him are the ones changing, but it is him who is responsible for the grand change by the end of great expectations
- Analyzes how the fantastical connections between fairy tales and great expectations speak to coincidental events of the novel, emphasizing the ambiguity involved in any label or characterization.
- Analyzes how pip transforms morally throughout the book by realizing the limitations of fortune, the transcendental nature of social class, and understanding the balance of self-interest and consideration essential to a good life.
1230 wordsRead More - Charles Dickens' Great Expectationsnarrative essayCharles Dickens' Great Expectations Pip is a young boy when he meets a convict in the marsh lands by his house, he steals food and a file to help the convict, who then disappears. But as Pips sister and her husband Joe realise the food is gone, soldiers go looking for the convict and later find him fighting with another escaped convict and they both end up getting put back into prison. Pip is asked to go and play at a large house called Satis House and when he does so he meets its inhabitant, a strange lady called Miss Haversham. Previously in her life, she was jilted at the altar which tainted her whole life turning her into a bitter old lady.
In this essay, the author
- Narrates how pip meets a convict in the marsh lands.
- Narrates how pip is asked to play at a large house called satis house.
- Narrates how he is going to ask biddy to marry him.
- Narrates how he was sent to work in a blacking factory in london.
- Opines that nothing seemed to have gone on inside it for a long time.
- Opines that people want to be on the good side of mr jaggers.
- Opines that the chapters where pip is in london is the time in the novel where he is.
- Narrates how people at the time thought that as long as you had money, you could survive.
- Opines that once one is happy with who he is on the inside, one can be truly happy.
1524 wordsRead More - Pip's State of Mindanalytical essayPip’s state of mind at this point in the novel is conflicted and torn due to the aspects of social class, and his surroundings. Pip currently lives with his newfound riches and manners, but is constantly reminded of his background of low social class. He refuses to accept his past and is torn between who he is, and how he wants to be – a “gentleman,” sharing a life with his love, Estella.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how pip is blinded by the idea of fortune and wealth. he chooses the satis house and estella over his brother-in-law, joe, and the marshes in which he wanders around as a young boy.
- Analyzes how pip learns and understands all the norms associated with being a "gentleman." he pushes joe away during his visit to show off his new, embellished person and character.
- Analyzes how pip strives to move away from the ‘common’ life with his sister, and joe, so that he may impress estella. the question mark represents the general question and confusion.
- Analyzes how pip's state of mind at this point in the novel is conflicted and torn due to the aspects of social class, and his surroundings.
793 wordsRead More - Great Expectations by Charles Dickensanalytical essayThe novel, Great Expectations, looks back upon a period of pre-Victorian development. It displays that ambition and self-improvement is something many aspire for but more often than not ambition can create problems for one and cause one to commit things that one never thought they would. Whereas, those who are not ambitious because they were born to a wealthy family do acts of malice knowing it but realizing that what they really wanted was indeed not what they wanted but were blinded by malice. It also displays that crime isn’t always committed out of malice but rather sometimes it is the only one can survive. However, one can seek to redeem themselves from it by seeking to help others. Mistakes are things one commits throughout life and experience. In the novel, Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, the characters Pip, Magwitch, and Miss Havisham demonstrated how society seeks redemption after committing mistakes that affected their life greatly.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the novel, great expectations, shows that ambition and self-improvement is something many aspire for but often causes one to commit things that one never thought they would.
- Analyzes how ambition and self-improvement can be blinding and causes one to make mistakes that will cause one later to want to redeem them.
- Analyzes how magwitch symbolizes crime and how a convict can change their ways and help others.
- Analyzes how miss havisham is an eccentric woman who was jilted at the alter and could not forgive nor forget the incident. she made pip and estella suffer greatly not knowing that her actions were hurtful.
682 wordsRead More - Great Expectations Analysisanalytical essayCharles Dickens’ novel Great Expectations follows the maturing of main character Philip “Pip” Pirrip from a very young age until his adulthood. The novel starts with Pip being just six years old, alone on the marsh where he has an encounter that changes his whole life. What is notable about this early Pip is how he is shaped and manipulated by the ideologies of those around him, especially when it comes to social class. Dickens makes it very clear that Pip does not reach maturity until he frees himself from these notions that had been set upon him, and begins to see past the overt attributes associated with station.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how pip's moral spirals downwards when he comes into his "great expectations." he wavers between being snobbish and feeling guilty over being so, but tries to comfort joe, though not whole-heartily.
- Analyzes how pip begins to mature and think more for himself when he helps herbert. wemmick is an embodiment of what a social conscious person would do.
- Analyzes how pip has his moral redemption and breaks free from all the ideas he has on class. magwitch's return is the catalyst for this.
- Analyzes how dickens' novel great expectations follows the maturing of philip pirrip from a very young age until his adulthood.
- Analyzes how the novel ends with pip returning home after being away parallels his moral journal to rediscover the kindness he had as a child.
1184 wordsRead More