Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Meet Mr. Dickens Historical Context About the Novel

“The spokes- man of London’s poor and plain people.” Meet Mr. Dickens “The spokes- man of London’s poor and plain people.”

Meet Mr. Dickens Born in England in 1812 (Landport, England) His father (and the rest of his family) was sent to a debtor’s prison in 1824

Meet Mr. Dickens At the age of 12, Dickens was sent to work in a shoe polish factory; he was part of an assembly line. This affected his outlook toward wealth, class, and social status (common topics in his novels)

Meet Mr. Dickens He wrote 14 novels in his lifetime. Other familiar titles: A Christmas Carol David Copperfield A Tale of Two Cities Oliver Twist Everyone read his work because he spoke to everyone His novels were published in serial form in the newspaper He was a social critic for his time. He commented on: The child labor practices The hypocrisy of the court system The inhumanity of the penal system The widespread alcoholism and prostitution by London’s poor

Meet Mr. Dickens “It is a miserable thing to be ashamed of home” Great Expectations (thirteenth novel; 1860) Setting is England between 1812-1840 His most unified novel Emotionally autobiographical Presents a harsh critique of : The Victorian ideal of gentility The value system of the middle class “It is a miserable thing to be ashamed of home”

Meet Mr. Dickens While working on his fourteenth novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, he died; he left the mystery of the novel unsolved. Died in 1870; he is buried in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey.

Victorian England 1837-1901 Queen Victoria has been on the throne since 1837. England is a productive and powerful nation. A middle class has emerged.

Victorian England England’s population is growing rapidly, and this leads to poverty. Available housing is scarce; slums are common

Victorian England Children are used in factories and mines; most children did not have any formal education.

Industrial Revolution A period of time in the late 18th and 19th century when there were major changes in: Agriculture Manufacturing Production Transportation A trend towards machine-based economics A move away from manual labor

Industrial Revolution Factory system was responsible for the rise of the modern city Factories were not regulated, so pollution was not regulated. Working conditions were miserable. Workers put in long hours for low pay. Children of poor families began working at the age of five and often worked 16 hour a day.

Industrial Revolution

The Novel Written in installments to be published serially Many chapters are cliffhangers Unabridged version is 59 chapters; abridged version contains less description and subplot A moralistic novel: good characters have good endings and bad characters have bad endings Is a bildungsroman, also called the developmental novel, which traces the life of a young person growing up

Stages of the Novel Three stages Chapters 1-19 Childhood and innocence Chapters 20-39 Adolescence, sin, and experience Chapters 40-59 Adulthood, redemption, and self-knowledge

Themes of the Novel Happiness comes not from money but from one’s inner self and the love of others Wealth and position are corrupt and corrupting Imprisonment can be mental, physical , and emotional

Motifs in the Novel A motif is a situation, incident, idea, image, or character type that is found in many different literary works Orphans Food Characters with more than one name

Symbols in the Novel A symbol evokes an image in the reader’s mind A symbol is an object that stands for or represents something else The forge represents integrity London represents decadence

Social Criticism Prison system Education system Legal system Society that judges people by wealth

Time line for Pip's life Chapter One—about age 7 Visited Satis house for 8-10 months Two years later, Mrs. Joe is attacked Apprenticeship to Joe last s 4 years Goes to London at about age 13 Receives allowance of 500 pounds at age 21 Convict reappears when Pip is 23 Eleven years later, Pip returns to the forge, and in the second ending, reunites with Estela