Great Expectations
Facts First published as a serial in Dickens’s periodical All the Year Round from December 1860-August 1861, then published in three volumes in October 1861. Short chapters centered on a single subject Three life stages, twelve sections each Received nearly universal acclaim when published 100,000 copies were sold each week. Dickens changed the original ending at the request of the publisher to make it a happier ending.
Setting Time: early to mid-1800s Place: Kent/London Narrator: first person
Characters Philip Pirrip (Pip): protagonist and narrator, seven-year-old orphan, passionate, romantic, and somewhat unrealistic, expects more for himself than is reasonable, has a powerful conscience, and deeply wants to improve himself, both morally and socially Joe Gargery: kind, gentle, uneducated and unrefined blacksmith, raises Pip like a son Mrs. Joe: Pip’s sister, abusive toward Pip and Joe Biddy: a simple, plain, kindhearted country girl from Pip’s village Mr. Pumblechook: Pip’s pompous, arrogant uncle Miss Havisham: a wealthy, eccentric spinster who hates men and wears an old wedding dress Estella: Miss Havisham’s adopted daughter, very beautiful, cold and cruel
Extreme imagery Poverty Prison ships and chains Fights to the death Spooky mansion
Style characteristics Caricature: a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others Comic speech mannerisms: Queen’s English vs. Cockney Intrigue and suspense Gothic fiction: combines fiction, horror, death, and romance Melodrama: an overly sensational, emotional plot takes precedence over character development Satire: various negative aspects of society are mocked in order to promote social change Character foils: Several characters have a double who highlights the moral strengths and weaknesses of the other.
Bildungsroman Coming-of-age story: focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood, in which character change is extremely important An emotional loss causes the protagonist to leave on a journey. The protagonist achieves maturity slowly and with difficulty. The main conflict is between the protagonist and society. The protagonist gradually accepts the values of society, and he or she is accepted by society.
Examples Jane Eyre David Copperfield The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Gone with the Wind The Catcher in the Rye To Kill a Mockingbird The Outsiders Ender’s Game Harry Potter The Perks of Being a Wallflower The Kite Runner
Victorian Self-Improvement Ideals Education Social refinement Materialism
Themes Wealth and poverty: Dickens portrays a variety of characters of all social classes to show that morality is not dependent on social status. Love and rejection The eventual triumph of good over evil Social outcasts: Various characters are unacceptable to high society, which makes them want to be a part of it even more. Wealth: Wealth is only acceptable to the upper class if it comes from the labor of others. Wealth does not buy happiness but causes one to go further into debt in the pursuit of gentility. Gentility: The manners and behavior that accompany the wealth of being a gentleman.
Moral degeneration and regeneration: Pip makes a series of bad decisions in his quest to become a gentleman. Once he realizes his error, he tries his best to atone for his mistakes. Ambition and self-improvement: Pip is an idealist who desires to improve himself at all costs. As soon as he learns of something better than what he has, he wants to achieve it.
Charles Dickens 1812-1870 Very popular during his lifetime and now considered one of the greatest Victorian novelists Worked in a factory for three months at twelve years old while his father was in debtors’ prison Edited a weekly journal for twenty years, wrote fifteen novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.