Great expectations

Great expectations, A novel by Charles Dickens, Themes , Symbols

1. Great expectations Major Themes

2. What is a theme? Theme is defined as a main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work, which may be stated directly or indirectly.

3. Social Class and Ambition Dickens conveys the theme of social class and ambition throughout Great Expectations. Indeed the novel could be seen as an exploration of social class in Victorian England, from the lower class to the upper class. Members of the lower and middle classes often have the ambition to rise to a higher class. In contrast members of the upper class want to maintain their superiority and use it control other people for their own ends.

4. Social Class and Ambition Magwitch is the main representative of the lower class. He was born in poverty and, because of these circumstances, fell into criminality. As Dickens shows, some lower-class people become caught in a trap of poverty that makes it difficult for them to improve their lives. In fact, when Magwitch is given half a chance to better himself in Australia, he does so with great success. Magwitch realizes he will never become a gentleman, but he has ambitions to make Pip a gentleman and thereby attain upper-class status.

5. Social Class and Ambition The main representative of the working class is Pip. Because of the influence of the upper-class Miss Havisham , Pip comes to view being a blacksmith as inferior work and has the ambition to become a gentleman. By doing this he hopes to receive the approval of Miss Havisham and Estella and thereby validate himself as a human being. However as Pip is educated as a gentleman, he becomes a dandy, who focuses on having a refined appearance and doing leisure activities instead of accomplishing something worthwhile.

6. Social Class and Ambition Mrs. Joe is also an example of a working-class person who has ambitions to rise in status. Even the brutish Orlick shows sensitivity concerning class by his resentment about being demoted to the lower class. The only main working-class character who doesn't have ambitions is Joe. Also Biddy, who is a member of the lower-middle class, has no desire to rise in status. The main representative of the middle class who strives to improve his social standing is Pumblechook .

7. Social Class and Ambition Miss Havisham shows many traits of the upper class. She is a proud woman who views herself as being superior to most people, and she cannot bear being humiliated by her lover. As a result she becomes a recluse and exerts her control over the people in her sphere, especially Estella. Miss Havisham's control is backed by her money. When Estella arrives in London, she makes a point to tell Pip that Miss Havisham is paying for Estella to do exactly what the recluse wants. For Miss Havisham , her ambition is to have Estella break the hearts of men .

8. Guilt and Redemption Dickens shows the theme of guilt and redemption mainly through the characters of Pip and Miss Havisham . Although Pip wants to be a gentleman, he is plagued by guilt as he becomes one. This guilt starts soon after Pip learns that he will be educated as a gentleman. Pip starts to view himself as superior to the people in the village and even becomes ashamed of Joe. As a result, Pip, dressed in a nice suit, doesn't want Joe, dressed as a common laborer, to accompany him on his way to the carriage. Later Pip acts awkwardly and impatiently toward Joe in London. Pip rarely writes to Joe and Biddy, even though he promises to do so. Even though these actions cause Pip to feel intense guilt, he does not change the way he treats Joe.

9. Guilt and Redemption Pip resolves the problem of his guilt through redemption. However, he can attain redemption only when his dream of marrying Estella and gaining Miss Havisham's approval crumbles. This process begins when Pip learns that Magwitch , not Miss Havisham , is his benefactor. Pip comes to realize the sham of his existence as he adopts a dandyish lifestyle based on having a superior attitude to the lower classes and doing pleasurable leisure activities while accomplishing nothing of worth. Soon he starts to do redemptive acts, such as helping Herbert get started in business and being a loving surrogate son to Magwitch . Eventually Pip realizes he can gain self-worth not by becoming a gentleman but rather by working for it. As a result he works for many years in Herbert's business.

10. Guilt and Redemption For most of the novel Miss Havisham shows no signs of guilt. However, she begins to feel regret when Estella acts coldly toward her. Miss Havisham realizes that she has trained Estella to break not only the hearts of men but also her own heart. Miss Havisham cares for Estella. As a result she doesn't want Estella to marry Drummle . However, because of the recluse's influence, Estella marries this brutish man knowing she will face years of pain and abuse. Miss Havisham and Estella have also caused great pain for Pip. Miss Havisham comes to realize the horror of what she has done. Because of this she asks for Pip's forgiveness. However, consumed by feelings of guilt, Miss Havisham is unable to grasp the solution; namely, redemption through accepting Pip's forgiveness .

11. Uncertainty and Deceit The theme of uncertainty and deceit infuses most of Great Expectations. Dickens starts the novel with Pip uncertain about what his parents look like. Pip continues to feel uncertainty about the convicts. This uncertainty leads to his deceitful act of stealing food and a file. Pip's uncertainty about his benefactor is in part caused by Miss Havisham's deceit. She makes Pip believe that she is his benefactress. Also Dickens often combines uncertainty with deceit in the same event. For example, Pip becomes involved in the deceitful act of trying to sneak Magwitch out of the country while feeling uncertain whether Compeyson is following him. .

12. Uncertainty and Deceit In addition Dickens shows how removing deceit can also eliminate uncertainty. For instance, Pip feels uncertain about the identity of Molly, Mr. Jaggers's housekeeper. Pip becomes surer of her identity as he learns about Mr. Jaggers's deceitful act of secretly giving Estella to Miss Havisham to raise as her adopted daughter. As Pip and readers discover, Estella is Molly and Magwitch's biological daughter

13. Education Education functions as a force for social mobility and personal growth in the novel. Joe and Biddy both use their education to pursue new opportunities, showing how education can be a good thing. Pip receives an education that allows him to advance into a new social position, but Pip’s education improves his mind without supporting the growth of his character. Biddy takes advantage to gather as much learning as she can, with Pip observing that she “learns everything I learn,” and eventually becomes a schoolteacher. Biddy also teaches Joe to read and write. Pip’s education does not actually provide him with practical skills or common sense, as revealed when Pip and Herbert completely fail at managing their personal finances. Pip’s emotional transformation once he learns the identity of his benefactor is what ultimately makes him into the man he wants to be, not anything he has learned in a classroom.

14. Family Although Pip and Estella both grow up as orphans, family is an important theme in the novel. Pip grows up with love and support from Joe, but fails to see the value of the unconditional love Joes gives him. He eventually reconciles with Joe after understanding his errors. Estella is exposed to damaging values from her adopted mother, Miss Havisham , and gradually learns from experience what it actually means to care about someone. For both characters, learning who to trust and how to have a loving relationship with family members is a major part of the growing-up process. As Estella explains at the end of the novel, “suffering has been stronger than all other teaching.” Both Estella and Pip make mistakes and live with the consequences of their family histories, but their difficult family experiences also helps to give them perspective on what is truly important in life.

15. Sophistication In Great Expectations, Pip becomes obsessed with a desire to be sophisticated and takes damaging risks in order to do so. After his first encounter with Estella, Pip becomes acutely self-conscious that “I was a common labouring -boy; that my hands were coarse, that my boots were thick.” (pg. 59). Once he moves to London, Pip is exposed to a glamourous urban world “so crowded with people and so brilliantly lighted,” and he quickly begins to “contract expensive habits.” As a result of spending money on things like a personal servant and fancy clothes, Pip quickly falls into debt, and damages Herbert’s finances as well as his own. Even more troubling, Pip tries to avoid anyone who might undermine his reputation as a sophisticated young gentleman. In the end, sophistication is revealed as a shallow and superficial value because it does not lead to Pip achieving anything, and only makes him lonely and miserable.

16. What is a symbolism? Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities, by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense.

17. Symbols In Great Expectations Charles Dickens uses three major symbols: Tears, Satis House, and Money. Dickens also relates these symbols to the major themes. For example, the symbol of money relates to social class and ambition because it deals with how members of various classes use money.

18. Tears Dickens uses tears to represent passionate emotions, including gratefulness, love, and shame. However, all expressed tears have a benevolent, clarifying effect. Pip states, "I was better after I had cried, than before—more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle." After Pip cries tears of shame from Estella's insults, he is able to continue his daily life. When Pip cries tears of remorse about his treatment of Joe, he can more fully sense how wrongly he treated his friend. The only tears that do not have a positive effect are the crocodile tears shed by Mrs. Camilla, because they represent false emotions .

19. Satis House For Dickens, Satis House represents a lack of growth or death. Miss Havisham's hateful and bitter attitude creates a structure in which time seems to stand still. Nothing significant changes in Satis House. The clocks are all stopped at the same time. The furniture remains in the same position without being dusted for years. The wedding cake remains on the table, covered by cobwebs. In this house Miss Havisham follows the same routines, year after year. With Satis House, Miss Havisham has created her own mausoleum that will house her corpse. Satis is Latin for "enough." The title could be ironic. Estella suggests the term Satis implies that a person who owns this house has enough of everything. However, Miss Havisham's life is totally barren. She is a person who feels the pain of not having enough love. Indeed she does not have enough of anything, except money and bitterness, which prove to be inadequate. Also, Satis resembles the word static.

20. Money Money , for Dickens, has a dual meaning. Money represents the value that society places on someone. When Miss Havisham pays Joe 25 pounds for Pip's services, she is using money to place a value on Pip. Also when the shopkeepers find out that Pip has come into money, their estimation of Pip soars.

21. Money The author also uses money to represent power or control over people. For example, Miss Havisham uses money to make Estella do exactly what the recluse wants in London. Estella tells Pip, "This is my purse, and you are to pay my charges out of it ... We are not free to follow our own devices, you and I." Also Magwitch uses money to control Pip and make him into what Magwitch wants, namely a gentleman. Magwitch tells Pip, "Yes, Pip, dear boy, I've made a gentleman on you! It's me wot has done it!" Miss Havisham's and Magwitch's use of money to control people backfires however. Estella becomes cold toward Miss Havisham . Pip becomes miserable as a gentleman but doesn't tell this to Magwitch . Pip states, "O, that he [ Magwitch ] had never come! That he had left me at the forge—far from contented, yet, by comparison, happy!"

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