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Great Expectations Outline Biography. Introduction. Early years. Occupations and marriage. Death. Introduction to Great Expectations.
An Individual is shaped by the worlds and personal experiences. The shaping of Pips character. Joe the blacksmith and his influence on Pip. Miss Havisham and Estella. Satis House.
Women manipulate Pips attitudes. The true Benefactor. Shattered dreams. The moment of realization. Miss Havisham, Estella and Joe shaping characters. Conclusion.
Great Expectations Charles Dickens was an English author. He is considered one of the greatest authors of the Victorian period. Charles Dickens was a well-known author who had many great works (Webster, 352). Charles John Huffman Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Landport Hampshire. His father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office. His mother was a housekeeper (Kunitz 182).
Charles Dickens' father was paid well, but often brought financial embarrassment to his family. In 1824, he was taken to debtors' prison. Charles was taken out of school. He was forced to work in a factory. It is obvious that in some of Dickens books "the images of the prison and of the lost, oppressed, or bewildered child recur in many of his novels. " (Webster, 352) Dickens mother was well-known for her storytelling ability.
She was a little out of her social class. Her father was a naval lieutenant (Webster 352). Charles had eight siblings. He was the second oldest.
When he was young he would occasionally have mysterious spasms, which ceased at adolescents. When Charles was two, his father was transferred from Portsea to London. A short period after he was transferred to Chatham (Kunitz 182). When Charles was young, his mother taught him his alphabet. He became interested in fiction novels from his father's library.
He was placed back in school at the age of nine. At the age of fifteen Charles Dickens became a solicitors clerk. He taught himself shorthand. Charles spent most of his free time reading in the British museum. He was promoted to court reporting, then to reporting in the House of Commons (Kunitz 182). During this period Dickens unsuccessfully tried to perform on stage.
At the age of eighteen he fell deeply in love with Maria Beadnell. She was sent away to Paris by her family. She jilted Charles upon her return (Kunitz 182). Charles Dickens first sketch was published in the Monthly Magazine, he was not paid. He later published sketches in the Evening Chronicle. All of these sketches were issued as a book in 1836 (Kunitz 182).
Charles Dickens fell in love with Mary Hogarth, but she was too young to get married. For some peculiar reason he married her older sister Catherine Hogarth in 1836. Mary died in 1837. Catherine and Charles were both filled with grief.
Later, they had ten children (Kunitz 182). In 1841, Charles had surgery but that did not stop him from writing. In 1842, Charles visited the United States, for the first time. This trip resulted in American Notes and Martin Chuzzlewit (Kunitz 182). By this time, Charles had a house in London and Regents Park. He also had a summerhouse at Broadstairs.
Charles was making a fortune in spite of ill-advised early contracts, and consequent quarrels with publishers (Kunitz 182). Soon Charles began to act in private theatricals. His acting career took up enormous amounts of time and energy, which interfered with his writings. In 1844 and 1845, he spent time with his family in Italy. After he returned to England, Charles became editor of The Daily News.
This was his only financial failure (Kunitz 183). In 1849, Charles became editor of a magazine, which was a huge success. The magazine contained much of his own writings. The name of the magazine was the Household Words.
He remained editor of the magazine until his death (Kunitz 183). In 1858, it was shocking news that Dickens had separated from his wife. The marriage was unhappy from the beginning. The English-world was shocked that for twenty-two years they had lived together and produced ten children, without ever really loving each other or even being compatible at all (Kunitz 183). The oldest son went with his mother. The other children stayed with their father and their Aunt Georgina.
He was at work on The Mystery of Edwin Door the day before he died. He came into the house from his writing (in a garden house called the "Chateau"), said a few incoherent words, and fell stricken with apoplexy. He died twenty-four hours later. Though his wish for a quiet funeral was observed, it was not in the country graveyard he had contemplated, but in Westminster Abbey. Great Expectations is definitely one of the most highly praised works produced by Charles Dickens. The most interesting theme Dickens introduces in his novel is that any individual is shaped by the worlds he / she lives in and by personal experiences.
I believe Dickens displays each character's personal strength and integrity by revealing how much they allow themselves to be changed by their surroundings. Dickens conveys this shaping of the individual through the main character, Pip, and the different worlds he lives in, the experiences and interaction with other characters he has. (Magill, p. 77) Additionally, other characters are shown to have been shaped by their past experiences and the people involved in their lives. Both Miss Havisham and Estella are prime examples of the impact one's environment can have on the individual. While the opposite is shown through Joe and his ability to maintain personal integrity despite his harrowing past.
The shaping of Pip's character begins during his childhood years under the loving care and companionship of his brother-in-law Joe Gargery, and the strict rule of his sister Mrs. Joe. Dickens completely disassociates the world of Joe from the world of Mrs. Joe, each having an adverse effect on the young child, Pip. The home is the world of Mrs.
Joe, where Pip is 'raised by hand'. (Ingham, p. 114) Home life was not a pleasant environment with Mrs. Joe constantly 'on the rampage' chasing after Pip with a stick of cane nicknamed 'Tickler'. For the majority of his childhood, Pip was constantly subjected to an array of verbal and sometimes physical abuse, that was quite common in bringing up a child during Dickensian times. However the endless reminders that he was a burden upon his sister and should be thankful that she has wasted her time on him, caused Pip to believe that he was not wanted. Dickens indicates this through Pip as he goes to bed one night: "I was never allowed a candle to light me to bed. " (Dickens, p. 15) The reference to the candle is a re-occurring one in Great Expectations and is symbolic of a sense of belonging and common goodness. (Stone, p. 174) The fact that Pip is refused a candle indicates to him that he is not really wanted by Mrs.
Joe. This causes Pip to look for more in his life because he doesn't want to end up like Joe, controlled by his tyrant sister. Pip even admits that if it was not for Joe, he would have run away a long time ago. (Magill, p. 93) Joe Gargery the blacksmith and the forge form the only positive environment in Pip's early childhood. Joe, a simple man with a kind heart, instills in Pip such values as honesty, generosity, belief in life and the common good of man. Joe's forge is the one comfortable environment, where Pip and Joe can confide in each other in un oppressive surroundings. The forge presents an air of sanctity that is unsurpassed in the remainder of the novel.
Again, Dickens utilizes the flame of the blacksmith's fire to convey the warmth and relaxing nature of the forge, symbolic of the friendship between Joe and Pip. The fire also represents a shimmer of hope amidst the many false hopes of the world, in that, Joe, as simple as he appears, is much more a gentleman, when looking at the true meaning of the word, than the kind Pip strives to be later in the novel. It is Joe who teaches Pip many of the fundamental Christian values, embedded deep within Pip, that are at times forgotten but surface again towards the end of the novel. Pip calls upon these values after meeting his true benefactor, and the kindness of Joe shines in Pip as he helps Magwitch escape the country, as he forgives Miss Havisham for the years of pain she caused him, the pain he realizes he let her cause him, and as he begs Joe and Biddy for forgiveness for the years of ingratitude he showed them. The effect Joe has on Pip plays the most important part in the turnaround of Pip's life.
When Pip stops chasing unachievable dreams and finally realizes what the true values of life are, the characteristics we have always seen in Joe begin to appear in Pip. (Stone, p. 109) Satis House, the world of Miss Havisham and the entrancing beauty Estella, forms an integral part in Pip's great expectations. Here Pip is exposed to the so called 'good life' and through...
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