Charles Dickens Great Expectations Essay - 802 Words

Charles Dickens Great Expectations Introduction Charles Dickens, Great Expectations , portreys the main character Pips childhood in various ways. Great Expectations is a pre 20th century novel, showing how Pips working class upbringing affects his childhood. Pips Childhood Pip is an orphan, who lives with his sister Mrs. Joe Gargery and her husband Joe. We are led to believe that Pips parents die when he is young and although he is too young to remember them he still feels he has some memories of them unreasonably derived from their tombstones showing that Pip never had the chance to see them. Pip lives in a poor, working class household, due to Joe being a low paid†¦show more content†¦Victorian Childhood Dickens portreys Pips childhood similarly to that of a classic working class victorian child. During the victorian era, many poor people often married young, perhaps when still in their teens. Many also followed Queen Victorias example and took pride in rearing large families, some mothers liked to have a new baby each year. Others, were forced to parent large families to make some kind of income. This resulted in children as young as three or four years old slaving away in coal mines and cotton mills causing many children to die at a young age from over work and fatal accidents. Other causes were filthy living conditions and extremely poor medical care. For many poor, working class children, childhood or even life itself did not last long as they were forced to grow up quickly to survive. The victorians saw the discipline of their children as a very important issue. Many adults believed that children were born full of wickedness and had to be beaten to make them obedient. Dickens shows this in Great Expectations with references to the beating of Pip. Pips sister repeatedly reminds everyone, and anyone who will listen, that she has brought Pip up by hand suggesting that she beats him ... she had brought me up by hand ... knowing her to have a hard and heavy hand, and to beShow MoreRelatedGreat Expectations By Charles Dickens1113 Words   |  5 Pagesadventures that the male characters go on. This seems to be relevant in a lot of movies and books like the story Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. In Great Expectations there are multiple female characters like Estella, Biddy, and Miss Havisham who all play a large part in the main character, Pip’s life. One of the first that we meet the character Estella in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations is when Pip goes to Miss Havisham’s to play with her. The two kids play the game beggar my neighbor when EstellaRead MoreGreat Expectations By Charles Dickens1347 Words   |  6 Pagespoor status of the economy, social mobility does not seem to be occurring at high rates, with the poor getting poorer and rich getting richer. Despite this, social mobility is alive and well, and has been for centuries. In his novel, Great Expectations, Charles Dickens voices the concerns of many that lived in Victorian England during the 19th century by promoting such a desire to live life in a more prosperous social class. One of the most fundamental and reoccurring themes in the novel is that ofRead MoreGreat Expectations By Charles Dickens1426 Words   |  6 Pages Twelve-year-old Charles dickens gets ready for bed after a long day at the blacking house. These Victorian-aged memories will provide him with many ideas for his highly acclaimed novel Great Expectations. Set in 1830 England, Great Expectations is a coming-of-age story about a common innocent boy named Pip and his road to becoming a gentleman through the influence of others. Pip is influenced both positively and negatively by Estella, Herbert, and Magwitch. Estella left a huge impression on PipRead MoreGreat Expectations by Charles Dickens984 Words   |  4 PagesCharles Dickens utilizes his life for inspiration for the protagonist Pip in his novel Great Expectations. They both struggle with their social standing. Dickens loved plays and theatre and therefore incorporated them into Pip’s life. Dickens died happy in the middle class and Pip died happy in the middle class. The connection Dickens makes with his life to Pip’s life is undeniable. If readers understand Dickens and his upbringing then readers can understand how and why he created Pip’s upbringingRead MoreCharles Dickens Great Expectations943 Words   |  4 Pages This is true in many cases but none as much as in Great Expectations. In many ways the narrator/protagonist Pip is Charles Dickens in body and mind. While there are many differences between the story and Charles Dickens life there remains one constant. This constant is the way Pip as the narra tor feels, because these feelings are Dickens s own feelings about the life he lead. Since Great Expectations was written towards end of Charles Dickens life, he was wiser and able to make out the mistakesRead MoreGreat Expectations By Charles Dickens1375 Words   |  6 PagesGreat Expectations by Charles Dickens and The Talented Mr Ripley by Anthony Minghella present similar criticisms of society to a large extent. Both of these texts consider the criticisms of rich social contexts (wealth and status), societal morality (whether a society is good or not. Status [can lead to the wrong people being in a high position i.e. making bad decisions affecting the community/society] Appearance [society appears to be moral/good (if you’re from a higher status) {dickens criticisesRead MoreCharles Dickens Great Expectations1223 Words   |  5 PagesBeloved author Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth, England. Growing up in a life of poverty, his childhood hardshi ps provided the inspiration to write a myriad of classic novels including his 1861 seminole masterpiece, Great Expectations (â€Å"BBC History - Charles Dickens†). Great Expectations follows the life of an orphan named Pip, who’s perspective of the world is altered when he is attacked by an escaped convict in his parents’ graveyard in the town of Kent. Throughout hisRead MoreGreat Expectations By Charles Dickens924 Words   |  4 Pagesa character driven novel, or a mix of the two. In order for a novel to be character driven, it must revolve more around the characters’ individual thoughts, feelings, and inner struggles, rather than around the quest of the story. Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, is a character driven novel. While the story does have a plot, it is not contingent upon that plot, but rather is reliant upon its characters and their natures. This is evident from the beginning of the novel. From the opening ofRead MoreCharles Dickens Great Expectations1669 Words   |  7 PagesCharles Dickens He was one of England s greatest authors of the 1800 s, better known as the Victorian era. The various themes and ideas of that time are perfectly showcased in his many novels and short stories, such as Nicholas Nickelby, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, and A Christmas Carol. Much of the inspiration for these works came from the trials and conflicts that he dealt with in his own life. His volumes of fictional writing show the greatRead MoreCharles Dickens Great Expectations1017 Words   |  5 Pagesexperiencer is somewhere else absorbing knowledge of a different setting.This abstract adventure is seized by author Charles Dickens in Great Expectations. Great Expectations is historical fiction giving readers comprehension of the Victorian Era.Upon the reading, readers begin to catch on the intended purpose and its significance. A person who lived during the Victorian Era was Charles Dickens himself.He grew up during a time where differences in social class were to an extreme degree.Dickens went through