'Great expectations' is one of the Dickens’s popular and successful novel. This novel contains such issues as self-improvement, social class, crime, guilt, innocence, and other human nature. this novel is popular both with readers and literary critics. It has been translated into many languages and adopted into numerous plays, films and television series
About the author –
Charles Dickens was one of the most prominent British Victorian writer . In his literary career he wrote many novel, novella And shorts story. Among them ‘Pickwick Paper’, ‘Oliver Twist’, ‘Hard times’ , ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ and Great Expectation are most famous . as a novelist he is a social chronicler, though his literary works he presented many themes like- guilt expectation gender identity, crime social class . Henry James called him Dickens “The Greatest of superficial novelist”.
Dickens created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.
Who is the protagonist of ‘Great Expectations’?
Summary of Great Expectation:
Great Expectations (Weekly serial in All the Year Round December 1,1860 to August 3, 1861) is Dickens novel.The title raises the expectations of the readers who go through the novel with the expectations that they will get something that will reveal the corrupt system responsible for the wide gap between the rich and the poor.
It is a story of Pip,an orphan who lives with his sister Mrs. Joe Gargery and works with his brother-in-law Mr. Joe Gergery .Somehow he gets a chance of great expectations From an unknown well – wisher who sponsors him financially to become a well – educated gentleman .
But ,when he becomes prosperous with this opportunity, he becomes snobbish enough to neglect his earlier relations with whom he feels uncomfortable because he considers them inferior to him.
His snoberry and habit of spending lavishly lead him to the path of debt. Finally Joe pays his debts and, thus, helps him to live like a gentleman.
He makes up his mind to live with his Beloved Estella who has now become mature enough to live with him peacefully.
Themes of The Great Expectation –
Dickens themes include wealth and poverty, love and rejection, and the eventual triumph of good evil. There are also many themes in this novel . The greed for money and corrupting influence that it has upon human beings constitute the core of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectation . The other themes apart from these are as- crime, punishment , justice
Ambition and self – Improvement
The moral theme of this novel is simple, affection, loyalty, and conscience are more important themes than social advancement ,wealth, and class.
Social Class
Author explores the social system of of Victorian age the theme of Social class is central to the novel’s plot
Crime, Guilt, and Innocence
Through the character of convicts and the criminal lawyer Jaggers ,we can see the quality of Guilt, Crime, and Innocence.
Sophistication
In ‘Great Expectation’ Pip becomes obsessed with a desire to be sophisticated and takes damaging risks in order to do great in his life.
Characters of ‘Great Expectations’
Pip
The narrator as well as the protagonist of the story, Pip, Phillip Pirrip, is an orphan and lived with his sister .
Mrs. Joe Gargery
A bitter and angry woman who brings up Pip. She is Pip’s sister.
Mr. Joe Gargery
Joe is an uneducated and perhaps a little slow person but he understands the important of things in life.
Uncle Pumblechook
He is Joe’s uncle. He considers himself upper-class and is actually a bombastic fool.
Biddy
A kind and intelligent girl of Pip’s age who works for Mr. Wopsle’s great aunt at the school. She comes to work for Joe taking care of Mrs. Joe Gargery.
Miss Havisham
A strange, wrinkled up lady who never sees the sunlight and never gets out of her bridal gown.
Estella
Miss Havisham’s adopted Daughter. Her nature are Cold and very proud but she is very beautiful. She‘s age and is the love of Pip’s life.
Matthew Pocket
Miss Havisham’s cousin, but not one of her relatives that is greedy. He is also tutors young gentlemen, including Pip.
Herbert Pocket
He is M|atthew’s son An extremely cheerful and honest boy about Pip’s age. He is Pip’s Friend.
Jaggers
He is a rational and seemingly emotionless lawyer for miss Havisham and for Pip.
Wemmick
He becomes a good friend of Pip. He is Jaggers’stiaff clerk by day, esoteric and generous man in private.
Magwitch
A convict whom Pip helps at the beginning of the novel. He is a good hearted man.
some question about the poem
1. Why was ‘Great Expectations so popular?
Many of thought and conflicts in this novel can appeal to and seems to modern people. Audience like its theme , language and poetic justice. The abundance of characters allows for more opportunities for a person to relate to a specific character based on different ideas. Class issues, regarding life.
2. Why is it called Great Expectations?
This is an appropriate title for this novel it has the significance to the story because the hero of the play, Phillip Pirrip, has many expectations in his life throughout the novel. All the Pip’s expectations are connected in some way which is why it is called ‘Great Expectation’.
3. How does Estella humiliate Pip?
Estella is an adopted daughter of Miss Havisham, a male hated woman. Estella found proud and stubborn quality from her mother and she also starts hates man. She humiliates Pip by saying – he is a common labouring boy with coarse hands and thick boots.
4. What does Miss Havisham symbolize?
Miss Havisham loves a man named Compeyson but he cheats her. He leaves her at the Alter. She becomes mad, a living ghost. She wears her wedding gown all the time ,day and night. She is the most tragic character in ‘Great Expectations’.
5. Who is the villain in Great Expectation?
The main villain of this novel is Compeyson . he was the lover of Miss Havisham .but he cheats him on his wedding day . his criminal activities harmed two people ,who in turn shaped much of protagonist Pip’s life. Compeyson leaves Havisham at the Altar, and later got Abel Magwitch arrested.
6. What is the objective of ‘Great Expectation’?
Author’s aim to write this novel is to aware the audience with social issues and difficulties of an orphan life and he feel sad and felt needed changing. He explores in his novel the education system, the criminal justice system , and marriage laws etc.
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