Great Expectations Preoccupations and Concerns in the text Preoccupations and Concerns Social Class Ambition and self-improvement Integrity and Reputation Parents Justice Generosity.
Download ReportTranscript Great Expectations Preoccupations and Concerns in the text Preoccupations and Concerns Social Class Ambition and self-improvement Integrity and Reputation Parents Justice Generosity.
Slide 1
Great
Expectations
Preoccupations and Concerns in the text
Slide 2
Preoccupations and
Concerns
Social Class
Ambition and self-improvement
Integrity and Reputation
Parents
Justice
Generosity
Slide 3
Social Class
Slide 4
Social Class
Set near the end of the Industrial Revolution
Dramatic technological improvement in manufacturing
and commerce
New opportunities for people of ‘lower’ classes to gain
wealth
Pip’s ascent through the class system, would not have
been possible within the rigid hierarchy of the past
Slide 5
Social Class
The novel ranges from the lowest classes up to the
wealthy:
Convicts and orphans [Pip / Magwitch]
Poor working class [Joe / Biddy]
Poor middle class [The Pockets / Mr Wemmick]
Wealthy middle class [Miss Havisham / Mr Jaggers]
Upper class [Bentley Drummle]
Virtually no time is focused on the traditional
aristocracy however.
Slide 6
Social Class
The world of Great Expectations is continuously
questioning from where nobility and gentility are
derived:
It used to be the aristocracy – but the industrial
revolution suppressed this somewhat
Is it something that can be taught? [Pip tries to educate
himself]
Is it something that can be bought? [Pip spens
prodigiously on luxury goods]
Slide 7
Social Class
Dickens also upends the old equation between nobility
and class:
Most of the novel’s heroes [Joe, Biddy and Provis] are
in the lower class
Most of the villains [Compeyson and Drummle] are
upper class
Ultimately Pip comes to learn that the source of true
gentility is spiritual nobility rather than either great
knowledge or wealth.
Slide 8
Ambition and Selfimprovement
Slide 9
Ambition and Selfimprovement
A “pip” is a small seed – something that starts off tiny
and then grows and develops into something new.
Pip’s name then, is no accident, as Great Expectations
is a bildungsroman, a story of the growth and
development of its main character.
Dickens presents the ambition to improve oneself as a
force capable of generating both positive and negative
results.
Slide 10
Ambition and Selfimprovement
Pip’s early ambitions
Elevating his social class
Being worthy of Estella
In the process he turns himself into someone who
feels like a sham
Unkind to those who were kindest to him [Joe and
Provis]
Ruins himself financially
Slide 11
Ambition and Selfimprovement
Pip’s own ambitions are echoed by the self-
improvement efforts of secondary characters:
Joe learns to write
Miss Havisham learns to empathise
Slide 12
Integrity and Reputation
Slide 13
Integrity and Reputation
In Great Expectations, Dickens explores pride as both
a positive and a negative trait.
The crucial distinction between these different
varieties of pride is whether they rely on other people’s
opinions or whether they spring from a character’s
internal conscience and personal sense of
accomplishment.
Slide 14
Integrity and Reputation
Reputation
Integrity
Estella
Joe
Bentley Drummle
Biddy
Mrs Joe
Mr Wemmick
Uncle Pumblechook
Herbert Pocket
Slide 15
Parents
Slide 16
Parents
The text looks skeptically at the traditional family
unit.
There are very few models of healthy parent-child
relations
Orphans – Pip, Provis, Biddy
Broken / dysfunctional families – Herbert, Miss
Havisham, Estella, Clara, Joe
Inverted Relationships – Wemmick and the Aged
Slide 17
Parents
Instead of traditional mothers and fathers, Dickens
chooses to feature adoptive parents / mentors /
guardians:
Joe – Pip
Provis – Pip
Mr Jaggers – Pip
Miss Havisham - Estella
Slide 18
Justice
Slide 19
Justice
The novel casts the British legal system in a dubious
light:
Escaped convicts in part I
Grotesque courts and prisons in part II and III
Mr Jaggers built his reputation on successfully
acquitting a murderer [Molly]
Wemmick’s separate moral codes – one for the law
firm, one for home
Some of the most heinous crimes slip right through the
legal system
Slide 20
Justice
The law treats Orlick and Compeyson much more
lightly than they deserve
Orlick clubbing Mrs Joe is deeply horrific, leaving Mrs
Joe handicapped for life
Compeyson assists in ruining many lives, but seems to
get away with in comparison to Magwitch
Ultimately the only true and enduring scale of justice
is the human conscience, brought on by Pip’s
compassion.
Slide 21
Generosity
Slide 22
Generosity
Dickens explores many different understandings of
generosity:
Pip’s initial generosity [whilst based in fear] to Provis
results in him devoting his life savings towards Pip’s
future
Mrs Joe and Uncle Pumblechook understand
generosity as a status marker – being considered
generous rather than actually acting generously
Slide 23
Generosity
Later Pip believes that the best kind of generosity is anonymous
He claims that his life’s only good deed was his secret donation
to Herbert’s career
Most of the novel’s most generous acts are not recognised for a
long time, implying that the truly generous give without expecting
immediate recongnition:
Provis’ funds
Joe’s care for Pip
Pip’s efforts to secure Herbert’s future
Pip’s care for Magwitch in Part III
Slide 24
Preoccupations and
Concerns
Thus it can be said that, through
the construction of his narrative
and the characters therein,
Dickens is concerned with these
aspects of English life at the time.
Great
Expectations
Preoccupations and Concerns in the text
Slide 2
Preoccupations and
Concerns
Social Class
Ambition and self-improvement
Integrity and Reputation
Parents
Justice
Generosity
Slide 3
Social Class
Slide 4
Social Class
Set near the end of the Industrial Revolution
Dramatic technological improvement in manufacturing
and commerce
New opportunities for people of ‘lower’ classes to gain
wealth
Pip’s ascent through the class system, would not have
been possible within the rigid hierarchy of the past
Slide 5
Social Class
The novel ranges from the lowest classes up to the
wealthy:
Convicts and orphans [Pip / Magwitch]
Poor working class [Joe / Biddy]
Poor middle class [The Pockets / Mr Wemmick]
Wealthy middle class [Miss Havisham / Mr Jaggers]
Upper class [Bentley Drummle]
Virtually no time is focused on the traditional
aristocracy however.
Slide 6
Social Class
The world of Great Expectations is continuously
questioning from where nobility and gentility are
derived:
It used to be the aristocracy – but the industrial
revolution suppressed this somewhat
Is it something that can be taught? [Pip tries to educate
himself]
Is it something that can be bought? [Pip spens
prodigiously on luxury goods]
Slide 7
Social Class
Dickens also upends the old equation between nobility
and class:
Most of the novel’s heroes [Joe, Biddy and Provis] are
in the lower class
Most of the villains [Compeyson and Drummle] are
upper class
Ultimately Pip comes to learn that the source of true
gentility is spiritual nobility rather than either great
knowledge or wealth.
Slide 8
Ambition and Selfimprovement
Slide 9
Ambition and Selfimprovement
A “pip” is a small seed – something that starts off tiny
and then grows and develops into something new.
Pip’s name then, is no accident, as Great Expectations
is a bildungsroman, a story of the growth and
development of its main character.
Dickens presents the ambition to improve oneself as a
force capable of generating both positive and negative
results.
Slide 10
Ambition and Selfimprovement
Pip’s early ambitions
Elevating his social class
Being worthy of Estella
In the process he turns himself into someone who
feels like a sham
Unkind to those who were kindest to him [Joe and
Provis]
Ruins himself financially
Slide 11
Ambition and Selfimprovement
Pip’s own ambitions are echoed by the self-
improvement efforts of secondary characters:
Joe learns to write
Miss Havisham learns to empathise
Slide 12
Integrity and Reputation
Slide 13
Integrity and Reputation
In Great Expectations, Dickens explores pride as both
a positive and a negative trait.
The crucial distinction between these different
varieties of pride is whether they rely on other people’s
opinions or whether they spring from a character’s
internal conscience and personal sense of
accomplishment.
Slide 14
Integrity and Reputation
Reputation
Integrity
Estella
Joe
Bentley Drummle
Biddy
Mrs Joe
Mr Wemmick
Uncle Pumblechook
Herbert Pocket
Slide 15
Parents
Slide 16
Parents
The text looks skeptically at the traditional family
unit.
There are very few models of healthy parent-child
relations
Orphans – Pip, Provis, Biddy
Broken / dysfunctional families – Herbert, Miss
Havisham, Estella, Clara, Joe
Inverted Relationships – Wemmick and the Aged
Slide 17
Parents
Instead of traditional mothers and fathers, Dickens
chooses to feature adoptive parents / mentors /
guardians:
Joe – Pip
Provis – Pip
Mr Jaggers – Pip
Miss Havisham - Estella
Slide 18
Justice
Slide 19
Justice
The novel casts the British legal system in a dubious
light:
Escaped convicts in part I
Grotesque courts and prisons in part II and III
Mr Jaggers built his reputation on successfully
acquitting a murderer [Molly]
Wemmick’s separate moral codes – one for the law
firm, one for home
Some of the most heinous crimes slip right through the
legal system
Slide 20
Justice
The law treats Orlick and Compeyson much more
lightly than they deserve
Orlick clubbing Mrs Joe is deeply horrific, leaving Mrs
Joe handicapped for life
Compeyson assists in ruining many lives, but seems to
get away with in comparison to Magwitch
Ultimately the only true and enduring scale of justice
is the human conscience, brought on by Pip’s
compassion.
Slide 21
Generosity
Slide 22
Generosity
Dickens explores many different understandings of
generosity:
Pip’s initial generosity [whilst based in fear] to Provis
results in him devoting his life savings towards Pip’s
future
Mrs Joe and Uncle Pumblechook understand
generosity as a status marker – being considered
generous rather than actually acting generously
Slide 23
Generosity
Later Pip believes that the best kind of generosity is anonymous
He claims that his life’s only good deed was his secret donation
to Herbert’s career
Most of the novel’s most generous acts are not recognised for a
long time, implying that the truly generous give without expecting
immediate recongnition:
Provis’ funds
Joe’s care for Pip
Pip’s efforts to secure Herbert’s future
Pip’s care for Magwitch in Part III
Slide 24
Preoccupations and
Concerns
Thus it can be said that, through
the construction of his narrative
and the characters therein,
Dickens is concerned with these
aspects of English life at the time.