Great Expectations By

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 1860 -1861 TheBestNotes Study Guide by TheBestNotes.com Staff Reprinted with permission from TheBestNotes.com Copyright © 2003, All Rights Reserved Distribution without the written consent of TheBestNotes.com is strictly prohibited. LITERARY ELEMENTS SETTING The action of Great Expectations takes place in a limited geography between a small village at the edge of the North Kent marshes, a market town in which Satis House is located, and the greater city of London. The protagonist, Pip, grows up in the marsh village. Eventually he becomes a frequent visitor to Satis House, located in the market town. Upon inheriting a good deal of money, he moves to London, where he is taught to be a gentleman. Throughout the novel, Pip travels between these three locations in pursuit of his great expectations. LIST OF CHARACTERS Major Characters Pip - Philip Pirip He is the narrator and hero of the novel. He is a sensitive orphan raised by his sister and brother-in-law in rural Kent. After showing kindness to an escaped convict, he becomes the beneficiary of a great estate. He rejects his common upbringing in favor of a more refined life in London, unaware that his benefactor is actually the convict. By the end of the novel he learns a great lesson about friendship and loyalty, and gives up his “great expectations” in order to be more true to his past. Joe Gargery A simple and honest blacksmith, and the long-suffering husband of Mrs. Joe. He is Pip’s brother-in-law, as well as a loyal friend and ally. He loves and supports Pip unconditionally, even when Pip is ashamed of him and abandons him. By the end of the novel, Pip realizes the true worth of Joe’s friendship. Miss Havisham A bitter and eccentric old lady who was long ago jilted on her wedding day. She continues to wear her faded wedding gown, though it is old and yellowed. The cake, rotted after all these years, still adorns her dining room table. Twisted by her own hatred and resentment, she lives in cobwebbed darkness with her adopted daughter Estella, whom she has raised to be a man-hater. Estella The beautiful adopted daughter of Miss Havisham. Haughty and contemptuous, she is a girl with a very cold heart. She has been brought up to wreak revenge on the male sex on Miss Havisham's behalf. She is honest with Pip when she tells him she is incapable of returning his love. Magwitch (also known as Provis and Campbell) An escaped convict who initially bullies Pip into bringing him food and a file. Unbeknownst to Pip, the convict later rewards him by bequeathing him a large amount of money anonymously. He comes back into Pip’s life when Pip is an adult, revealing himself as the donor, and asks for help in escaping the death sentence he has been given as a result of his life of crime. Minor Characters Mrs. Joe Gargery Pip’s sister. She is a short-tempered woman who resents Pip because he is a burden to her. She is attacked with a leg-iron and spends the rest of her life unable to communicate because of a brain-injury. She learns to be patient and forgiving as a result of the attack. Biddy Wopsle Pip's confidante and teacher. As a child, she develops a crush on Pip. She runs the house after Mrs. Joe’s accident and later marries Joe. Mr. Wopsle A parish lay clerk who had formerly wanted to be a clergyman. He leaves his church to become a not-so-successful actor in London. His “great expectations” are in comic parallel to Pip’s. Mr. Pumblechook Joe's uncle. He joins Mrs. Joe in bullying and resenting Pip, then takes some credit for Pip's good fortune. Mr. and Mrs. Hubble Friends of Mrs. Joe. Orlick Joe's employee. He is an evil character who attacks Mrs. Joe and also attempts to take Pip's life. Later he robs Mr. Pumblechook and ends up in jail. Mr. Jaggers A criminal lawyer in London. He is well respected in his own dubious social circle, and is most well known for his ability to defend even the dregs of society. He is the administrator of Pip’s inheritance. Wemmick Jaggers' confidential clerk. He is a good-natured man in his personal life, but is incredibly stern and officious in his professional life. Pip often remarks that Wemmick has two personalities. He becomes an advisor and friend to Pip. Herbert Pocket Pip's elegant and artlessly optimistic best friend. Though living in genteel poverty, he is an example of an uncommon gentleman. Mr. Matthew Pocket Pip’s teacher and Herbert’s father. He is a thoroughly educated gentleman under whom Pip is to learn. He is the only member of the family who does not flatter Mrs. Havisham; as a result, she is not happy with him. Bentley Drummle A sulking brute who eventually marries Estella then mistreats her. Startop A tenant of Mr. Pocket and a friend of Pip. Molly Jaggers’ housekeeper. She was once accused of murder but acquitted. She turns out to be Estella’s mother. Miss Skiffins Wemmick’s girlfriend and later, bride. Clara Herbert Pocket’s girlfriend and later, bride. Mrs. Brandley The old widow with whom Estella lives in Richmond. Mrs. Whimple An elderly woman at whose house Pip and Herbert lodge Magwitch in order to hide him. Compeyson Magwitch's onetime partner in crime. It is his fault Magwitch is sentenced to prison. He becomes an informant to the police and helps recapture Magwitch. CONFLICT Protagonist The protagonist of this novel is Philip Pirip, called Pip. Pip is a sensitive child, orphaned and living under the care of his sister and her husband. His sister resents him and continually reminds him that he is a burden. His brother-in-law, Joe, is kind to him; in fact, he is the only one who shows Pip any love. An encounter in his childhood leads Pip to aid an escaped convict. In order to repay Pip, the convict secretly bestows him with large sums of money, so that Pip's dream of becoming a gentleman is realized. Pip changes on acquiring wealth and status; his childhood home and friends are embarrassing to him. In trying to live up to his own great expectations, he loses his sense of judgment and begins to value material possessions and gentlemanly pretensions more than kindness and friendship. On realizing that his patron is a convict, and that he has forsaken everyone who loved him in this false attempt to be a gentleman, Pip mends his way of life and returns to his good-natured self, more mature as a result of his experience. Antagonist The antagonist in this novel is not a person as much as it is an expectation, or rather, a set of expectations. Pip is led into making grave mistakes based on his false expectation of being a gentleman, his false expectation of marrying Estella, and his general false expectation of rising above his past. In the process of living out these expectations, Pip hurts the people who have been kindest to him -- namely Joe and Biddy. In the end, he learns that all his aspirations have been based on a false presumption that he could rise above his past and be something better than Joe or Biddy. His wealth comes from a convict, and his newfound airs of being a gentleman dissolve in the realization that things are not what he has thought. He learns that true worth comes from inside a man, and turns away from his once-great expectations. At times, actual characters seem menacing or dangerous, qualities usually associated with antagonists. Orlick, for example, is Pip’s first enemy. He resents Pip and seriously wounds Mrs. Joe. Later, he tries to kill Pip. Drummle, for his part, is known as the “Spider.” He baits Pip continually and steals Estella away as his wife, only to abuse her. Compeyson haunts Pip and Magwitch, eventually causing Magwitch serious wounds and successfully aiding the police in capturing him. These three, more than any other characters, provide the texture of the dramatic tension in the novel. Estella and Miss Havisham occupy a special place in the dramatic breakdown of the novel as well. For some time, both are mildly threatening characters; Estella with her alternating cruelty and kindness and Miss Havisham with her morbid dress and rotten cake. Bitterness has led Miss Havisham to train Estella in coldness. And Estella herself warns Pip with certainty that she can only hurt him and that she is not capable of returning his love. In the end, Miss Havisham repents of her bitterness and Estella and Pip part as friends, but roles of these two women in sustaining the dramatic tension of the novel cannot be ignored. Climax The climax occurs when Pip learns the identity of his benefactor. In that moment, all his great expectations dissolve into shame of the convict and disgust with himself for his gradual change. He knows now that he is not destined to marry Estella, nor is he any less common than he was as a blacksmith’s apprentice. As well, he is obligated to protect his benefactor out of loyalty and gratitude. The foundation of assumptions and expectations on which he has built his life is completely shaken. Outcome Pip lays aside his expectations of greatness. He protects his benefactor and realizes that this convict has been more loyal to him than he has been to Joe.

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