great expectations as a bildungsroman essay

The Bildungsroman Genre: Great Expectations

Suzanne hader (english 168, 1996).

[ Victorian Web Home —> Authors —> Charles Dickens —> Works —> Great Expectations —> Literary Genre and Style ]

The great expectations referred to in the title of Dickens's novel are entirely bound up in the class system. When Jaggers meets with Pip and Joe, he describes Pip's future thus:

I am instructed to communicate to him...that he will come into a handsome property. Further, that it is the desire of the present possessor of the property that he be immediately removed from his present sphere of life and from this place, and be brought up a gentleman — in a word, as a young fellow of great expectations. ( Great Expectations 141)

Pip has an exaggerated respect for money, as do several of his "gentleman" peers and guardians. Pumblechook, by virtue of being one of the more wealthier inhabitants of Pip's hometown, is as conceited as he is revered among the townspeople. Estella ends up marrying Drummle, although he is of the rudest disposition. Jaggers, famous for getting the most savage of criminals off the hook (or out of the noose), cleans his hands of it with lemon-scented soap at the end of every day. With his eye for portable property and collection of death tokens from murderers and felons, Wemmick is perhaps most disturbing when he sheds his London skin as he walks towards home. Joe and Magwitch, on the other hand, repulse Pip because they lack social status, even though they are the ones who enable him to reach maturity. As Stephen Wall points out, Joe is the meterstick by which the reader judges Pip's outlook:

The Pocket household and the Finches of the Grove prove, morally speaking, poor substitutes for the forge and the Three Jolly Bargemen. Pip's change of fortune does not entirely blunt his moral perceptions, and this is why he can survive his ultimate catastrophe. ("Dickens's Plot of Fortune," 64)

Magwitch is that ultimate catastrophe, as he forces Pip to confront the hollowness of his fashionable accomplishments and overall prosperity.

Yet the reader can sympathize with Pip's shortcomings, as Dickens includes narrative concerning the formation of these prejudices. Although the reader cringes when Pip remarks to Biddy that “Joe is a dear good fellow...but he is rather backward...in his learning and manners" ( Great Expectations, 150), the portrait of Pip's overbearing and derisive sister, Mrs. Joe, looms large even after her assault. Curiously, despite Pip's utter misery at her hands, he ends up espousing her biases about money and respect. When she instills these ideas in him, he cannot maintain any self-respect. By encouraging Pip to prostitute himself to Miss Havisham, Mrs. Joe not only pushes him out of his home, but pushes him into a materialistic mindset. Estella takes over from there, switching to the role of would-be lover instead of would-be mother.

Estella is but one of many great disappointments for Pip. He desires her above all else, Miss Havisham leads him to believe that he will have her, she eventually marries Drummle. He desperately wants to become a gentleman, Jaggers magically shows up to proclaim his fortune, he discovers that a murderer has been his benefactor. He forsakes Biddy for being too provincial, at his sister's funeral he chides her for insinuating that he might not return as often as he promises, and when he finally sees the error of his ways and wants to make amends, she is newly wedded to Joe. Each of these events is due to a misunderstanding on Pip's part about the nature of society: that money is the best indicator of virtue. Even as Pip witnesses Jaggers in court, attempting nothing short of raw intimidation, he feels nothing but respect for the power Jaggers wields. This blindness leads Pip to misinterpret the behavior of other characters so often that it borders on delusion. Estella tells him over and over again that he should not become attached to her, yet he believes in the love myth that Miss Havisham feeds him. Jaggers also warns him against speculation with regard to his patron, and that Pip should on no account expect hints of any sort from Jaggers. Pip then twists his interpretation of Jaggers' gestures in such a way as to support his sadly mistaken idea that Miss Havisham is his patron. Biddy never promised that she would wait for Pip, in fact she reacts with disgust when he visits them, but his hubris conceals the source of her dismay from him.

in the hunted wounded shackled creature,...only a man who had meant to be my benefactor, and who had felt affectionately, gratefully, and generously, towards me with great consistency through a series of years. I only saw in him a much better man than I had been to Joe. (406)

Even though Magwitch's riches are forfeited to to the Crown when he is convicted, Pip nonetheless cares for him through the trial and to his death. Afterwards, Pip endures his own serious illness. When he recovers, he has Joe to thank, and he does thank him for a change. With this gesture, Pip conclusively relinquishes his biases and is reborn into maturity.

Related Material

Last modified 1996

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Saturday, February 13, 2010

'great expectations' as a bildungsroman novel: pip’s moral regeneration, writer's profile.

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Authoring Desire: Great Expectations and the Bildungsroman

2019, Dickens Quarterly

This article maintains that the revised ending of Great Expectations moves "away from all such things as they conventionally go" even more than the original one in that, by refusing to do away with Pip's desire for Estella, it strains the novel's relationship to the conventions of its genre. In an attempt to provide a corrective to critical stances that often ignore the novel's romantic plot, the article scrutinizes the role that Estella and Miss Havisham play on Pip's Bildung, particularly on his desire to become a gentleman. Then, by turning to René Girard's model of triangular desire, it argues that whereas Magwitch's criminal stain constitutes a destabilization of the values of the Bildungsroman, in particular that of mobility, it is ultimately Miss Havisham's aberrant authorship of Pip's desires that most deeply unsettles the novel's genetic composition. The article will conclude by contending that the revised ending is consistent with the novel's treatment of authorship and is therefore no less desirable than the original ending.

Related Papers

International Journal of Scientific Research in Engineering and Management (IJSREM)

prabhat chourasia

Great Expectations is an eternal masterpiece of Charles Dickens. He shows how circumstances compel us to mold our expectations in various hues. He is an ace delineator of character and Great Expectations is no exception. It reflects Victorian England in its truest sense. Pip, Joe, Estella, Miss Havisham, Jaggers, Wemmick, Mrs. Joe, and all other characters present the truth and reality of the contemporary time. Pip, the protagonist of this novel is overwhelmed by various expectations. He wants to become rich, notable and one of the most important personalities of England. For this research paper, both the primary and the secondary sources of information are analyzed and used. Let's see how various characters of this novel represent contemporary Victorian Society? The main focus of this article is to bring into consideration the process of maturation and self-discovery, from childhood to adulthood is simply be shown through the character of Pip. Charles Dickens once said, "I love my novels because they are the means to express my experience in contemporary society and the action of its people.

ReasesrchGate

Nissrine Jabbar

This work is an attempt to show how the axis of desire is achieved between the protagonist Pip and Magwitch in Great Expectations in terms of Greimas's The Actantial Model.

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Dickens shows in Great Expectations how strenuously difficult life can be in Victorian Age, with the struggle of working class opposed by the lavishness of decadent aristocracy and eminent changes that were taking place. By analysing Pip's journey through life from his poor childhood to his good fortunes of early adulthood it is clear how Pip is portrayed as an agent of social changes. How he actively pursues changes in his social condition and mingles among different classes due to the importance of his actions and, even more, his reactions to the world makes the hero of this novel a fine example of how a protagonist in a Bildungsroman invariably is a representative of the conflict of classes and the necessity of social reforms at the time.

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi

Martin Fashbaugh

You are part of my existence, part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here. You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since—on the river, in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets. You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever been acquainted with. The stones of which the strongest London buildings are made, are not more real, or more impossible to be displayed by your hands, than your presence and influence have been to me, there, and everywhere, and will be. (335)

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Great Expectations is considered one of the most outstanding works of Charles Dickens. The novel takes place in Victorian era Britain and it is, therefore functions as a medium to mirror the social dynamics of this respected era including class-divided social hierarchy, social mobility, and the concept of morality which manifest themselves more explicitly with the effects of the industrial revolution. Through its main character and protagonist Pip, the reader witnesses the course towards the ‘myth’ of upward mobility. In this regard, the present paper aims to foreground the dynamics of Victorian society that are reflected in the novel.

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Charles Dickens is the most typical representative Victorian author: his epic stories, vivid characters and depiction of contemporary life are unforgettable. He tries to depict the severe life of English society with a particular focus on their miseries. His novels also provide a harsh criticism on social evils and its destructive nature, such as, formation of different classes in the society. Charles Dickens father was imprisoned, and he was sent to work in Warren’s blacking factory by his mother, where he endured appalling conditions as well as loneliness and despair. Charles Dickens harsh experiences at Warren’s blacking factory are fictionalized in his famous novel Great Expectations. This thesis focuses on the Gothic and Romantic elements in Great Expectations. The objective of the research is imagery and setting of Great Expectations: Effects of Gothicism. Romantic elements in Great Expectations: Effects on human relations.

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Great Expectations

Charles dickens, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Charles Dickens's Great Expectations . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Great Expectations: Introduction

Great expectations: plot summary, great expectations: detailed summary & analysis, great expectations: themes, great expectations: quotes, great expectations: characters, great expectations: symbols, great expectations: literary devices, great expectations: theme wheel, brief biography of charles dickens.

Historical Context of Great Expectations

Other books related to great expectations.

• Full Title: Great Expectations
• When Written: 1860-1861
• Where Written: Kent, England
• When Published: Serialized from 1860-1861; published in 1861
• Literary Period: Victorian Era
• Genre: Coming-of-Age Novel ( Bildungsroman )
• Setting: Kent and London, England
• Climax: Pip discovers his patron is the convict
• Antagonist: Orlick, Bentley Drummle, and Compeyson
• Point of View: First person (Pip is the narrator)

Extra Credit for Great Expectations

Serial Fiction – In the Victorian era, books were often published by magazines in serial installments before they were printed as complete books. Great Expectations was serialized in All the Year Round, the weekly magazine Dickens' founded and ran.

Alternative Endings – Great Expectations has been published with two different endings. Dickens' rewrote the original ending in response to complaints that it was too sad. Most contemporary editions of the novel are published with this revised (and happier) ending.