Great Expectations

Key themes
1. Social Class/Hierarchy
  1. Estella makes Pip aware of his working class background - this starts the changes in Pip
2. Ambition/Hopes
  1. Pip hopes to make the transition from working class to upper class
3. Wealth
  1. Pip has a desire for wealth - results in him getting Herbert into debt
    1. Pip does not care - selfish
4. Conflict
  1. Inner turmoil
    1. The difference between doing what he wants and what is right
      1. Steals from his sister to help the convict
5. Innocence/Corruption
  1. Pip is innocent at the beginning - wants to be like Joe - a blacksmith - he is unaware of life outside of the marshes
    1. When he leaves he is easily influenced by his surroundings - he becomes corrupted - shows his naivety
Structure
1. 3 parts of the novel represent Pip's stages in his life
  1. Part 1 - Innocent Pip
  2. Part 2 - Corrupted Pip
  3. Part 3 - Pip's redemption
Narrative voice
1. Retrospective first person narrative - Pip
  1. Makes him unreliable? - He may not be able to remember everything accurately
  2. The reader knows Pip will be okay in the end - he survives all the hardships he faces
2. At the beginning he is a child - may have over exaggerated what he say
  1. His vivid description of the convict
3. He is fairly honest - acknowledges his faults
Key Symbols
1. Pathetic fallacy
  1. Dickens uses a lot of pathetic fallacy to foreshadow bad things to come
    1. Chapter 39 - stormy night - return of the convict
  2. Foggy mist - symbolises Pip losing his former innocent self
2. Satis House
  1. Pip's realisation of where he is in the world - working class
  2. Symbolises bitter dreams and disappointment
    1. Miss Havisham gets left on her wedding day
    2. Pip hopes to marry Estella one day
3. Setting
  1. Marshes - forshadows Pip's corrupted self
    1. Page 5-6
      1. 'this bleak place overgrown with nettles'
      2. 'dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard'
      3. 'distant savage lair'
  2. London
    1. Negative description
      1. Foreshadowing Pip's corrupted self
  3. Barnard's Inn
  4. Satis House
4. Estella
  1. Is symbolic of the bourgeoisie
5. Joe Gargery
  1. Is the ultimate symbol
Quotes
1. "I had heard of Miss Havisham up town—everybody for miles round, had heard of Miss Havisham up town—as an immensely rich and grim lady who lived in a large and dismal house barricaded against robbers, and who led a life of seclusion. (7.80)"

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Great Expectations

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