Great expectations Analysis

Great Expectations- Ideas

• DARKNESS/LIGHT
• This is an oxymoron as the theme of darkness is carried through the novel.
• chiaroscuro
• pictorial representation of light and shade without actually referring to color
• - the contrasting images of light and darkness create a chisroscuro effect setting a gothic mood highlighting Pips struggle to understand the truth
• when pip describes the marshes they're a "long black horizontal line"- the sky is also "just a row of angry red lines and dense black lines"- "on the edge of the river i could faintly make out the only two black things"
• Miss Havishams house is full of "heavy darkness"
• They search for the convicts in the dark
• meeting the convict, travelling to Miss Havishams house and nearly being killed by Orlick
• On the marshes Joes forge is like a "beakon of warmth and light that bleeds onto the marshes" and pip descibes this as being "a glowing road to manhood and independence"
• Alternative meaning; estellas candels in Miss Havishams house are watery, the night Magwitch comes to town pip sees twinkling stars.
• Estellas name means "star" and she is also described as "bright"
• This adds to the gothic theme of Great Expectations also empathises the fact that Pip is lost and struggling to find his own way in a world full of rules he doesnt understand (evident due to his confusion of love with Estella)

Weather

• PATHETIC FALLACY as the weather often seems to resemble pips mood
• the night magwitch arrives on pips door step there is a huge storm outside that happens to get worse in the morning
• when pip first meets the convict in the graveyard, the mist is so strong he can barely see his own hands
• MIST
• When Orlick tries to kill pip, when he meets the convict at the graveyard mist is described
• after Mrs Joe funeral Pip promises biddy he will return but she doesn't believe him, he looks to the mist for help and direction- "once more the mist was rising as i walked away if they disclose me as i suspect they did, that i should never come back, and that Biddy was quite right, all i can say is- they were quiet right too"

Themes- society and class

• What is "society" in Great Expectations, and where do we see it find it? What's the difference between the village society and the kind of "society" that Estella is going to be a part of? That Pip wants to be part of?
• How is "class" defined in the world of this novel, and how are we as readers introduced to the idea of class?
• What is the social hierarchy of the characters in this novel? Do any characters end up moving around in the hierarchy?
• Why does Biddy warn Pip against wanting to become a gentleman? Is she right to do so? Is she really jealous of Pip?
• FRIENDSHIP
• When is the word "friendship" or "friend" used and who uses these words?
• Does Pip value his friendships? Why or why not? Does he value different friendships differently?
• Who are Pip's friends? Can we tell why they're friends? What does it say about his and Herbert's friendship that it starts with a fight?
• How is friendship different or similar to love in this novel? What's the relationship between the two emotions?