Great expectations writing background

[1] The theme of morality in great expectations is simple: love, loyalty and conscience are more important than wealth and social status.

Dickens expressed this theme through Pip's experience of pursuing so-called "great expectations". Therefore, ambition and the pursuit of personal development have become the central theme of this novel, and also become the psychological mechanism to promote Pip's development. Deep down, Pip is an idealist-as long as he finds something better than what he has, he will want it at once. When he saw Miss Havisham's Satis Manor, he expected to be a rich gentleman. When he discovers his moral defects, he hopes to be a good person; When he realized that he couldn't read, he was eager to know how to read. Pip's desire for self-pursuit is the main reason that determines the title of this novel. It is because Pip believes that life can be improved that he feels that his future is "promising".

[2] In Great Expectations, ambition and self-pursuit are manifested in three forms: moral, social and educational. It is these motives that drive Pip to make his best or worst performance in the novel. First of all, Pip is eager for moral self-improvement. When he does something immoral, he will severely blame himself; This strong sense of guilt will inspire him to do things well in the future. For example, when he left home for London, he experienced a fierce struggle in his heart and always felt that he was really sorry for Joe and Biddy. Secondly, Pip is eager to improve his social status. Out of love for Estella, Pip hopes to be a member of Estella's class. Encouraged by his sister and Pan Bo Trafigura, Pip indulged in a gentleman's dream all day. Realizing Pip's dream of being a gentleman has become the basic plot of this novel. This gave Dickens an opportunity to satirize the class system of his time and reveal its unpredictability. Obviously, compared with the life of a blacksmith's apprentice, Pip's life as a corpse gentleman is not so satisfactory and his morality is not so depraved. Thirdly, Pip is eager for a good education, which is bound to be related to Pip's desire to improve his social status and marry Estella. To be a gentleman, a good education is essential. If he is just an ignorant hillbilly, there is no hope of entering the upper class. However, through the examples of Joe, Biddy and Magwitch, Pip understands that a person's true value is not necessarily related to social status and education level, and love and conscience are far more important than erudition and lofty social status.

Social class

[1] In the novel Great Expectations, Dickens made an in-depth discussion on the class system in Victorian England: from the poorest criminal Magwitch to the poor farmers Joe and Biddy, from the middle class Pan Bo Qu to the rich Miss Havisham. Social class is the central theme throughout the novel, and eventually rises to the moral theme of the novel-Pip finally realizes that wealth and social status are far less important than love, loyalty and human intrinsic value. Although Pip loves Estella deeply, Estella's social status has nothing to do with her personality. Although Duma is a noble, his moral quality is very low. Although Magwitch is a criminal who is about to be hanged, he has intrinsic value.

[2] Most importantly, this novel describes the class situation in Victorian England after the Industrial Revolution. Dickens despised those hereditary nobles, but respected those who made a fortune through labor. Although Miss Havisham's wealth comes from the brewery, she still relies on her own territory. Dickens further emphasized the central theme of the novel, namely ambition and self-pursuit, by linking the theme of social class with the theme of self-pursuit.

Crime, guilt and innocence

This paper mainly discusses the theme of crime, guilt and innocence through the characters such as prisoners and criminal lawyers in the novel. Since Joe made handcuffs in the blacksmith's shop next to the gallows in London prison, images about crime and criminal trial have filled the whole book and become an important symbol to reconcile Pip's inner conscience and external judicial conflicts. Generally speaking, just as social class is only a superficial value standard, external judicial institutions (police, courts, prisons, etc.). ) are only extremely superficial moral evaluation standards, and Pip must learn to find his best lifestyle and inner moral conscience on the basis of these standards.

Pip began to be afraid of Magwitch because he was a criminal. Pip felt a strong guilt about helping Magwitch because he was afraid of the police. At the end of the novel, Pip discovers Magwitch's noble inner quality, so he can ignore Magwitch's criminal status at the judicial level. Driven by his conscience, he tried his best to help Magwitch escape the punishment of the police and the law. It is precisely because Pip learned to evaluate Magwitch's inner quality with conscience that he finally replaced the external standard (criminal identity) with the internal standard (moral good man).

Duality of theme

[1] The most important feature of Dickens' works is the complexity and balance of structure. The plot of his works contains complex coincidences, intricate relationships between characters and rich drama. In the development of the plot, the environment, atmosphere, events and characters are organically integrated.

[2] In addition to the complicated relationship between the characters, Great Expectations is perhaps the most prominent dramatic symmetry in Dickens' works. A double structure runs through the whole novel. From beginning to end, almost every element of the novel is reflected and responded in other aspects of the novel. Two criminals in the swamp (Magwitch and Johnson), two patients trapped in the house (Mrs. Joe and Miss Havisham), two women interested in Pip (Biddy and Estella), and so on. There are also two mysterious patrons: Magwitch who gave Pip property and Pip who secretly supported Herbert. Moreover, an adult couple in the novel tries to shape their children according to their own wishes: Magwitch wants to have a gentleman and tries to turn Pip into such a person; Havisham, trying to cultivate Estella into a man who specializes in revenge to comfort her broken heart. Interestingly, the actions of these two men were all facilitated by Kang Peisheng-Magwitch hated Kang Peisheng's position and education, but could not expect to catch up with him, so he decided to train Pip into a gentleman. Hao was heartbroken, because Kang Peisheng didn't show up at the church wedding, so she longed for revenge through Estella. The relationship between Havisham and Compson-a woman of noble birth and a man of ordinary birth-further reflects the relationship between Pip and Estella.

[3] Although this two-factor model does not bring substantive significance to the theme of the novel, just like the relationship between weather and behavior, it makes us understand that everything is interrelated in Pip's world. Drama symmetry runs through all Dickens' works and is an organic part of his novel world.

Comparison between man and non-man

In Great Expectations, the narrator uses inanimate object images to describe the appearance of characters, especially minor characters or characters unfamiliar to the narrator. For example, Mrs. Joe seems to be scrubbing her face with ground nutmeg, while Mr. Wemmick's elusive appearance is always compared to a mailbox. Using such an expression may make people feel that the narrator has no sympathy for the characters, or suggest that the object in and out is more like a thing than a person under pressure from life. The latter explanation shows that this general expression belongs to the category of social criticism, suggesting that class system or criminal trial system will make some people dehumanize.

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Satixi manor

Dickens created a magnificent Gothic atmosphere in Satis Manor, and many things here symbolize Pip's romantic delusion of the upper class and many other themes of the novel. The wedding dress on the aging Miss Havisham symbolizes death and corruption and is full of irony. Her wedding dress and reception symbolize her past, and the static clock in the room symbolizes her attempt to stop time and refuse to change anything, hoping that everything will be the same as when she was abandoned on her wedding day. The brewery next to the house symbolizes the connection between business and wealth: Miss Havisham's wealth is not the product of noble birth, but the result of her successful operation in the development of industrial capitalism. Finally, the ruins of the manor covered with gray dust after burning symbolize the decadence and depravity of the residents in the house and the whole upper class.

Fog over the swamp

The background in Great Expectations almost always symbolizes a certain theme and sets a certain tone to match the dramatic action of the novel. Pip's childhood hometown, the swamp near Kent, is one of the most meaningful backgrounds in the novel, and the author has used it many times to symbolize danger and turmoil. When he was young, Pip sent iron files and food to Magwitch in the dense fog. Later, he was kidnapped by Orrick to a swamp full of dense fog and almost killed. Whenever Pip walks into the fog, danger may happen. It is worth noting that Pip will go to London soon after receiving the mysterious sponsorship, but he must cross these foggy swamps, which reminds readers that this obvious positive change in Pip's life may imply some dangerous consequences.

Bentley zhuangmu

Although he is only a nobody in the book, Bentley Zhuang and Pip form an important contrast, showing the absoluteness of class differences. In Pip's mind, social morality is closely related to entering the upper class through education, so they are interdependent. As a member of the upper class, Zhuang M is vulgar and cruel. His example proves to Pip that the promotion of social status is not necessarily related to individual intelligence and morality. Zhuangm is a fool, but he has inherited a lot of wealth, while Pip's brother-in-law Joe is a good man who works all day but gains little. As a negative example, Zhuangzi made Pip see clearly the intrinsic value of figures like Magwitch and Joe, and helped him finally give up his immature illusions about wealth and class and reach a new, more compassionate and realistic understanding.