Charles Dickens Great Expectations Essays -- Charles Dickens Great Ex

Charles Dickens' Great Expectations â€Å"Great Expectations† is set in early Victorian England and was written by Charles Dickens in 1860. It is written as a first-person narrative with Pip as an older man telling his life’s story. I will be looking at how his extremely strict upbringing affected how he behaved in later life. The title â€Å"Great Expectations† shows an indication of the change in Pips fortunes throughout the story; from a poor family living in the country with a trade of being a blacksmith, to living a luxurious life as a Gentleman in London. The period of the novel was a time of change as England was expanding worldwide and becoming a wealthy world power. The economy was changing from mainly agricultural to industrial. It was a time when there was a very wide gap between the rich and the poor as the rich enjoyed great privileges and the poor led a life near to slavery. The novel provides an insight into both country life and city life where the only advantages that the poor have in the countryside is a clean environment. The book begins with Pip meeting a runaway convict in the graveyard where his mother, father and younger brothers are buried on the marshes. The convict threatens Pip and terrifies him in order to get help from him. At first he says, â€Å"Keep still, you little devil, or I’ll cut your throat!† and this frightens Pip as he describes him as â€Å"fearful†. Pip then pleads with the convict and says â€Å"Oh! Don’t cut my throat, sir.† â€Å"Pray don’t do it, sir.† which conveys to the reader that Pip is very afraid of him. The convict treats Pip in this violent manner because in the Victorian era prisoners were kept in rotten hulks in Nepoleonic wars and treated worse than animals. This explains... ... Miss Havisham has a strong impact on Pip’s adult life too because she leads him to believe that she is the one who is providing him with an income for his new life in London. Her attitude towards Pip is based on her hatred of men as a result of being jilted on her wedding day. Pip even calls her â€Å"the fairy godmother who has changed me† as he assumes that all his good fortune is as a result of Miss Havisham’s generosity. It is only when it is too late however, that Miss Havisham realises what she has done to Pip and how cruel she has been to him. She regrets taking out her anger of men towards Pip and using Estella to break his heart. In conclusion, there are many characters within the novel who have an impact on Pip’s journey to adulthood and the story illustrates how both good and bad influences and experiences affected the person that Pip became. Charles Dickens' Great Expectations Essays -- Charles Dickens Great Ex Charles Dickens' Great Expectations â€Å"Great Expectations† is set in early Victorian England and was written by Charles Dickens in 1860. It is written as a first-person narrative with Pip as an older man telling his life’s story. I will be looking at how his extremely strict upbringing affected how he behaved in later life. The title â€Å"Great Expectations† shows an indication of the change in Pips fortunes throughout the story; from a poor family living in the country with a trade of being a blacksmith, to living a luxurious life as a Gentleman in London. The period of the novel was a time of change as England was expanding worldwide and becoming a wealthy world power. The economy was changing from mainly agricultural to industrial. It was a time when there was a very wide gap between the rich and the poor as the rich enjoyed great privileges and the poor led a life near to slavery. The novel provides an insight into both country life and city life where the only advantages that the poor have in the countryside is a clean environment. The book begins with Pip meeting a runaway convict in the graveyard where his mother, father and younger brothers are buried on the marshes. The convict threatens Pip and terrifies him in order to get help from him. At first he says, â€Å"Keep still, you little devil, or I’ll cut your throat!† and this frightens Pip as he describes him as â€Å"fearful†. Pip then pleads with the convict and says â€Å"Oh! Don’t cut my throat, sir.† â€Å"Pray don’t do it, sir.† which conveys to the reader that Pip is very afraid of him. The convict treats Pip in this violent manner because in the Victorian era prisoners were kept in rotten hulks in Nepoleonic wars and treated worse than animals. This explains... ... Miss Havisham has a strong impact on Pip’s adult life too because she leads him to believe that she is the one who is providing him with an income for his new life in London. Her attitude towards Pip is based on her hatred of men as a result of being jilted on her wedding day. Pip even calls her â€Å"the fairy godmother who has changed me† as he assumes that all his good fortune is as a result of Miss Havisham’s generosity. It is only when it is too late however, that Miss Havisham realises what she has done to Pip and how cruel she has been to him. She regrets taking out her anger of men towards Pip and using Estella to break his heart. In conclusion, there are many characters within the novel who have an impact on Pip’s journey to adulthood and the story illustrates how both good and bad influences and experiences affected the person that Pip became.