Charles Dickens Great Expectations Essay -- Great Expectations Charle

Charles Dickens' Great Expectations Introduction: ‘Great Expectations’ was one of Dickens’ best-known novels and was written in 1860. ‘Great Expectations’ is a Bildungsroman and follows the progression of Pip from child to adult; from humble blacksmith to gentleman; from innocence to experience; from rags to riches and on his journey, Pip meets a range of interesting characters, from the comical Wemmick, to the cruel Estella. This novel reflects parts of Victorian times, with class divide, child labour and improving one’s fortunes. Dickens wrote to entertain the public and the public got a say in how the novel progressed due to the fact that Dickens wrote in monthly instalments in a magazine called ‘Household Words’. Dickens even had to re-write the final chapter so that the public was satisfied. Therefore Dickens needed to make his characters striking and memorable so that they were remembered later in the book. This novel also reflects Dickens’ own life experiences. Dickens was poor as a child and throughout his life, he worked his way up and became rich and this is reflected in the story with Pip going from a poor, lower class boy to a rich, upper class gentleman. In this essay I am going to explore how Dickens made his key characters striking and memorable by using different methods. Section 1- Magwitch =================== Dickens wrote ‘Great Expectations’ in the first person perspective of Pip. By doing this Dickens used a method by which he can create memorable and striking characters because the way that Pip reacts to the characters and the way they treat Pip makes us remember them. At the beginning of the book in chapter 1, Pip meets Magwitch, an escaped convict who threatens P... ...ds striking and memorable through use of physical description, setting and speech. The way that the characters interact with Pip is also important. Dickens makes Magwitch striking and memorable because of the way he is introduced through speech and the way he makes Pip and us feel. Miss Havisham is made particularly memorable to the reader, as she is so bizarre- receiving Pip initially in her dressing room and living her life in a time warp. Wemmick is perhaps the character most people can relate to- he is middle class and lives two separate lives. His individualism, his appearance and choice of home make him striking and memorable. The character who makes the biggest impression on me is Mr Wemmick because I think that his house and his actions are very bizarre and I believe he is a funny character and I think he is the character I can relate to.