Setting and Characters in Great Expectations Essay

The Great Expectations

Dickens novel Great Expectations was written in 1861 even though the novel was set in 1810-1830 , life then was very hard for the poor, especially children as they were treated very harshly; they were beaten and made to work in dirty and dangerous jobs with very little food or shelter. Dickens showed how poor people and children lived in the 19th century. Life for rich people was very wealthy as they could become a part of the society. People in society made rule of a how to behave.

Great expectations was set in London of Kent in south east England. Dickens knew these parts very well. The purpose of this novel is to show the difference between the rich and the poor, and becoming a gentlemen wasnt easy Pip wants to become someone of that society as he wants to become a gentlemen and will like to show Estella what he can do. In great expectations the main characters is Pip followed by Miss Havisham and Estella. In this essay I will be writing about Miss Havisham and how Dickens created her using different styles and techniques.

Miss Havisham invites pip into her house keep her company and to get Estella and Pip close. Dickens uses a variety of styles to show how Pip feels and how Pip sees things around him when Pip arrives he sees an old house with irons bars around Pips thinks its a prison he gets really distracted when he sees a grave yard in front of him. It had a great many iron bars to it which shows someone has imprisoned them selves. He sees a large brewery near the side of the house, but there was no brewery going on which shows miss Havisham hasnt done anything in along time and hasnt thought of changing or getting over her love, as pip was to find out later the brewery was like the rest of the house unused and neglected as no-one has lived here for a long time. When pip entered the house there was no light as all the windows were blacked out which shows she has never seen the day since she got her heart broken on her weddings day.

Everything in the room has stopped, like the watch and the clock, a long time ago this shows since that day nothing has been moved or changed. Miss Havisham put down the jewel exactly on the spot from which she had picked it up if anything would be moved or touched it will be placed exactly where it was found as nothing shall ever live again until Miss Havisham gets her revenge. I glanced at the dressing table, saw shoe once white now yellow had never been worn, looked down at her foot saw silk stockings once white now yellow, all objects paled and decayed this shows everything has lost its colour and everything has stopped living like Miss Havisham. The withered bridal dress looks like grave clothes, long vale looks like a shroud she still is wearing exactly what she was wearing ever since the day her heart got broken.

In the 19th Century Class was very noticeable as Dickens shows, people in a high class had money, houses, employees, workers and in low classes theyd be on streets working in factories stuff like that class meant everything and it showed that theyd become a gentlemen, also society didnt mean much as higher class people had more rights and power on their community; society wasnt as good as it should be, Dickens shows this in his play. Miss Havisham treats pip very badly because she wants Estella to break his heart in the future, however her treatment of Estella is even worse because shes turning Estella into what Miss Havishams husband was, Miss Havisham wants Estella to be like this so she can show men how it feels to get their heart broken from who they love, I think that Miss Havisham treats pip very unfairly. The reason for this is that she knows how a broken heart feels but still makes Estella break his heart.

In Pips points of view Miss Havisham is just a normal person but the reason shes like this is that she has been hurt and cant recover, shes just a lonely lady who needs someone looking out for her and someone to love. Pip doesnt like the way Miss Havisham acts because she doesnt know how to treat people and she doesnt realize whats going on around her.

I think that Miss Havisham is an amazing character because she is well respected and her status is very intriguing, people look up to her and enjoy her company, she also has a lot to say by the way she adds and she makes the play very interesting to watch and makes the play understanding. I feel very sorry for her because she has had her heart broken, and she is imprisoned in her house without knowing anything that is going on around the outside world. She has not seen daylight for a long time and she doesnt know whats goes on outside the walls of her house. However I dont like her because she is a very nasty person and has a cold heart and doesnt know how to treat people appropriately. There is no other character in fiction like her because she is unique and has her own way of outing and own style of doing things. She likes in her own imprisoned world where the love of her life has gone from her.