Tension in Great Expectations Essay

Compare the tension created in Chapter on of Great Expectations to that of 39

Great Expectations is a novel written by Charles Dickens. Great Expectations was first published. It was first published on the first of December 1860, and has been adapted to screen and play over two hundred and fifty times. Many people seem to think in Great Expectations that the narrator is Pip himself telling his own story which is basically true. Pip is a small frail young boy who is cared for by his older sister; a humourless heartless woman who is very cruel to pip as she treats him like shit. Pip aged 7 encounters an escaped convict while visiting his mother and farthers graves. The convict intimidates pip into stealing food from his own home for the convict. Later on in the novel Pip meets a girl called Estella as he goes to visit Miss Havisham , he falls in love with Estella and tries to impress her and become a gentleman just for her.

Pip inherits a lot of money and moves to London to get educated however he does not know where the money has come from, he suspects it was Miss Havisham as she is extremely wealthy. Magwitch (the convict) has been taking to jail however he shocks pip by turning up later in the novel at pips posh London apartment and announcing he is the person who give and provided the opportunities for pip to have the luxurious life style he is currently living causing mass confusion and almost hatred, however a feeling of overwhelming that a convict would do that for a simple stranger he barley knew or had no relation to him what so ever.

In the opening chapter it was clear Pip was not an ordinary boy , his real name in fact was Phillip however he was unable to pronounce it so he stuck to the simple name Pip and was then on to be called Pip by his family and friends.

Pip is an orphan living with his sister in south England in the marsh country.

One dull evening Pip decides to go and visit his parent tombstone in the village churchyard, however suddenly a horrific man, dressed in old rags and with his legs tied in chains, jumps out from behind the tombstones and stuns Pip; as he stands there is owe of this monstrous convict. He demands Pip to fetch him some food and a file so he can saw away his metal chains. He threatens to cut Pips neck if he doesnt come back with any food or a file witch scares Pip so he does exactly what the convict says.

In chapter 39 Pip becomes closer and closer to Estella as he accompanys her where ever she may need to be at that time. Pip also can not understand the

Why Miss Havisham will not announce the details of their engagement, in witch he continues to believe, and Pip continues to observe the complicated relationship between Estella and Miss Havisham, miss Havisham goads Estella to break mens hearts however she treats miss havisham as she would treat her suitors.

The class conditions in Victorian Britain were vastly different from the moderns and social togetherness of today, Victorians were very rational about who they interact with, for example a upper class citizen would not invited or talk to someone who was a worker or a lower class citizen and it may be put badly upon them.

Dickens uses language very cleverly in chapter one to show the very awkward and distant relationship between Pip and Magwitch , he creates a sence of loneliness and there is nowhere to go. He also introduces Magwitch as a man of selfishness and heartless man however it turns out he is a miss leading us to think Magwitch is that , however he is clearly not as it shows and starts to play out later in the play.