EngLit

Selena Acqui · Plunger Data inscrierii: 08/Noi/2016 Mesaje: 33

1. Regarding the woman’s condition during the Victorian Age, could Pip’s sister be an ironic character created by Charles Dickens? I was thinking of this on the basis of the facts that, even if she is a representation of the classic stereotype in the Victorian mentality, dealing with the domestic affairs of her family’s living, and also being responsible for the education of her younger brother, she is still the one who takes decisions and represents the “head” of the family, her husband, Joe, being completely obedient to her. At the same time, what could be a reason or the reasons for which her name is not mentioned in the novel? From my point of view, a reason would be this conception that the Victorians adopted towards the women’s possibilities, when the power of a woman’s opinions was not accepted, and her capacity of accomplishing things was limited. Therefore, Mrs. Joe Gargery remains a character dominated by this concept even if her authoritarian personality is independent from her husband’s opinions or thoughts. The contrast between their two personalities might also show one of the author’s tendencies to emphasize her violent personality, and, thus, he uses this discrepancy as a narrative device. I also think that, from the perspective of what the significance of names is, the author might have considered to offer freedom to the reader, as to let him choose a name for her, connected to her description, personality, and actions, or he has decided to confecționate a mystery out of it, but also by only using the appellative “Mrs. Joe Gargery”, he had highlighted the idea that the woman was still not as free in thoughts and actions as a man was in that certain period.

2. The scenes of Pip’s life from the beginning of the book, when he visits the grave of his dead parents, meets the convict, steals food from her sister and brings it to the stranger from the cemetery are events which, as far as time is concerned, are placed around Christmas. Is it a coincidence or is it made on purpose by the author that Pip and his benefactor’s first encounter is set around this holy event?

3. An important contrast which Charles Dickens might have wanted to insist on in this novel is the difference between social classes. Pip, being part of the fortuneless class of the society, is the irrevocable pattern of the individual who wishes for more possibilities in life. At some point, he becomes unhappy of his condition, as a simple apprentice of a blacksmith, his desire being to become a gentleman. When his financial possibilities are changed by an unknown fortune, he sees his future brighter, never thinking about the unhappiness or debts a wealthy man, as he will become and he will be forced to experience, may encounter. I consider that, by this change-over from a social class to another, Charles Dickens makes a demonstration of social status mutation, bringing forth the advantages and the disadvantages of each other. This novel is, from my point of view, to some extent, a dual representation of people, actions, and feelings, the author intensifying the fact that there are two possibilities/ sides to everything: richness, poverty, high class, low class, love, family, etc. What is your opinion about this?

4. From a psychological point of view, as “Great Expectations” is written in the first person, according to the way the narrator analyses, thinks, feels, and behaves, could the construction of Pip as the main character in this novel be the result of the author’s self-portrait? At some point during his lifetime, the author’s father was sentenced because of some debts, therefore, the author being forced to start working from an early age. I consider this event to be one that can surely be regarded as an early emotional trauma which made the author see himself as a victim of abuse and ignorance. Therefore, might he have preserved this disturbing feeling of becoming a victim in Pip’s character as well, creating these environments that may inflict physical, mental, and emotional abuse on some of his characters?

5. The novel starts with the main character’s declaration regarding the way he has gained his nickname, his full name being Philip Pirrip. What could be the significance behind “Pip”? Is it a simple diminutive for Philip or is it a suggestion for the pitiful situations his life will force him to face, bringing a lot of disappointments to his being and soul, as one meaning to “pip” is “a bad temper or depression” (according to Collins dictionary)? And what does the transition from his Christian name "Philip" to "Handel" mean? Does it represent his social transformation? By the time Herbert decides to call him under a new name, he had actually brought Pip into a new world, where the rupture from his natal world is obvious, this being easily noticed as his personality adapts to this kind of living.

6. Pip’s transformation into a gentleman, made possible by Magwitch, becomes a frightening discovery when he finds out who his benefactor is, Pip knowing Magwitch is the convict for whom he stole food from his sister when he was a little child. Can we associate this relationship to the one between Frankenstein and his monster from Mary Shelley’s novel, “Frankenstein”, Pip actually being the convict’s creation, their relationship being one in which one of the two is afraid of the other one, and in the end, the creation mourning over his creator’s death ? At the same time, about what kind of inspirational sources used in the development of this novel can we discuss, beside the social and the cultural background which the author illustrates using the real image of the world at that time?

Mariana Oros · Diver Data inscrierii: 14/Dec/2015 Mesaje: 54

1. Regarding the woman condition during the Victorian Age, where we know that the opinions of women were insignificant and their actions limited, the reason of the author chose not to mention Pip’sister name is to reflect the mentality of that period about women and as you said, through the appellative ”Mrs Joe Gargery”, the author highlighted the idea that the woman is still not free. Ironic or not, she is the ”head” of the family and her husband is obedient to her, but her behaviour, somehow, could be understood. We have already learned that when she was young, about twenty, she has already buried her parents, five brothers and she had cared for her infant brother. She was left alone without help and when Joe appeared, by marrying her, he represents a hope, a problem solver for her loss from early life and because she was alone and abandonment, she wanted security and to control everything. However, the fact she has not a name and her husband has, show us the contrast between the two class and the perspective of a woman in the Victorian Age.

2. From my point of view, anything that happened was not from coincidence and beyond of the surface, everything has a symbolism. We know that in Christmas time, besides the religious aspect, people become much better and bestow more than usual, and because Pip and his benefactor’s first encounter is set around this holy event, is symbolic for Pip’s future because the convict become Pip’s benefactor and later, he helps Pip financially to ensure a better future, thing that I see as a Christmas gift came later. I think all those things that happened around Christmas, the fact that Pip visited the grave of his dead parents, met the convict and stole food for him despite the problem that he may have had with his sister, are essential for the future’ Pip and there are seen as an anticipation of what will happen with Pip and how he will manage to escape from the environment to which he belonged and become a gentleman.

3. I agree with you about the demonstration of social status mutation that Charles Dickens makes in his novel, but from my point of view, the novel ”Great expectations” is a complex novel that does not concentrate of one storyline, but many others. Even the main story, is the Pip’ one, I think the author tries to show us different stories of different people, he tries to photograph the life how it is.From me, his novel is like a panoramic that include all aspects of life : richness, poverty, the difference from classes not just from the social alură but from the cultural and psychological one, different perception of the family idea, different perception about people, and what is most important from me, the way that people perceive things, how turned their actions, thoughts, feelings in their climbing or descending of social ladder.

4. From my point of view, the construction of Pip as the main character could reflect the author self-portrait, because from an early age the author was sentenced to work and treated with indifference, and this aspect, of the abandoned child subjected to indifference, is reflected as in a mirror the construction of Pip as a child. Seeing himself a victim of ignorance, Charles Dickens, transfer his feelings, emotions and mentality to his characters. Characters as Pip or Estella, or even Louisa and her brother Tom, characters from ”Hard Times”, are just reflections of the author as a child, and their destinies are possible ways that Dickens could imagine to choose from himself.

5. From my point of view, the significance behind the nickname of the main character,”Pip”, suggested his own drama, the desire to escape from the environment that he used to live together with her sister and Joe and the desire to become an educated gentleman. These desires represent his existential drama and even a possible depression as the meaning of his nickname veil according to Collins dictionary ( “a bad temper or depression”). The name ”Pip” represent the old Philip, who lived in a different environment and consumed his existence on desire to escape, once he entered into a new world, there is a need to deny of old ”Pip” through the transition to a new Pip, who has a new name, ”Handel”. I think the transition from his Christian name "Philip" to "Handel" marks a new beginning for him, a new identity, something like baptism for his condition and personality.

6. As in Mary Shelley’s novel ”Frankenstein”, where we can see a relationship between Frankenstein and his monster, the relationship between creator and his creation, we can talk about the same thing in ”Great Expectations”. If in Mary Shelly’s novel, the creator is afraid of his creation, in the Charles Dickens’ novel the roles are changed, the creation, Pip, is afraid of his creator, the convict Magwitch. Living with the idea that his benefactor is Miss Havisham, Pip was surprised to know that his real benefactor is actually Magwitch, the convict that he had helped when he was a little child. The fact that Magwitch is his real source of gentility, shocked Pip and made him feel fear and even disgust about his creator. I think, when Pip find out from Magwitch that he is his benefactor, Pip still had in mind the image of Magwitch from when he helped him (" . . . a man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared, and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin." ) and treating him with repulsion because he knew that the convict is a creature more socially detestable by society, because of his crimes. There is a bond between the two, both being a victim of society, but both using each other: Pip used the source of financial come from Magwitch, and Magwitch used Pip to enter again in society as a free and good man because he helped Pip to become an educated gentleman. However, despite the real image of the world at that time as a source of inspirational, I think that Dickens used as a source of inspiration, for the relationship between Pip and Magwitch, his own relationship between him and his father, and also, the myth of creation and the relationship between creator and creation.

CCD · Dunker Data inscrierii: 26/Oct/2015 Mesaje: 21

1. If there is one thing that we can amply illustrate about the ‘Great Expectations’, is that the main female characters cannot be easily described as the embodiment of a Victorian woman. Mrs. Joe Gargery shows signs of an abusive behavior and rigid character and has no qualms about wearing the pants in the family. Miss. Havisham is strange and manipulative and Estella is unfeeling and merciless. However, the social conventions at that time rendered them confined to their homes most of the time, thus their freedom being significantly limited in comparison with the great amount that privileges their male counterparts, who have the liberty to leave the house as they please without raising suspicions or being under the society’s close scrutiny. For instance, Mrs. Joe Gargery gets too caught up in the Christmas dinner preparations to attend the mass (“My sister had too much to do to go to church, but Joe and I went, arrayed in our Sunday best.”) or to set time aside to listen to the Carols (“Perhaps if I wasn’t a blacksmith’s wife, and (what’s the same thing) a slave with her apron never off, I should have been to hear the Carols’, said Mrs. Joe”). The underlying cause of her puternic and callous demeanor rests in the fear of being abandoned by Joe, on whom she wholly relies for her sense of identity as she is only known as “Mrs. Joe Gargery- wife of Joe Gargery, the blacksmith” (“ ‘Your sister is given to government’, said Joe, ‘Which I meantersay the government of you and myself’…And she an’t over partial to having scholars on the premises…for fear as I might rise. Like a sort of rebel, don’t you see?”, “your sister’s a master-mind. A master-mind”). To further illustrate the great emphasis the Victorian era placed on the role a man supposedly played in a woman’s life, Miss Havisham has resorted to a self-imposed confinement to Satis House since the morning Compeyson deserted her, indicating that a woman in that era could not have a proper life without a husband. So to answer your questions, I am in complet agreement that Pip’s sister is indeed an ironic character who disproves that all women are characterized by the proverbial and much prized Victorian fragility and obedience. What is more, the mere fact that she does not go by a name has us realize that she does not abide by the Victorian society’s rules.

2. In my opinion, I believe that there in not just a mere coincidence that a great novelist as Charles Dickens set the scenes from the beginning of the book around Christmas time. Even though he was not a religious novelist, the society in which he lived was, so he used this in his books. As Christmas is knows as the holy day in which Jesus was born, this could also be interpreted as the day in which a new Pip was born- Pip, the Gentleman- because Magwitch is the one who changed Pip’s fortune and if it were not for that day, Pip would have been a blacksmith for the rest of his life, like Joe (“Pause you who read this, and think for a clipă of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day”).

3. I agree with you that this book is abundant in symmetries, easily identifiable by the one this each two characters have in common. Therefore, there are two convicts in the marshes (Magwitch and Compeyson), two young women (Estella and Biddy), two 'mothers' (Mrs. Joe Gargery and Miss Havisham), two 'father figures' (Joe and Magwitch), two people who want to take revenge through their children (Miss Havisham and Abel Magwitch), two children who are molded by their benefactors (Pip and Estella), two people who hate Compeyson (Miss Havisham and Abel Magwitch). This sort of duality does not only prove that there are two sides to each story, but it also indicates that all things are interconnected as if by a 'long chain of iron and gold, of thorns and flowers', as the author proposes. Pip was discontented with his condition because he did not deem himself worthy of Estella, who was part of a higher class. This is the reason behind his decision to become a gentleman, adamant to make her see and treat him differently. Regardless of his efforts, Estella's attitude remains unchanged. On top of this, there are other concerns and tribulations praying on his mind and he comes to wish he had never made Miss H. and Estella's acquaintance and longs for his former life where he could have remained a humble man with a peaceful existence. The conclusion that can be inferred is that Pip's social ascension and his well-off condition does not guarantee happiness and each side of the line he eventually brought himself to cross has both advantages and drawbacks (as you mentioned).

4. The first-person narrative perspective the author resorted to throughout 'Great Expectations' lends the story credence and authenticity, rendering its characters convincing. On the basis of the fact that most authors draw upon their own experiences and life events for their works, it is not unlikely Charles Dickens resorted to the same technique, shaping Pip's character in his own image and possibly crafting Estella after his first love.

5. I consider the nickname 'Pip' both a simple diminutive and an indisputable indication of the journey the character undertakes and the development he undergoes. As per Cambridge dictionary, 'pip' means a small seed, an appropriate clue to the process of learning and change and growth Pip goes through. When Mr. J. informs Pip of the property he is to come into, he also apprises him of the necessity to retain his current name- “You are to understand, first, that it is the request of the person from whom I take my instructions, that you always bear the name of Pip”. Also, when Pip visits Miss Havisham before his departure to London, she bids him farewell in the following manner: “Good-bye, Pip! – you will always keep the name of Pip, you know.” In other words, he is destined to sped his life in solitude, like a seed, and grow and learn there is nothing more important than loyalty and kindness. Pip is ashamed of his past, persisting in his conviction that a true gentleman is solely defined by his wealth and social class, whereas he is nothing but a poor apprentice at Joe's forge. Consequently, he agrees to change his nickname to Handel, being reborn and made part of the new world while still being bound to his old life for his name reminds of Georg Handel's work “The Harmonious Blacksmith”, his former profession.

6. The two novels bear a resemblance as far as the relation between the creator and his creation goes, but while in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the creator (Victor) is the one who is afraid, in Charles Dickens' 'Great Expectations', the creation (Pip) is the fearful one. Another difference in this respect lies in the fact that Victor and his creature are bound by their hate and desire for vengeance towards each other, whereas Pip is in Magwitch' s debt for making a gentleman out of him even though the initial purpose was to prove the society wrong and to wreak vengeance. Another example of a relationship permeated by such a dynamic constitutes of Miss Havisham and her involvement in shaping Estella to wreak havoc on all male sex.
The Creature and the convict are the two monsters, the unfortunate results of the lack of paternal affection and presence in their youth, both being rejected by their fathers: " But where were my friends and relations? No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses; or if they had, all my past life was now a blot, a blind vacancy in which I distinguished nothing. From my earliest remembrance I had been as I then was in height and proportion. I had never yet seen a being resembling me or who claimed any intercourse with” (Frankenstein)/ “I first become aware of myself, down in Essex, a thieving turnips for my living. Summun had run away from me—a man—a tinker—and he'd took the fire with him, and left me very cold… So fur as I could find, there warn't a soul that see young Abel Magwitch, with us little on him as in him, but wot caught fright at him, and either drove him off, or took him up." (Great Expectations).
Dickens also employs religious references. Seeing as the Jews were disliked by a large number of people, Dickens bestows negative connotations on them, thus turning them into an antagonistic collective character. (e.g. Orlick who is like “the Wandering Jew”, namely a sinner).

Ciocotişan Diana

caiadiana · Dunker Data inscrierii: 04/Noi/2015 Mesaje: 12

Muresan Catalina Simona

1.Regarding the woman's condition during the Victorian Age,could Pip's sister be an ironic character?
I think that Pip's sister is an ironic characher created by Dickens beacause the woman in the Victorian Age had a stereotypical mentality,she dealing with the household activities and is resposabile for the education of her brother,also she is presented being above her husband,she ruled in that house with authority.Besides her name in not mentioned,signifief the social statue in front of her husband Mr.Joe Gargery,she is called Mrs.Joe...

2.From my poin of view the act of being kind with someone despite the social class(convict)is a natural act especially for a child,the fact that he brought to the convict food and what he asked,mean that he has a great soul and gesture of charity in future will bring to Pip new perspectives in life,because Magwitch ,the convict,will rewarded with a large furtune and a chance to be what Pip wanted forever,to became a gentleman.

3.In his novel Dickens wanted to emphasize the diffrences between social classes and to made the contrast between the aspects of life:the richness and the poverty and the moral values:love-hatered,fair-cheat.Pip belongs to the low class ,he was unhappy with his condition as a blacksmith like his brother in low Joe, until one day, after he meat Magwitch.The transition from one social class to another gave to him new experiences also changed his personality.

4.In my opinion the novel is a bildungsroman wich depicts the personal developement of a young boy,a transition from the boyhood to manhood.Many of the events from Dicken's early life are mirrored in Great expectiations,therefore this is an autobiographycal novel.Pip the novel's protagonist lives in the countryside,workes at a job he hates(blacksmith),considered him too good for this surroundings and experiences material succes in London at an early age,as Dickens himself did.

5.Pip is a Christian name(Philip)then the name wich he received in London,Hendel,is symbolistic because it represents the transition from the conservative trust to a new perspective ,new identity.The name-Pip,is followed by the persistent wish to escape from the condition of mediocrity.

6.The creator of the new Pip is the convict Magwitch ,even Pip thinks at first time that the "creator" were Miss Havisham.Pip feels fear and hesitations about his benefactor,reminding the image of Mahwitch had in this day when Pip helped him.Between they exists a bound because Pip needs financial help from Magwitch to became a gentleman and Magwitch needs help from Pip to partake in society as a free and kind man.The relation between Pip and Magwitch is a reflection of the relation between Dickens and his father.It may exist the myth of creation and the relation between creator and thecreation in the novel.

Butean Dana · Trimis: 25/01/2017 16:23 Titlul subiectului:

"Great Expectations" it's a ironical title, theme: love and money.
This book prezented a boy, named Pip (six-year-old) lives with his sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery an his sister's husband, Mr. Joe Gargery. Mrs. Gargery is about as bossy, but the his brother-in-law Joe is pretty much the best thing that's happened to Pip.
The only good thing about the mansion is Estella, Miss Havishman's adopted daughter. Pip keeps getting invited back to play with her, and he develops quite the little crush on her. This crush turns into a big crush, and that big crush truns into full-brown, all-consumering love, even thought there's no way that orphan Pip can even have a chhange with Estella, the adopted child of the richest lady in town. Estella is a beautiful and a innocence girl.
Pip also gets a new BBF named Herbert Poket, the son of Miss Havishman's cousin.
Herbert shows Pip around him town, and they have a busy city life: dinner parties in castles with moats, encounters with strange housekeeper tips to the theater.
Pip devises a plan to get Abel Maqwitch out of the country, but he's uneasy- and with good reason: just as they get ready to make their great escape, Estella goes and maries Pip's nemesis and Pip is almost thrawin into a linekiln by a hometown bully eho claims to know about Magwitch.
In the end, Pip is banging out in London a few years later with Joe and Biddy's son, baby Pip, when he runs into Estella. Estella had a hard life: her husband was abusive and when he dies she married a poor doctor.

Butean Dana · Trimis: 25/01/2017 16:24 Titlul subiectului:

Ilies Adriana Iulia

It's a very complex novel, are presented many characters.
Pip is the hero of this story, a little boy that helps a convict with some food, the convict find Pip in the churchyard.
He was encreased by his sister Mrs. Joe Gargeryand her husband Joe Gargery. He gets asked to play at Miss Havisham's house, a very creepy lady. Everything in her house was very scarry, the only thing beautiful that Pip finds there was Miss Havisham daughter, Estella, but the girl was very cold with him.
After his sister death, Pip receive a very unespected inheritance, at the begining Pip was thinking that the money were from Miss Havisham, but later we found that the money were from the convict, Abel Magwitch, who was the real father of Estella.
Pip's only love remains Estella, but she was a very cold person, and didn't know how to love, because her mother encreased her in ths way, she marry with a doctor.
At the end of the book, we find that Estella husband died, Joe is now married, Miss Havisham died in a fire, Estella's father dies to.
I think that Dicken's novels are sad, because many of the characters suffer.

Mariana Oros · Diver Data inscrierii: 14/Dec/2015 Mesaje: 54

Horj Silvia
I really believe that the most significant orgasm of the story is when Miss Havisham's bridal clothe catches fire which ultimately leads to her death. Miss Harvisham has been one of the central characters in the book that arouses our interest and curiosity. She is an enigma that ignites many of the conflicts in the story.