Great Expectations

Stephan Do August 20, 2011

Great Expectations

Setting

Great Expectations takes place in England during the 1800's, but the story is told later in the century. As Pip is a kid he would regularly visit the Satis House. Here he would first experience the social class, as the Satis House was "uptown" away from the village. The Satis House is a huge mansion but it is decaying because no one is there to take care of the house. The owner was infamously "left at the altar" at the morning of her wedding. His hometown of Kent, unfortunately, is close to the ocean, as well as the convict ships. This means that, not only is Kent constantly full of mist but it is full of convicts as well. As Pip arrives in London, he first sees is a public yard. The public yard is where criminals are publicly beaten, punished, or hung. As he visits Mr. Jaggers' office, his guardian and lawyer, he notices that it is right next to Newgate Prison. When Pip arrives at the inn where he will be living , he is shock by how dark and dirty it is. Mr. Jaggers simply assumes that the shock is happiness but the Blue Boar, the inn in his hometown, is greater by far. As Pip grows older and becomes a gentleman, his lifestyle changes. As he would normally stay at Joe's house,he would now simply stay at the Blue Boar.

Symbols

Satis House

The Mist on the Marshes

Allusions

Pip and Herbert go see a play of Shakespeare's Hamlet

Conflicts

External

Helping Magwitch Escape

Internal

Pip's love for Estella

Pip's guilt

Characters

Pip

Pip has many unfortunate things happen to him like being an orphan or being beaten by his sister, being poor, and so on. Pip lives a life where he is stepped on and kicked around and so he creates dreams. Most likely these dreams of his were created from his constant humiliation and want to be loved. As he grows older his motives are all caused by Estella and that only makes life harder for Pip because Estella doesn't feel the same way. Throughout his life Pips expectations are never met. In anything and everything Pip has tried to do his expectations have been simply unmet. Whether its trying to marry Estella or trying to help Magwitch escape, his expectations have not been met. When Pip goes home he expects Joe's forgiveness and to marry Biddy. When he discovers that Joe had married Biddy and another one of Pip's expectations had not been met, Pip gives up expectations. He's tired of all of his crushed hopes and dreams. As he tries to find true love and true friendship Pip realizes that is beyond any expectation he had set before.

Joe Gargery

Joe is a big