The World of Charles Dickens' Novels - Research Paper Example

“Many feel the novel Great Expectations is autobiographical. Compare and contrast on the story Great Expectations events with events in Charles Dickens’s life” They say the word and the world are often intertwined together in an affirmative union that is subtle yet definitive at the same time. The word often reveals secrets of the world, both known and unknown, while the world inspires beauty and depth into the realm of the word. The relationship between the word and the world however, is one that is molded, shaped, influenced and affected by one entity – the writer. The writer’s genius determines how the word will represent the world, and it is his skill that ascertains how the world will interpret the word. Truly the magician in this regard, the writer is the most powerful factor in determining the fate and destiny of the characters and their lives. In such a situation, it can be said that the world of the writer is reflected most inventively in the word that is written through his pen. The writer’s perception of the world, his aspirations, his hopes and his fears spell out in his work in a manner that may not be outright obvious, but is present nevertheless. To assume a demarcation of the author’s experience of the world with the outpour of his words would be a tantamount to undermining the creative process – the same creative process that fathered one of the most influential and widely read works of all times – Great Expectations. Set in the Victorian age, Charles Dickens created a world so complete that every character is truly unforgettable, every emotion is truly impactful, every setting is truly engaging and every dialogue is truly memorable. From the minutest of all things to the overarching philosophies related to the plot, Great Expectations is a work that is seen as the result of the observational genius possessed by Charles Dickens. J. Hilis Miller comments on how Dickens keen observation spills out in his work. He writes that “Dickens’ novels are a transposition into fiction of his assimilative way of living” (Miller). Indeed, profound moments in the story seem to parallel the real life experience of Dickens, making it appear autobiographical in nature. Of Dickens’ works, David Copperfield is seen more autobiographical than Great Expectations. However, the latter possesses many elements that make it similar to the life circumstances of Dickens himself. While the plot and life trajectory of the protagonist, Pip, is different from that of Charles Dickens, the exceptional novel Great Expectations fosters the themes of a childhood hounded by suffering and abject poverty, the metamorphosis of a young socially inferior child into a successful, educated gentleman and the having expectations and fears throughout one’s life – all themes that draw strong parallels to the life of Charles Dickens, making the novel autobiographic in nature to a great extent. Set in the early Victorian age, the novel Great Expectations revolves around Phillip Pirrip, more endearingly known as Pip throughout the novel. Orphaned at an early age, the novel begins with a seven year old Pip who is visiting his parents’ graves on Christmas day. This apparently peaceful encounter is disturbed by the arrival of an escaped convict, who threatens Pip and asks him to bring him a file with which he can break his shackles. This event is pivotal in many ways in young Pip’s life. The next impactful encounter for Pip occurs in Satis House, the house of Miss Havisham, a queer rich old lady. It is there that he meets the first love of his life, the cold yet enchantingly beautiful Estella. It is after this encounter that young Pip feels the need to rise above his circumstances, and become an uncommon ‘gentleman’. However, despite his expectations with life, he starts work at a blacksmith under the apprenticeship of Mr Joe. Four years later, Pip’s life changes as Jaggers, a lawyer he had first met many years ago, tells him that Pip is to be sponsored by a rich anonymous benefactor who will grant him a generous monthly stipend. As a result, Pip’s life circumstances change, and he moves to London where he befriends Herbert Pocket. Pip assumes Miss Havisham is the benefactor who plans to have him married to Estella after ensuring his financial success. After many years of education and learning, Pip finally does become the gentleman he once aspired to be, however, his expectations all crash down when he finds out that Magwitch, the escaped convict he once helped. In a series of further revelations, Estella turns out to be Magwitch’s daughter, and Magwitch’s sworn enemy is the man who betrayed Miss Havisham. Life is never the same for Pip, and a conflict emerges between the appearance and reality of a gentleman. Despite the difference in the life of Pip and that of Dickens, the theme of poverty as an obstruction to an encouraging childhood is common between both instances. Pip is an orphan who lives with his sister, and because of the abject poverty he is subject to, is forced to work at a blacksmith instead of pursuing his education. The frustration Pip feels at such an occasion is similar to the desperation Dickens s known to express when he had to work at a shoe polish factory at the age of 12, after his father was jailed for excessive debts. Living in the presence of well to do gentlemen of the society, both young Pip and young Dickens aspire to become a part of the elite, refined part of the society and looking down upon their own social class. On Joe’s meeting with Miss Havisham, for example, Pip confesses, “I am afraid I was ashamed of the dear good fellow” (Dickens, 129). Such shame and embarrassment is derived from his earlier hopes of achieving the social status of that of Miss Havisham – however, it was when he was being sent in to the apprenticeship of a mere blacksmith, that Pip feels disgust at the man who raised him. Charles Dickens saw an ambivalent childhood, where despite having parents, had to live the life of an orphan. His parents were not excessively rich, but wasted and squandered their money, as a result of which young Dickens’ father was sent to jail for excessive debts. At the age of twelve, Dickens was forced to leave his education and, work for a shoe polishing company to earn some wages for the family. Wesley Hromatko comments how Charles had to spend “a dreary, humiliating year” working at the factory, where he “felt an outcast and feared that his ambitions would be crushed” (Hromatko). The feeling of living under socially embarrassing conditions was one that is evidently shared both by Pip and Charles Dickens. The ordinariness of the Dickens family was resented by Charles who wished, just like Pip, to be uncommon was is reflected in a dialogue between Joe and his wife, where Joe remarks that Miss Havisham, a woman of such distinct class, would not have remembered his name, “whether it were Joe, or Jorge.” (Dickens, 131) The fact that there is nothing memorable about the common man belonging to the working class disturbed the psyche of Charles, whose father was an ordinary John Dickens with nothing distinctly unique about his name or his trade. Such frustrations, and a subsequent desire to rise above the suppressing ordinariness of the working class are reflected in the thoughts of Pip, which forms the narration of Great Expectations. Despite the fact that Pip’s childhood is so similar to that of Charles Dickens, critics have claimed that Great Expectations cannot be called a quintessentially biographical account of the author. David Copperfield has more biographical elements than any other work, and any other similarities are claimed to be purely coincidental. George H. Ford, for example, mentions posthumously in his work titled the “Dictionary of Literary Biography” that not only is David Copperfield an image of Dickens in real life, but there are striking similarities between other characters in the book and people in Dickens’ real life. Mr. Micawber, for instance, is an example of a character that draws strong parallels from Charles Dickens’ father, John Dickens. Moreover, Pip’s life is shaped after a magnanimous sponsorship from an anonymous benefactor, while no such thing happens in Charles Dickens’ life. Under such circumstances, it is hard to classify Great Expectations as the biographical account of Dickens’ life. Despite the fact that the characters and plot of Great Expectation is different from the life story of Charles Dickens, Pip and the novelist are alike in that they achieve a coming of age akin to a magical metamorphosis, where an astounding butterfly emerges from a grubby cocoon. The story of Pip is not only about the great expectations attached with him, but is also an account of the great expectations that Charles Dickens was anticipated to achieve. From a blacksmith to a gentleman, Pip finds success in his persistence and good luck. Dickens too achieves remarkable popularity after a humble beginning. The rag to riches story is biographical in many ways, making the novel biographical in nature. Princeton University defines bildungsroman as a genre that focuses on the “psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood” (Princeton). Indeed, the novel epitomizes the growth of Pip, who learns a great deal about life, love and people through the good and bad experiences that come across his way. Dickens too achieves the observation and learning needed for a novelist of his caliber as a result of the cruel experiences he had to go through as a child. Gwen Watkins writes how Dickens’ experience at the blacking factory became the “most traumatic incident of his life from which all his later emotional difficulties proceeded.” (Watkins, 11) The feeling of having to work at a very young age, and encouraged to work by the very adults that are supposed to look after you is a feeling Dickens’ makes the reader experience through the hard life of Pip. Without having experienced it himself, Dickens would not have been able to create such detailed depictions of intimate experiences. Moreover, the character of Estella, and the cold rebuttal Pip experiences at her hands is symbolic of the failure of Charles Dickens’ first love with an enchanting young lady called Maria Beadnell. The suffering Pip feels at the cold attitude of Estella is in strong parallel to the torture Dickens felt as he was rejected by Maria. It is said that Dickens burned all the intimate and compelling love letters he had written to woo Maria. The burning of Miss Havisham is symbolic of Dickens’ punishment for cold hearted women. Hence, a biographical element stands out in the novel Great Expectations. Great Expectations is indeed one of the most compelling texts in the history of world literature. Encompassing a wide range of things including the themes of poverty, social inequality, psychological burdens, financial constraints, childhood misfortunes, anonymous generosity, unrequited love and unfathomed betrayal, the novel is universal in its appeal and evergreen in its charm. It is no surprise that the writer of such a great work has been hailed as one of the most loved authors of all time, and looked up to with respect not only in England, but all across the world. Dickens’ world view was so unique and exquisitely insightful that it is seen as the most influential factor in contributing efficacy to his word. The word of Dickens is shaped and molded by his world, and the novel Great Expectations is a proof to this. Despite the claims that the novel and its plot is unlike any biographical facts pertaining to Charles Dickens’ life, it is useful to gain insight into the details of the characters and minute expressions that exist within the novel. Only then can strong and striking similarities be drawn between the life of Pip and that of Charles Dickens. It is through during such comparisons that one needs to pay heed to the timeless words of John O. Jordan that the work of Dickens, including Great Expectations, “needs to be contextualized within a wider narrative if it is to be fully appreciated.” (Jordan, 3) The word and the work can indeed never be separated. Works cited George H. Ford's entry on Dickens in The Dictionary of Literary Biography, Victorian Novelists Before 1885, vol. 21, ed. Ira B. Nadel and William E. Fredeman (Detroit: Gale Research, 1983): 89-124. Miller, J. Hillis. Charles Dickens: The World of His Novels. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1969. Print. Wesley Hromatko, Charles Dickens. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2013 "Bildungsroman." Princeton Unversity. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2013. Watkins, Gwen. Dickens in Search of Himself: Recurrent Themes and Characters in the Work of Charles Dickens. Totowa, NJ: Barnes & Noble, 1986. Print. Jordan, John O. The Cambridge Companion to Charles Dickens. New York: Cambridge UP, 2001. Print. Read More