Life Essays

The settings Dickens creates are vital to Great Expectations, as these fictional locations are host to the bulk of the plot’s drama, and help convey the mood of the section and its characters to the audience. The novel was written as a series of weekly instalments and so needs to …

In Victorian times, children had a very suppressive upbringing; “spare the rod and spoil the child” was a common motto. Children were treated poorly and unfairly, they were expected to be seen and not heard. In “Great Expectations”, Pip is treated very harshly by his sister, Mrs Joe, “…she had …

This essay is based around Pips life on the marshes, his move from the marshes to London and his life in London. The marshes is a contrast, which shows Pips morale decline in life. During his move and during the course of the novel Pip becomes a very nasty person …

David Lean’s production of Great Expectations was created in 1946 and was originally written by Charles Dickens in 1860. Later, in 1999, Julian Jarrold directed Tony Merchant’s dramatisation of Great Expectations. The openings of both films would appear to be similar, however in their own individual ways each opening is …

‘The Darkness Out There’ written by Penelope Lively and ‘Great Expectations’ written by Charles Dickens are both pieces of prose contemporary to their writing date and audience. Similarly, the examples of text are moral tales which allow the audience to understand and comprehend the reality of humanity. Charles Dickens is …

Miss Havisham is perhaps one of the most striking characters in Dickens’ novel – “Great Expectations”. She is a manipulative, bitter and twisted woman who is completely out of touch with the real world – and Dickens reinforces this by associating props, gestures and images to fix her character and …

This was Dickens’ second-to-last complete novel. It was first published as a weekly series which made its first appearance in December 1860. Similar to Dickens’ memories of his own childhood and his great use of complex dual perspective we experience in his early years the young Pip seemed powerless to …

I am going to examine the hardships endured at home, in institutions and in society of children in Dickenson times. At this time poverty and cruelty was rife and commonplace in society, institutions which were supposed to care for children, exploited and abused their authority over them. These institutions were …

Pip’s role in ‘Great Expectations’ is developed through the positive and negative influences of Joe, Abel Magwitch and Miss Havisham. Firstly there is Joe, who Pip, in chapter two, describes as a “dear fellow”. He shows through out the entire book that he is a “dear fellow”. He also always …

Summary Pip was a common working boy; he was used to his status and was happy. But after he met the cold and proud Estelle, he fell foolishly in love with her. He became ashamed of himself, ashamed of his family and ashamed of his work. That was when he …