This is my response for Mrs. Linneman's marriage question.
It seems to me like Dickens holds marriage in very low regards. The marriage between Joe and Pip's sister does not seem to be the happiest marriage. Joe holds her in high regard, while Mrs. Joe always seem so angry and frustrated with her life and her marriage. The same with Mr. and Mrs. Pocket. I don't get much of how Mr. Pocket feels, but by the way Mrs. Pocket is always ignoring everything for books about Titles leads me to believe she is very discontent with the fact that she settled for someone without a Title. The almost marriage of Havisham and Compeyson and the heartbreak she endured also seems to say that Dickens does not hold marriage in high regard. Nearly every couple presented appears unhappy and discontent, the complete opposite of the way marriage is supposed to be.
6 comments:
This is to further what Danielle has said about marriage and Miss Havisham.
Dickens holds marriage as a necessary social step for every citizen, and not an act of love. This is evident through the character of Miss Havisham. Being left at the alter, Miss Havisham does not continue with her life. This suggests that Dickens believes that marriage is a required step for one to continue a "satisfactory" life. Additionally, Pip must also find a significant other at the end of the novel. Personally, I do not feel that Pip and Estella are "a match made in heaven." I think this is just another reflection of Dickens's personal views on marriage. In order to continue on with a satisfactory life, Pip must find a perspective wife and Miss Havisham does not have a "satisfactory" life since she did not marry.
However, Dickens's view is also reflective of the time period that he lived in. During his life, that was what most people did: married, had children, and died. As demonstrated in the work of several other authors from the Victorian era. This view of marriage is also demonstrated in Wurthering Heights in the case of Heathcliff, who becomes richer and stronger after marrying Catherine. However, in current times, the views of marriage have changed slightly and it has become less mandatory and more of a choice. So from a personal view point, it is easy to be critical of this lifestyle.
I believe that my views of Miss Havisham would be further demonstrated on this partially school appropriate video that Michelle showed me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yknKa1jm0w4
I noticed this too, Danielle. Throughout the entire novel there is a theme, whenever concerning marriage, of unhappiness. Almost every major relationship between a man and a woman has some sort of depressing air to it and hints that the couple is discontent, such as the clues you picked up from Mrs. And Mr. Pocket. The questions that popped into my head while reading were; “why did Dickens feel the need to write a book filled with such depressing love stories?” “Did he feel the need to express his own heartbreak and unhappiness through his characters he created?” “Why did he hold such a low regard for marriage?” The comment Steph wrote really cleared up some of these questions for me, the section about the time period he lived in, especially.
To comment on what Steph said earlier, I agree that Dickens believes marriage is essential for a satisfactory life. However, I feel he only supports marriage if it is strictly "business".
In the course of the novel, whenever romance and true love is tied in with marriage, disaster is also. Miss Havisham was head over heels for Compeyson. What happened? He left her at the alter. Pip is entranced by Estella and loves her unconditionally. However, she tells him multiple times that she has no heart, thus breaking Pip's heart. The only marriages that worked in the novel were the ones filled with discontent and frustration. Mr. and Mrs. Pocket constantly fought and never truly seemed happy together. The same goes for Mr. and Mrs. Joe. The sister was always in charge and incessantly yelling and fussing at Joe and Pip.
Therefore, it appears to me that Dickens is a firm believer in marriage. He is not one for romance and true love, though.
While I can see what all of you are saying about the "business" marriage aspect of Great Expectations, I think that there may be a little more to the story. In fact, I think that Dickens was saying the exact opposite of what you were getting out of it.
Look at those marriages that each of you has talked about, particularly Ms. Havisham's, Joe and Mrs. Joe's, and the Pockets... Each of those was, in one way or another, an order of business manner, intended to move those characters forwards in their lives as something resembling a transaction. However, look at all of those characters in their marriages. None of them are happy. As stated, Mrs. Pocket spends all of her time looking at tittle books, Ms. Havisham is obviously an unhappy soul, and Joe is beat by his wife, and while not objectionable, cannot be the happiest man in the world. In fact, I would be willing to say that each of these "get on with life" marriages in fact results in complete stall in each and every case. Ms. Havisham is stuck in time and eternal darkness, Joe is stuck taking care of and obeying the whims of Mrs. Joe, and Mrs. Pocket is left unsatisfied and wanting more.
Now take a look at those other marriages which have yet to be mentioned... Between Joe and Biddy, Herbert and Clara, and Wemmick and Miss Skiffins. I think it can be pretty clearly presumed that none of these marriages would in any great way aid the characters who partook of them. Joe and Biddy stand to gain little from each other in a material sense, Herbert and Clara both have little enough to give or gain, and while Miss Skiffin's life outside of the Castle is mentioned very little, it may be presumed that she was not an "uptown girl" as they say... On an interesting side note, it may be important to note that each of these weddings was done in private. Herbert and Clara essentially eloped, Skiffins and Wemmicks wedding consisted of 5 people, 1 of whom was a church worker, and Joe and Biddy's was a small enough affair that Pip did not even realize its occasion until he was told of it by them. I think that the scale of these weddings reflects the fact that they are not business or social steps, but rather, private and honest celebrations... However, though none of these characters benefited socially or materially, it is seen that these are by far the happiest couples around. Of the two weddings which Pip to some extent personally experiences (Wemmick-Skiffins, Joe-Biddy), each of the couples practically glows upon the occasion, and Herbert and Clara's happiness is well-evidenced by the 11 happy years which Pip spends with them while working with Herbert. This great happiness is set with great contrast against the dissatisfaction of the aforementioned business marriages (to add one more to that list, Estella-Drummle, again, NOT a happy marriage). To me it seems that the happiness of these marriages is not from mutual benefit per-say, but rather from mutual love.
From these contrasts, I think the argument can be made that Dickens was not in fact a marital conservative of the time, but more of a progressive individual. The characters who acted in accordance with the societal norm lived in perpetual dissatisfaction with their spouses and their lives, and the characters who married for love were among the happiest and most uplifted characters in the book. To me, Dickens seems to be advertising love based marriages, and decrying those that are simply a stepping stone...
(On a side note, I found it interesting that the people who married for love were also the ones who were most able to progress forward with their lives... Herbert and Clara go on, and Herbert becomes a relatively successful merchant, Biddy and Joe live their lives happily and have children they love, and Wemmick's perfect little world at The Castle is finally complete. Which is another contrast with the 'other' marriages mentioned above, all of which cause their members to stall... I'd say that may be another argument in the direction taken above)
To go with what Claire said, Dickens does always relate marriage with unhappiness. Joe and Pip's sister, Miss Havisham, the Pockets... Perhaps Dickens felt marriage should always be related to unhappiness due to the fact that he went through a tense marriage that ended up in seperation?
Post a Comment