Title

While I was reading Great Expectations, I couldn't get over the title itself. I kept thinking about how the characters referred to "coming into money" as having 'great expectations' and how to current readers, "great expectations" could mean just about anything. As I continued to read I noticed that Pip's expectations of what his life was going to be like didn't match up with what I expected to happen. Namely, that everything he was hoping for would end up in the pooper.

Down to the Wire!

I see many of you already have submitted your essays and can relax in the knowledge that you're finished. Bravo! A quick glance at my email inbox this morning showed that a few of you still have a little work to do--happy writing!

I wanted to let you know that I do not know how much access I'll have to email before the submission time. I will definitely be checking and answering emails from my phone, but I will not have access to send you any documents you might need, including the summer homework packet. Since most of the questions I have received in the last few days have concerned signing up for Turn It In, I've included the directions below. If you still need to sign up for blogger, I will try to get you set up as an author; however, if you do not hear back from me, you DO still need to go ahead and post. You can comment on any established post on the blog; without authorial privileges you just can't create your own new posts.

Best of luck! I look forward to seeing you all in a few weeks. Enjoy these last couple (Summer Homework Free--woo hoo!) weeks of vacation!

Also, if you have any questions about the homework, feel free to post them here! Your classmates are excellent resources :)

_______________________________________________________

Summer homework will be submitted electronically via Turn It In. Before you can submit your work, you must create an account by following the steps below:

1. Go to www.turnitin.com

2. Click on “create account” (top right corner of the screen)

3. If you have used Turn It In before (A.P. Lang students), you can use your same username and password. Log in as you normally would. If you are new to Turn It In, scroll down to “Sign Up For Turn It In,” and follow the directions for creating a student account.

4. Regardless of whether or not you have used Turn It In before or not, you will need to enroll for this class!!

Class ID: 4044451

Class Enrollment Password: ilovelit

**NOTE**
Please plan on registering for Turn It In and submitting your essay before the due date! Last minute technical issues will not qualify as an excuse for late submissions.

After the specified time on the due date, Sunday, July 24th, by 11:59pm, late penalties will accrue at a deduction of 20% per day.

Women's Role

As I was reading the book, I really took an interest in the role women play. Honestly, I found that they don't play much of a role at all. It seems to me that the women are no more than trophies, to be flaunted and won. The only strong woman I really identified in the novel is Mrs. Joe. She runs her household with a firm hand and refuses to take anything from anyone. Aside from her, women are mostly seen as objects. In the novel, Herbert even refers to his future bride Clara as a child, as if she needs someone there to take care of her or she won't survive. Reading that made me realize how far women and feminism have come and it made me so glad we don't live in a society like this anymore.

Pip and Estella: Two Peas in a Pod

I was amazed when I discovered that Estella was the biological daughter of two criminals. In my mind I thought that was an interesting similarity Pip and she shared. Both characters were born into families that would never have high stature in the community and out of sheer luck the both became very prominent members of society.
Personally I think the two chacters were cursed by thier good fortune. Estella might have actually understood the concept of love if she hadn't been raised by Miss Havisham. Pip might have given up the notion that he had a chance with Estella if Magwitch hadn't given him his fortune. In both situations, the characters would have been better off and possibly happier as commoners. Through these two characters Dickens illustrates that a person's status does not bring a person happiness.

Does anyone else have any comments on this theme?

I thought it was really interesting that as the book progressed and Pip was in the influence of smarter, wealthier people, Dicken's altered the language that Pip spoke with and even the words Pip kept inside of his head. I love how gradual it was too, and that once he spoke to Joe again, Joe's grammar was much less clear in comparison. Dickens portrayed each of Pip's ages perfectly as well. I loved his innocence in the beginning, and the way he perceived certain ages, especially when Estella made him cry out of frustration. It was so easy to relate to the the feelings that go along with Pip's age when Estella makes him cry that first day, when it says "She put the mug down on the stones of the wall and gave me the bread and meat without looking at me, as insolently as if I were a dog in disgrace. I was so humiliated, hurt, spurned, offended,angry, sorry-- I cannot hit upon the right name for the smart-- God knows what its name was-- that tears sprang to my eyes" (60). I became attached to the character of Pip particularly through these kind of instances.

The novel as a whole

Just two minutes ago I finished reading Great Expectations-- this being precisely the ninth time I've been "finished" with it, but the first time I've come to the end of the book. I must say, I'm quite satisfied! I had a few laughs, learned a lesson or two, and now I don't have to just pretend to know of Dickens' literature.  Throughout the novel, Dickens utilizes far-fetched coincidences and, at times tart, comedic twists to accent in Pip's life the course that most human's take anyway: From arrogant childhood, into dream and shame filled adolescence,  through remorse and mistake riddled young-adulthood, and finally the arrival at great peace with age! This path of sour to sweet is not only seen in the life of Pip, but in the themes of the novel as well, such as marriage. During the former half of the story, marriage is portrayed as an unhappy and destructive affair; beginning with the description of Pip's parents who are already dead (perhaps as a symbol of childhood, and the "stiffness" of ignorance and arrogance), and then with Joe's mother and father, as well as Joe and his own wife, couples who both possess very abusive forms of communication (this could be considered a symbol of adolescence with its strong accompaniment of dissatisfaction and self-destruction), onto the marriage of Mr and Mrs Mathew Pocket and the failed marriage of Miss Havisham (both relationships containing themes of crushed dreams, perhaps representing young adulthood); however, towards the novel's end, a few very satisfied and healthy relationships present themselves; those being Herbert with Clara, and Joe with Biddy (finally we've reached a point of repentance and happiness-- marriages that symbolize adulthood). So it would seem that Dickens uses his tale as a whole to present the natural revolution of human life. All this being said, I quite enjoyed Great Expectations, and find it now to have been a worth while venture.

Need the Blog Invite Resent?

I noticed there are only 20 of you signed up for the blog thus far. If you have not already signed up using the link I sent at the beginning of this summer, you'll find that it has expired. Just shoot me an email from the email address you'd like to use and I will resend the invitation.

Also, I've heard some people are struggling through this book. PLEASE do not let this discourage you from the course. We will read a variety of books throughout the year; it's not a year long study of Dickens, so if this isn't your favorite reading, we'll find something you enjoy, I promise. :) I will also say that this is the lengthiest read. I scheduled it as the summer reading because I figured it's more manageable when you don't have other coursework on your plate.

Enjoy these last few weeks of summer!

Prompt 3

I have a quick question about the 3rd prompt which talks about acts of betrayal. I was a little confused because the prompt says "select an act of betrayal...and analyze the nature of the betrayal...". For example, would Pip betraying his "old life" also fall into Pip betraying Joe or would you rather have us focus on only one?

Parallels Between Miss H. and Pip

The more I contemplate the similarities between Pip and Miss H., the more convinced I become that Dickens is reiterating an important theme for a reason.
This theme is, mainly, heart-break. Although the theme is easy enough to understand as it is told throughout the book, it takes on a more complicated form when you compare the heart-breaking experiences of Pip to Miss H.'s. Both are spurned by the person they love the most and both begin that love with hope; a hope that is fueled by denial until it is completely crushed. The main difference between their experiences is that Miss H. had no control over the outcome of her heart-breaking experience, whereas Pip willingly continues his pointless courtship, although he is fighting against an outcome that has been insured in so many ways. He fights against many years of taught harshness and coldness; he fights a heart that refuses to succumb to love.It is perhaps this difference that leaves the reactions between Pip and Miss H. to part ways. Miss H. abandons love and revenges herself on the world, eventually leaving the world a broken person. Pip, although by no means happy, eventually accepts the inevitable. Anybody else have thoughts on this topic?

Heartbreak

Everybody, excluding the exceptionally lucky ones, has experienced heartbreak. In Great Expectations Mrs. Havisham is chosen by Dickens to represent the grief caused by heartbreak from a lost love. Dickens portrays the absolute outer limits of this subject by thoroughly exaggerating Mrs. Havisham’s reactions to the pain she is feeling from being left at the altar by her soon to be, or so she thought, husband.
Now, the question is, why does Dickens feel the need to so elaborately exaggerate Mrs. Havisham’s behaviors? Is he suggesting or advocating the long grieving process Mrs. Havisham takes to get over her lost love? Is he condoning the use of another innocent human being (Mrs. Havisham’s use of Estella’s beauty to break the hearts of other men) for personal vengeance? Or is he simply adding an eccentric being to the plot of the story?
My personal belief is that Dickens uses Mrs. Havisham to reach out to the readers with broken hearts. To show these readers that nothing good comes from sitting around thinking "where did I go wrong?" "What could have been?" Nothing profitable became of Mrs. Havisham’s living in the past, wearing her wedding dress around all day long, for this dress caused her great harm toward the end of the story when she leaned over the fireplace and was consumed in flames. Absolutely nothing uplifting or cheerful came from her attempt at vengeance on the male species, for she did not achieve her goal of breaking every man’s heart for breaking hers, she just hurt Pip using Estella, and later felt terrible for this action.
I believe one reason Mrs. Havisham is used in the plot of Great Expectations is to basically say “heartbreak is not the end of your life”. Dickens shows how grieving over a lost love for one’s whole life gets one nowhere, and the only way to move past the pain is to grieve, gather oneself together, and move on. What do you guys think?

Pop Culture Loves Dickens

Once I finished Great Expectations, I noticed it had a habit (like most other classics) to pop up everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Dickens probably had no clue that Great Expectations references would be around 142 years later. Oh, but it is. I was watching P.S. I Love You with some friends and in the movie Holly tells her friends, after the sudden death of her husband, she’ll become “the Miss Havisham of the Lower East Side. Never leave my apartment 'til I'm old. Sit in my wedding dress. With an old piece of wedding cake."

Okay. I had to stop for a moment and go, “Was that a Great Expectations reference?” And this was just the beginning.

After that I started wondering how many Great Expectations references there are. The truth is that there are more than I can count. I’ve seen most of these things and never pieced it together until now. When I discovered what things had references to Great Expectations in it my jaw dropped. It’s in stuff I watch, read, and listen to. I may not be able to look at them the same way again.

They are in Supernatural (third season, if you were wondering), web videos (Sassy Gay Friend, anyone?), and Chowder, a cartoon my sister watches. I had to have my sister explain this since I can’t sit through an episode of it, but basically a character had a fiancé who didn’t show up, so she takes an apprentice who she teaches to avoid/hate men. It has Great Expectations written all over it.

Alanis Morissette also has a song about Estella on her Jagged Little Pill album called “All I Really Want”. I’ve had this song on my iPod for who-knows-how long, probably listened to it while reading the book, and never pieced it together. Morisssette sings, “I'm like Estella, I like to reel it in and then spit it out.”

Great Expectations has inspired operas, movies, TV shows, and rides at Disneyland Paris. As hard as this is to admit, I don’t think we’re ever going to be able to escape the classics. They’re all around us, whether we notice them or not.

Mrs. Joe's Reign Over Pip

Once again, as I continued my essay writing, another question came up. When exactly is Pip able to escape the control of his sister? This is what I came up with, let me know what you guys think because I'm not entirely sure.

Pip is able to begin his steps toward freedom from the moment he visits Miss Havisham's and begins to grow a desire for money. Mrs. Joe controls Pip through his own fear and when Pip's desire for wealth over powers his fear of Mrs. Joe, he is then able to escape that stage of being controlled. This is apparent in the life of Mrs. Joe. She depends upon her power over Pip for life. Clearly, it is not a coincidence that she dies as soon as Pip begins to seek a new life. Since controlling Pip is her life it is clear that Dickens decided to kill her off to demonstrate his new found freedom, which is truly not free. But Pip escapes Mrs. Joe's reign ends when he begins to feel a new desire for money, not in the instant that Mrs. Joe dies. Mrs. Joe's death is just a result of her loss of control. Pip no longer needs the control of Mrs. Joe and is controlled by his new desire for money.

Posting Questions

Since I've had quite a few people ask: no, you do not need to create a separate post each time you blog. If you respond to a thread under someone else's post, or under one of the question posts I created, you will still get credit for posting.

Keep the questions coming if you have them! I'll see you in a few weeks!

Social Class

            Dickens explores social class in Great Expectations to draw attention to the times. I truly don’t think that Dickens is advocating the merging of social classes, but instead he is pointing out that money does not necessarily make a person great. For example, Miss Havisham has money, but she’s completely crazy. Then you have Drummle, who shows that you can be a complete jerk and still be a member of the elusive upper class.

            Maybe what Dickens is getting at is that one should work hard and be morally responsible, instead of wasting all of their time on a pursuit that really won’t pay off in the end. 

Deception

            Great Expectations basically revolves around the appearance of things and how they are not what they seem.

            In the novel, Pip deceives himself with the idea that he can marry Estella. However, Pip can only marry Estella if he moves social classes, which means that he must deceive society.

            Through these acts, Dickens shows us that the greatest act of deception is self-deception and through this that one truly cannot delude himself into happiness.

            Pip chooses to self-destruct on himself because he believes that in the end it will bring him to Estella. Seriously, Pip? If a girl claims she doesn’t have a heart, you might not want to go down that road.

            Throughout the novel, Pip receives advice. Pip is advised to beware of appearances and dig deep for the truth by Jaggers, who is arguably one of the most honest characters in the novel. Don’t be deceived. It’s great advice for Pip, but one of Pip’s fatal flaws is that he doesn’t listen to the people who care for him.

            Thinking about it more, this novel is definitely in some ways a response to the people who were spreading rumors that Dickens was cheating on his wife before he left her. Dickens was probably really upset that they didn’t have any proof and had no idea what his situation was.

Power Dynamics

Throughout Great Expectations, Dickens illustrates a negative correlation between power inequality and friendship: the more power a character possessed, the more he or she was to be isolated. Ms. Havisham, one of the richest and thus most powerful characters in the novel, is also one of the most lonely: unmarried and initially visited only by sycophants, she has few human connections save Estella and Pip. However, in the case of Pip and Estella, Ms. Havisham's use of power destroys her relationships with each. As Estella's guardian, Ms. Havisham uses her power to turn the girl into a cold, cruel woman; as a result, Estella is later unable to reciprocate Ms. Havisham's love for her. In the case of Pip, Ms. Havisham initially uses her superior social status to intimidate Pip into visiting her; later, she uses her power over Estella to break Pip's heart for revenge. When she realizes, however, how she has hurt Pip, Ms. Havisham is filled with guilt. It is only when this guilt breaks her and causes her to talk to Pip as an equal that Ms. Havisham gains connection with another human; in relinquishing power, Ms. Havisham gains instead a friend.  

However, instead of merely being treatise on wielding power wisely, Great Expectations seems to suggest that power in and of itself can be isolating. When Pip gains money and status, he is suddenly no longer "Pip" to Joe and others he has known his entire life; instead, he is "Sir," a much more formal and distant title. Nor is Pip's isolation merely shown by how he is identified; Joe, Pip's lifelong friend, tells him that the two must only be friends in private because it would be unseemly for gentrified Pip to be seen with a mere blacksmith. By gaining power, Pip nearly loses his lifelong friend. As an interesting note, Pip's closest friend during his gentleman period is financially poor Herbert. The two are friends because they are equals; Herbert helps Pip navigate London and, in return, Pip financially aids Herbert. Despite Herbert, however, Pip's loss of Joe still haunts him throughout the novel. As with Mrs. Havisham, however, it is only when Pip is ill and impoverished - when he is weak, and not powerful - that Joe again becomes a part of Pip's life. While power can be satisfying to wield, in the end it is equality that engenders friendship.   

Charles Dickens and Marriage

Published in early 1860s, Great Expectations raises a variety of questions regarding the state of marriage at the time.

            Anthropologically speaking, marriage at the time was designed for financial stability and to fulfill cultural expectations. Instead of being driven by those desires, Pip is driven by romantic love, even though he sees how it has cost Miss Havisham. Throughout the novel, the reader is able to see that Dickens defines love somewhere along the lines of obsessive and necessary, making the reader question Dicken’s own beliefs.

            According to Angus Wilson’s book The World of Charles Dickens: “Dickens's […] [viewed] that a father should rule the family, a mother find her proper sphere inside the home. "I never afterwards forgot, I never shall forget, I never can forget, that my mother was warm for my being sent back." His mother's failure to request his return was no doubt a factor in his demanding and dissatisfied attitude towards women.”

            Dicken’s views towards marriage are shown in the novel, as Pip’s blindness in his love and self-deceiving cause his own undoing. Pip tries to become a gentleman for Estella, but she knows where Pip has truly come from. Through the book it becomes apparent that Pip’s sole reason for life is Estella, even though she is entirely wrong for him.

            Dickens himself had issues with his marriage, separating from his wife (since divorce was scandalous at the time) after falling in love with actress Ellen Ternan, whom he met in 1857 while producing a performance of Wilkie Collins's The Frozen Deep. Dickens was dissatisfied in his marriage and blamed his wife for cursing him with 10 children. His wife’s family spread rumors of Dicken’s adultery, which Dicken’s denied whole-heartedly. It is not a long shot to assume this novel is Dicken’s stand against love and marriage because of the pain it caused him.

            Dickens rewrote the ending of Great Expectations to tie up the story as to not disappoint his readers. The original ending had Pip seeing Estella; she had aged, been abused, and remarried to a poor doctor after her first husband died. This original ending truly summarizes how Dickens feels about love and marriage, that it is painful and better to be without, much better than the fluffy, romantic one that he wrote so he could be paid.

Identity Crisis: On Names

This is a response to an earlier post.

"To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man" - Hamlet. (Yes, I am a pretentious quote abuser).


Throughout Great Expectations, Pip's many names signal the both the many personas he wears and the many ways others see him. As a child, he is often referred to as "boy" or "you" by his aunt and Mr. Pumblchook, who use those names to label him as a unnecessarily aggravating burden on Mrs. Joe. When he is Pip, he is himself: to both Magwitch and Joe, "Pip" connotes the kind, agreeable boy he was before becoming rich. Moreover, "Pip" is also a homage to Pip's father, Phillip, and thus connects him to his past. To Herbert, "Handel" represents his friendship with Pip: chosen because it of Handel's "Harmonious Blacksmith," it is a name that both acknowledges Pip's former role and the new role he plays as friend to Handel. As to "Sir," Pip is called this by people who see his wealth; it is an acknowledgement of Magwitch's gift and often represents the awe people feel in the newly gentrified Pip's presence. Throughout the novel, the usage of these many names symbolizes Pip's struggle with many connotations: is he merely a rich parvenu to be addressed as "Sir"? Is he, as his aunt suggests, merely a burden to her and society? 

Eventually, though, Pip manages to choose the "right" names: Pip and Handel. Not only do both names represent the softer parts of Pip's personality - kindness and friendship - they also connect him to his past, thus giving Pip the reconciliation with past he seeks in the first chapter at the graveyard. Additionally, these names are also representative of Pip's most fruitful relationships, ones in which he is neither under the power of others or the wielder of power over others but instead is an equal. Through names, then, Dickens provides Pip a reconciliation with the past, a proper sense of identity, and a knowledge of the relationships truly worth pursuing.