Exploring the importance of Jaggers in Dickens' "Great Expectations" on character and plot, focussing on mannerisms, speech rhythms, his role as a lawyer and the crime theme.

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Chapter Twenty-Six “He conducted us to” to “and fall to work”

Discuss the setting in  the extract and what it reveals of Jaggers.

Go on to explore the importance of Jaggers in the novel as a whole to the development of themes, character and plot, focussing on mannerisms, speech rhythms, his role as a lawyer and the crime theme.

Dickens opens this paragraph by using proper nouns to give a sense of place. Jaggers ‘conducts’ Pip, again suggesting his control. Like Jaggers’ office, the house is grand, but uncared for, this is a very similar image to that of Satis House. The gothic elements of Satis House appear here too, with adjectives such as ‘gloomy’ and ‘dark’. The ‘little used’ hallway suggests a link to Miss Havisham only using a few of the rooms in Satis house. Jaggers tells his guests that ‘he held a whole house, but rarely used more of it than we saw’ and this is mirrored by Miss Havisham only being seen in a couple of rooms, only leaving them to eat, in the middle of the night, when no-one can see her. The little used hall also suggests that Jaggers doesn’t have company often – Miss Havisham does not either, but she is a recluse, Jaggers just does not particularly like company, he does not have friends, just associates, again, showing his lack of emotion.

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The description is very methodical, suggesting the order of this house, and again, a lack of emotion, Pip makes no comment in this passage whether he actually likes the place, and certainly, no pleasant or positive lexis are used. Dickens draws in the theme of crime here, when Pip imagines the garlands Jaggers stands in front of, as nooses.

Similar to Miss Havisham, Jaggers has this large house, a sign of wealth, but uses very little of it. He can afford silver, but he does not use any, and serves the food himself, even though he could have ...

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