How Does Dickens Create Characters That Are Both Memorable And Striking? Discuss With Reference To At Least Two Characters From The Novel Great Expectations

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Sophie Hyde

How Does Dickens Create Characters That Are Both Memorable And Striking?

Discuss With Reference To At Least Two Characters From The Novel.

        Charles Dickens creates characters that are both memorable and striking; firstly, by the way he sets the scene in the chapters. Secondly, by the engaging description of the characters and the way they behave. He also creates good, memorable and striking characters by the way he makes the characters speak.

‘Great Expectations’ is no exception to this technique. Great Expectations, like most of his novels, was originally Serialized between December 1, 1860 and August 3, 1861, Great Expectations was an extraordinary success, selling (midway through its run), over one hundred thousand copies weekly in Dickens's magazine ‘All the Year Round’, so therefore he needed to create characters that were both memorable and striking and that also grabbed the reader’s attention to make them want to buy next episode. Some characters that are memorable in ‘Great Expectations’ are: Miss Havisham, Estella, Wemmick, The Aged, Abel Magwitch, Joe Gargery and of course Pip. The two I find most memorable and striking are Abel Magwitch and Miss Havisham.

        I have chosen these two characters because I find there are some interesting parallels between them. Some of these similarities are: - they are both victims, because Magwitch is the victim of the other escaped convict (Scar face), and Miss Havisham is the victim because she was jilted at the alter. They are both victimisers because they both victimise Pip, Magwitch on the Marsh when he threatens Pip and Miss Havisham when she orders Pip to play. Magwitch is Estella’s father and Miss Havisham has adopted Estella. They are both prisoners, Magwitch is a prisoner of the crown whereas Miss Havisham is a prisoner in her own home as she wont go outside. They are both in unhappy circumstances. They have both been placed in interesting unusual environments, which reflects their current states or personalities. They are both benefactors to children, Magwitch to Pip, Miss Havisham to Estella. A final parallel is the names of both the characters. Miss Havisham’s name suggests she is a soft, gentle kind woman where in reality she is a hideous, old, decayed, horrible spiteful woman. Magwitch’s name suggests he is a evil, horrible, scary man but although that’s what we get as a first impression, in reality he isn’t. He is a kind, gentle man who gives Pip all his money because he had a child of his own once and he wants to help Pip as Pip helped him on the marsh. This ties in with the main theme of expectations in the novel, as expectations are not always met.

Dickens uses parallels between his characters to, create suspense as we eagerly read on to discover how the pattern is to be completed, also it contributes also to the thematic unity of the work by establishing parallels between earlier and later sections. He also used parallels to build his characters and interlink then to create a capturing story. I think that using parallels is important as it can make the story more interesting, and it interlinks concluding with a capturing and dramatic ending.

Setting is very important when Dickens creates memorable and striking characters. The environment that he places the characters in is an extension of the character’s personality. Dickens places Pip in the churchyard, which already begins to make him seem vulnerable, and the reader feels sorry for him because his parents and younger brothers are dead. This is not unusual as in Victorian times infant mortality was very high, however, it still elicits our sympathy as we see he is an orphan. This is a recurring motif in Victorian literature as lots of novels follow this pattern for example: ‘Oliver Twist’ and ‘Jane Eyre’. The concept of orphans appealed to the Victorian love of sentimentalism.

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Dickens places Magwitch in marshland so straight away we get a picture in our heads of a desolate and bleak place and consequently an isolated and lonely man. When we carry on reading we learn that it is a raw afternoon, in the twilight hour: “Raw afternoon towards evening”, we instantly realise that this is the scariest part of the day. Dickens describes the setting in great detail. Some of the things he says are that the setting is overgrown with nettles, that the churchyard is a dark, flat wilderness and is an extremely bleak place, “This bleak place ...

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