Analyse the use of setting in 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens
The novel, Great Expectations, starts on the dull lonely marshes of Pip's home village. Pip has a lack of identity in this book because it says, 'My Father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Phillip, my infant tongue could make of both the names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip'. This shows us that his lack of identity is down to the fact he has not got a proper first name because he could not say it and that because of that he says he has not got a real identity.
The marshes reflect Pip's identity and emotions because they include a graveyard where Pip's parents are buried and obviously Pip is feeling very emotional. The book says the marshes are, 'that dark flat wilderness beyond the church'. This is what Pip is feeling inside himself. Dark and bleak feelings. This also gives off the impression that it is a very depressing and scary place to be but Pip doesn't care as it is the only refuge from his dreaded, evil sister, Mrs Joe Gargery, and to be in the place with the ones he loves, his family.
On these same marshes Pip manages to bump in to an escaped convict, Magwitch. This man is described as, ' a fearful man, all in course grey, with a great iron on his leg'. you already get the impression this man is a man not to be crossed with and is obviously very dangerous. It goes on to say, 'a man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamped by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head'. this great way to describe a potentially very evil man reflects the marshes as they are dark and obviously scary and this is exactly what Magwitch is.
Later on in the novel, Pip gets invited to Satis House, Ms Havisham's humble abode. I say this as its not really humble or an abode. It is rather old and decrepit just like the owner. The house is described as, 'all dark passages, and still was all dark and only the candle lighted us'. This creates the impression that the owner is probably very old and hasn't seen the light of day and doesn't particularly want to. The woman inside, Ms Havisham is shown as, 'her head leaning on one hand, sat the strangest lady I have ever seen, or shall ever see'. This givers the impression he is amazed that anyone could be so old and look like a statue. This is a great person to put in the house as she has frozen in time because when she was going to get married the man to whom she was a bride let her down. She has frozen the time she lives in and the house at the exact time when her husband left and she is waiting to die in what she's in now.
The novel, Great Expectations, starts on the dull lonely marshes of Pip's home village. Pip has a lack of identity in this book because it says, 'My Father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Phillip, my infant tongue could make of both the names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip'. This shows us that his lack of identity is down to the fact he has not got a proper first name because he could not say it and that because of that he says he has not got a real identity.
The marshes reflect Pip's identity and emotions because they include a graveyard where Pip's parents are buried and obviously Pip is feeling very emotional. The book says the marshes are, 'that dark flat wilderness beyond the church'. This is what Pip is feeling inside himself. Dark and bleak feelings. This also gives off the impression that it is a very depressing and scary place to be but Pip doesn't care as it is the only refuge from his dreaded, evil sister, Mrs Joe Gargery, and to be in the place with the ones he loves, his family.
On these same marshes Pip manages to bump in to an escaped convict, Magwitch. This man is described as, ' a fearful man, all in course grey, with a great iron on his leg'. you already get the impression this man is a man not to be crossed with and is obviously very dangerous. It goes on to say, 'a man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamped by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head'. this great way to describe a potentially very evil man reflects the marshes as they are dark and obviously scary and this is exactly what Magwitch is.
Later on in the novel, Pip gets invited to Satis House, Ms Havisham's humble abode. I say this as its not really humble or an abode. It is rather old and decrepit just like the owner. The house is described as, 'all dark passages, and still was all dark and only the candle lighted us'. This creates the impression that the owner is probably very old and hasn't seen the light of day and doesn't particularly want to. The woman inside, Ms Havisham is shown as, 'her head leaning on one hand, sat the strangest lady I have ever seen, or shall ever see'. This givers the impression he is amazed that anyone could be so old and look like a statue. This is a great person to put in the house as she has frozen in time because when she was going to get married the man to whom she was a bride let her down. She has frozen the time she lives in and the house at the exact time when her husband left and she is waiting to die in what she's in now.
