To What Extent Is Stephen Blackpool Representative Of A Hand? in Dickens' "Hard Times?"
To What Extent Is Stephen Blackpool Representative Of A Hand? Stephen represents the "Hands", and is supposed to seem typical in some respects and not in others. His dignity, patience and courtesy are all qualities that Dickens reported finding among the Preston strikers during his visit there in January 1854. He shares these qualities with the resolute Rachael, and depends on her support at critical moments, most notably when he is tempted to let his wife die, in Book I Chapter 13. In other respects, "Old Stephen" (so called, although only in his forties) is very much unusual. He is exceptionally awkward and stubborn. He irritates not only Bounderby and the trade unionists, but also many critics of the novel. Some critics think that he is stupid. There can be no doubt that asking Bounderby for help is a stupid thing to do, however this action may be explained by saying that Stephen does not know Bounderby, and believes that he may be good and ready to help those below him. Socialists have objected to the mildness of his criticism of capitalism, as well as to his refusal to join the union. In his second scene with Bounderby, in Book II Chapter 5, he lays responsibility for reform on the employers, and here once again he says that society is "a muddle". "Muddle", always stubbornly repeated, is characteristic of Stephen's slow, unbending outlook of the world. Other weavers
How does Dickens set the scene for the appearance in Jacob Maryles Ghost in stave 1 of a Christmas carol?
How does Dickens set the scene for the appearance in Jacob Maryles Ghost in stave 1 of a Christmas carol? Dickens immediately sets the scene by writing a forceful, yet mysterious beginning to the first scene. "Marley was dead to begin with" The effect of this opening is startling and also shocking. This is a very unusual way to open a story. Also this is a question to his death, so he is dead but could come into the story later. Dickens exaggerates this point of that Marley is dead and is very repetitive in this manor. So this makes the reader ask themselves why the writer is doing this and repeating such a bold point. But then dickens puts the reader back into reality "Old Marley was as dead as a doornail". So this reassures the reader that Marley is dead and also dickens has used a simile with alliteration. The use of alliteration emphasises the meanings of words so that the word compared to the object is bolder. Introduction. Charles Dickens was born in 1812. His father worked for the navy pay office. So Dickens 's early life gave him plenty of chances to see life on and around the Thames. He attended a small school until he was eleven, when he and his family decided to move to London. His family contained himself, five other children and his mother and father. His father wasn't bringing enough money so his mother thought she could get a job but this was not meant
How does Dickens create Humour, Compassion and Irony?
How does Dickens create Humour, Compassion and Irony? We have read the book 'Great Expectations.' We know who all the main characters are. We know that each of the characters all have their own personality. The book is told in first person. Pip tells the story from his point of view. Pip is a young boy at the start and has lost all his family. He lives with his sister and her husband Joe Gargery. He thinks that because his sister brought him up by hand that she made Joe marry he by hand also. His sister beats him and always wants to know were pip and Joe is at all times. Joe treats pip as an equal to him. Like he is his own son or brother. At the start pip knows that he had other brothers and sisters but he doesn't know what they were like. Can you imagine being totally in love with someone who is completely turned off by you? This is what happens to pip. Throughout the book Estella disregards his feelings. Pip starts out as a sympathetic character because he is poor, his parents are dead and he has to live under more Joe's strict rules. As the story moves on, the sympathy for pip decreases in every way except one. His relationship with Estella. Ever since their first acquaintance, pip has thought Estella to be the most beautiful girl alive. He changes when he gets round her. When Mrs Havisham asks pip about Estella, he answers with words like
Essay: How does Dickens' use of the setting suit the characters Magwitch and Miss Havisham? Focus particularly on chapters 1, 8 and 11 in your response.
"How does Dickens' use of the setting suit the characters Magwitch and Miss Havisham? Focus particularly on chapters 1, 8 and 11 in your response." As a bildungsroman, Great Expectations presents the growth and development of a single character, Philip Pirrip, better known to himself and to the world as Pip. Pip is by far the most important character in Great Expectations; he is both the protagonist, whose actions make up the main plot of the novel, and the narrator, whose thoughts and attitudes shape the reader's perception of the story. Charles Dickens uses an advanced language that plants a clear insight of the setting, the character profiles, and the novels' historic aspects. In this novel, there are two characters that play an important role in Pips life; Miss Havisham, a rich heart-broken old women, and the convict Pip met during a visit to the graveyard, Magwitch. These characters are unusual in the novel, both motivated things that occurred in the past. They both are connected towards the settings, in the way they are presented to the audience. Magwitch is introduced in chapter one when he meets Pip in an old churchyard (in which most of Pip's family is buried, including his mother and father). From Pip's description of him, the reader gains a first impression of Magwitch as being a fearsome and formidable character. His murderous threats terrify Pip and the dark,
How and why does the character of Scrooge change in 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens?
How and why does the character of Scrooge change in 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens? Charles Dickens wrote the novella, A Christmas Carol, in 1843 to compensate for the money he was losing on Martin Chuzzlewit, the novel he was then publishing in monthly instalments. In this essay I will look at the reasons why Ebenezer Scrooge develops from being a wealthy miser to a happy, generous person. How he is shown that life is short and that it is a person's responsibility to look after others, and how he comes to realise that it is possible to be happy and that happiness has nothing to do with money. At the beginning of the story, Scrooge is basically a cold, miserly creditor "Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!...." (Stave 1). He did not love or care for anyone; he lived for money. He has a mean spirit and a cold heart that "No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him." (Stave 1). He does not care that his clerk's family and his nephew are nearly starving as long as he is a man of business and everyone leaves him alone. When asked for contributions to a charity, he asks where the workhouses and prisons are. When told that many of the poor will not go there, and many would rather die, he suggests that if they are going to die "they had better do so and decrease the
In the stories that we have read, the writers present, main characters whom either conform to or rebel against their society. Compare and contrast the presentation of these characters. To what extent do the characters successfully manage their situations?
In the stories that we have read, the writers present, main characters whom either conform to or rebel against their society. Compare and contrast the presentation of these characters. To what extent do the characters successfully manage their situations? The three stories that I will study are; The poor relations story by Charles Dickens, Twenty six men and a girl by Maxim Gorky and The unexpected by Kate Chopin. The three things do seem to have a thing in present. All the main characters seem to be pressured or are being victimised by their traditional values, and struggle to break free. In the poor relations story, the main character (Michael) is being pressured to live up to his uncle, and families' ideas. In twenty six men and a girl the twenty six men are being kept, almost hostage is their pretzel factory. In the unexpected, it appears that Dorothea is being kept hostage by that times given 'role' of women. In all the stories it appears the characters try and 'escape' from their situations. This depression would not make a good short story, nor a good life for the main characters, so they try to break free. In The poor relations story the main character Michael cannot take all the persecution he is taking, so he escapes into a world where he has the best life possible. In twenty six and a girl, the men stash all their hope and love in the girl, imagining she
The Great Expectations of Four Characters in Dickens' novel.
The Great Expectations of Four Characters in Dickens' novel. Great Expectations is a novel on the uselessness of great hopes in a world of conflict. It is also the story of the orphan boy, Pip, of his relatives, of Estella, of Miss Havisham, and of Magwitch. Many characters in the books have great expectations of their own which contrast with those of other characters. Pip, the protagonist of the novel wants to become rich and noble, while his adoptive father, Joe Gargery, wants him to be a blacksmith. Pip also wants the money he receives to come from a noble source, Magwitch, his source of money, is instead a convict. Finally, Pip would like to marry Estella, but Miss Havisham wants to use Estella as her weapon to take revenge upon all men. In Great Expectations, Dickens discusses the uselessness of great expectations in a world where hope is so easily destroyed by showing how the expectations of the characters come into conflict. When Pip learns from Jaggers, the lawyer, of the great expectations held for him he comes into conflict with his adoptive father, Joe Gargery. Joe is a blacksmith, and a simple man. He rejects all snobbery while Pip desires it. He wants Pip to become his apprentice. He doesn't see why Pip would want anything other than what is set for him. On the other hand, Pip is fascinated by the luxury of Miss Havisham's world, and is finally attracted
Dickens calls his novel Hard Times. How does Dickens communicate a sense of the hard times which the working classes experienced due to industrialisation and Victorian attitudes to education? In your answer you should consider how Dickens uses characteris
"Dickens calls his novel Hard Times. How does Dickens communicate a sense of the hard times which the working classes experienced due to industrialisation and Victorian attitudes to education? In your answer you should consider how Dickens uses characterisation and language to explore his themes." During the Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, there was a mass rise in employment as a large number of heavy industrial factories were established all over cities. This resulted in widespread pollution and appalling overall working conditions, which are the 'hard times' that Dickens tries to express through characterisation and language in his novel. In doing this, Dickens is criticising the pursuit of Bentham's doctrine of utilitarianism in his contemporary society. Utilitarianism is the concept that "the greatest number should be the guiding principle of conduct" and that "what the majority agrees to is correct" (Bentham 1748-1832). Dickens argues, however, that this ideal is highly immoral as the working masses are subjected to such 'hard times' whilst the rich simply enjoy their own wealth. Dickens identifies the application of these corrupt beliefs in the Victorian attitudes to education as a fundamental part of the problem. Dickens effectively illustrates the hard times experienced by the working classes due to industrialisation
Social and Historical Background to 'Great Expectations'.
Social and Historical Background - When the book 'Great expectations', was written a 'real' education was unachievable. Miss Woples School, which dickens uses in his book is a prime example of parents sending their children to 'school', to a teacher who knows little more than the child, Dickens is trying to indicate how negative the educational system was, maybe because it failed him. Any crime had severe sentencing, which indicates that the legal system was still evolving. The character Magwitch, who played a role in Pips life, was sentenced to Australia, returned to England to help his savoir Pip, but is then executed for returning. In Victorian times, family life for the middle and upper class was extremely important, as the families were large and living together in big houses, life was very comfortable for them and enjoyable. Poor and working class families, such as Dickens's were forced to work in factories doing dangerous jobs. Children were being exploited, into doing harsh dangerous work, for little pay and no gratitude. Families were forced to eat scraps of food and to drink water from drains. The mother of the family was in charge of the organisation of household and social events, such as dinner parties. She was in charge of the upbringing of the children, by using any means necessary, this included whipping and canning of the child, to teach the child the
Whom does Dickens present as the perfect gentleman in "Great Expectations"?
Whom does Dickens present as the perfect gentleman in "Great Expectations"? One of the most important themes in "Great Expectations" is the idea of what makes the perfect gentleman. Dickens presents this idea through the adventures of Pip and how he develops his idea of what a true gentleman is. His first image of a gentleman is purely based on what their appearance is, such as Cousin Raymond and Jaggers on Miss Havisham's birthday, and then he calls Herbert "the pale young gentleman". These presumptions are not based on personality, yet towards the end of the book, he does not respect Herbert or Magwitch due to their appearance, but because he has realised that a true gentleman has many more qualities than just a good outward appearance. However, Pip's initial impressions of a gentleman are of a person who is wealthy and affluent. When Pip first meets a gentleman, Cousin Raymond at Satis House on Miss Havisham's birthday, he describes him and three other ladies as "toadies and humbugs". Here, Dickens presents them as very unpleasant characters and makes the reader hate them from the start. This effect is created by how he first presents them as boring ("the ladies had to speak quite rigidly to repress a yawn"), and then they look down at Pip ("they all looked at me with the utmost contempt"). Here Dickens seemed to be sending out the message that not all so-called
