Ovidius University ConstanţaFaculty of Letters

Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and Communication

Charles Dickens’s Great ExpectationsBeing “a true gentleman”

Student:Doraşcu Dilara

Professors:Prof. Dr. Ciugureanu AdinaLect. Dr. Stanca Nicoleta

Constanţa2015

Charles Dickens’sGreat Expectations

According to Herbert Pocket’s father, “A true gentleman in manner” must be “a true gentleman at heart”. How does Chapter 57 in Dickens’s Great Expectations develop this idea?

Being “a true gentleman”

Written in 1860, the story of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectation is set in the early part of 1800s. The period mostly emphasized values as respectability, sense of public duty or integrity, all parts of the definition of a gentleman.

Being “a true gentleman” is, actually, one of the main themes of the novel. Dickens put the main character, Philip Pirrip, better known as “Pip”, in the situation of self-developing from a low statute to the (so-considered) high statute of a gentleman. This development is realized in the book in two steps: at first, Pip becomes a gentleman in exterior. Only later, his heart becomes one of a gentleman’s too.

Initially, the definition of a gentleman is associated, by the young Pip, with wealth. Adopted by an anonymous benefactor who gave him money in order to put him above work, Pip started to taste the experience of a fine man. After studying with Pocket, Pip acquired knowledge of fiction, essays, poetry, philosophy in English and even of French and even a little Latin. He has acquired "a taste for reading," which will be an asset to him for the rest of his life. He could recognize names like Homer and Socrates, Shakespeare and Milton. In fact, he was probably as well "educated" as a lot of the spoiled rich boys who went through Eton and Oxford. The mark of an educated man is that he is adept at reading, speaking, and writing. Even though he was taught to act like a member of the high-class, money bore him away of his values. He let himself absorbed in a life style that could not be defined as one of a gentleman’s. He became selfish, arrogant, and irresponsible once in London. He turns his back on Joe, who is his only relative. He considers himself superior to his “old friend” and is ashamed of his poor manners. The fact that he was well-dressed and able to keep am intellectual conversation made him a gentleman in appearance but his heart lowered his potential.

By quoting his father, Herbert Pocket says that "no man who was not a true gentleman at heart ever was, since the world began, a true gentleman in manner”, and manage to clarify the definition of the “true gentleman”. Pip’s development as a real gentleman begins only after he discovers the identity of his benefactor. Knowing that the man who brought him in the high-class is Magwitch - a convict with little education - , made Pip see through the superficial cover of the fine society. The real transformation begins when his kindness and compassion interfuse with all his new assemblage of knowledge and manners and all this is materialized in Chapter 57.

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In Chapter 57, Pip realizes that he is now completely alone and that he has a heap of debts, and no money. He is also arrested for debt and nearly carted away to prison; he is spared only because of his extreme ill health. In these circumstances, being a real gentleman is a real challenge but Pip seems to have now all the qualities to pretend this title. He reestablished his values and understood the difference between being a fine man and just a rich man. After spending time with so many people of the high-class in London, he realized that one of the most valuable man in his life is Joe.

After going in and out of deliriums, Pip finally emerges and he finds himself with Joe. He wishes Joe would be angry with him for the way he treated him, but Joe tells him they will always be friends. Joe tells Pip that they received a letter about his being ill, and Biddy had urged him to go to London. She had taught Joe to write, and he has kept her updated. This made Pip conscious of his foul play towards Joe and brought him back to the reality that money managed to blur. Even the fact that Pip is now aware of his own unfairness makes him approach the status that he was so willing to get. Now, when all the money are gone and the society is not so cheerful to him as it was, he is probably more of a gentleman than many rich people.

So what are the criteria of being a gentleman? As child, Pip felt compassion for the convict; he saw the humanity in the convict; as a gentleman with expectations, he is a snob and continually judges by the external criteria of status and wealth. In London, where Pip lives out society's–and his own–concept of a gentleman, he leads a directionless, futile life; he has no intellectual, cultural, or spiritual values and no meaningful purpose. Pip’s being a gentleman seems to consist of having good table manners, acquiring an upper class accent, wearing the right clothes, and going into debt. He joins the Finches of the Grove, a group of empty "gentlemen" whose only activity and purpose seems to be to spend money foolishly. Drummle - who is a gentleman because of his family and wealth, is not only a member of the Finches but is accepted in fashionable society, despite his stupidity, ignorance, and brutality.

Learning the identity of his benefactor and the hard work he does to provide him money, Pip starts to change, moved by the feeling of gratefulness. When he finds himself poor again and alone, he gets conscious of the real values that a gentleman should have and he is really becoming more deserving of this status.

The two phases of his development lead to the “true gentleman” that Herbert’s father was talking about, because being rich and educated is not enough if the heart is not aware of the importance of love and respect towards people.

Dickens contrasts the traditional concept of a gentleman as a man of wealth, status, and leisure with the gentleman as a man of moral integrity. He uses the portrayal of the gentleman to show one more of society's faulty and destructive values. The destructive potential of wealth in Pip's society is shown by his emotional and moral deterioration in becoming a gentleman.

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Bibliography

Melani, Lilia. “Pip's expectations.” Discussion of Great Expectations (May 7, 2002). <http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/>

“Great Expectations – Themes.” Great Expectations (August 16, 2009). < http://www.enotes.com/topics/great-expectations/themes>

“Great Expectations.” Literature Study Guide (September 16, 2012) <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/greatex>

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