Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (Characterization)

 

Great Expectations

by Charles Dickens

(Characterization) 

Dickens had full mastery over the art of correlating plot with characters and blending the two together to form an integral whole. Most of the major characters in the story are dynamic creations- their personalities undergo transformation as the plot unfolds. The mood of Magwitch becomes softened, Estella develops a feeling of tenderness towards Pip, Miss Havisham becomes subject to fits of hysterical remorse, while Pip himself ultimately throws off selfishness (both of which are alien to his character) and shows his true worth.

Dickens, of course, does tend to use symbolism in his character portrayals: both Biddy and the self-effacing Joe represent the humble goodness of domesticated rural life; at the other extreme are to be found Orlick and Drummle (with Compeyson hovering in the background) as the evildoers without any feelings of decency or compassion.

 

Major Characters

 

Pip (Philip Pirrip)

Pip, around whom the whole novel revolves, is largely a victim of circumstances. During his early childhood, he is so unjustly suppressed and bullied by his sister, and, to a lesser degree, by Pumblechook and the rest of the village, that he develops as a timid and sensitive youth. The little chance he has of developing any good characteristics is through the devotion and love of Joe who, however, can do but little against the iron rule of his wife.

Nevertheless, the relationship between Pip and Joe is always that of friend and equal, and in no way that of foster-child to foster-father. Later, Pip’s overwhelming love for Estella and his reaction to his sudden rise to comparative affluence blind him to real values, and he reveals towards Joe a certain ingratitude which, from time to time, his conscience tells him to be wrong but which he has difficulty in overcoming. It is easy to criticize Pip for his change of feeling towards his one- time friend, but we must all the time take into account the wretched bullying which the youth had suffered in his early years at the hands of his sister.

Some might say of Pip that his life in London brought out in him the baser aspects of his character, for the income he enjoyed- an allowance whose design was the making of a gentleman out of an orphan boy – led him to a life of gaiety, indulgence, recklessness and debt.

In judging Pip, however, one must always take into account the circumstances which were at all times around him. Never before had he known any independence- never before has he felt himself free of the cruel and dictatorial authority of his sister and the rogue, Pumblechook.

Then, again, he was sure in his own mind that his benefactor was Miss Havisham, and that she had designed his rise in station in order to equip him for marriage to her ward. We have evidence to show that Pip did not lose that essential goodness which is so much part and parcel of him. Thus, we find him devoting a great part of his wealth to secure the establishment of Herbert in business- quite unknown to his friend- and when his own financial position is embarrassed, Pip goes to ask help of Miss Havisham, accepting money from her for his friend’s benefit but refusing any aid himself. Then, too, we cannot but respect Pip’s feelings when, after learning the identity of his benefactor, he refuses to accept further financial help- even though he is afterwards to find that his ex- convict helper was a better man by far than he at first thought.

Although Pip was at one period unjust to Joe, whose kindness he forgot and whose station he despised once wealth had altered his outlook, we can nevertheless say that Pip was, in essentials, a loyal and good friend. We have seen how he helped Herbert. Then, again, he stood by Magwitch as friend and helper until his trial and death. Pip had, indeed, the force of character which leads to the attraction of good and loyal friends- such as Joe, Herbert, Biddy, Wemmick and even the hard-headed Jaggers- but it is nevertheless true to say that it was more through the loyalty and help of these friends than through his own efforts that Pip found his true level.

Herbert’s own summing-up of Pip is very near to a true picture: “A good fellow, with impetuosity and hesitation, boldness and diffidence, action and dreaming, curiously mixed up in him.” We need only refer to the promptness with which Pip comes to help in solving the problems of others, and the way in which he allows his own to slide, to appreciate the strange mixture of temperament to which Herbert calls our attention.

 

Joe Gargery

Joe Gargery is a lovable character, even though we are at time given to despise him for his unquestioning submission of his tyrannical wife. It is only through realizing the circumstances of Joe’s unhappy life, however, that we appreciate that it needs a stronger man than he- a stronger man that has ever been born- to live with Mrs. Joe and yet maintain some slight element of peace.

A giant of a man, with fair curly hair and mild blue eyes, Joe is a giant of heart as well as of stature. He stoically accepts the iron rule of his wife, for as a realist he has soon come to the obvious conclusion that opposition is impossible. He loves Pip as he would have loved his own child, but, nevertheless, through his very love of peace Joe is prepared to take the punishment with Pip rather than to stand up against his vicious wife on Pip’s behalf. Although a man of no education, Joe is always willing to learn, although even Pip in his boyhood years can sense that knowledge is not easily assimilated by his foster- father.

A match for any man who may cross his path, Joe is nevertheless essentially simple, sweet–tempered, easy- going and God- fearing. At the same time, he is somewhat self-conscious of his own lowly trade. Through this- coupled with a pride that is more often found among the poor than among the rich he stays modestly in the background while Pip is undergoing his training to be a gentleman. Nevertheless, so true a friend is Joe to the boy who has formed so great a part of his life, that he ignores the coldness which Pip reveals and remains his truest friend and helper. Thus, when Pip is in need, we find Joe there to help him, devoutly nursing him through his long illness and unassumingly withdrawing once his patient has recovered.

Joe is essentially a simple man, prepared contentedly to accept whatever life has to give him. But the milk of human kindness flows more freely in his heart than in that of any other character in the story.

 

Mrs. Joe Gargery

A big, raw-boned woman with black hair and eyes, Mrs. Joe is an overpowering and domineering woman obsessed with her own ideas of righteousness. A hard and vicious woman, she is brutally unfair to her own brother, Pip, to whom she shows no spark of kindness, but whom she bullies incessantly from morning till night- it is typical of the woman that she expects the boy to show in return appreciation for the shelter which she has given him.

Joe is ruled by no less rigid rule of iron than her brother. Indeed, Mrs. Joe’s nature is such that she must dominate all those with whom she comes into contact- except, of course, the vicious Pumblechook, who is a kindred spirit.

Mrs. Joe is not a good- looking woman. She is tall and bony, and almost always wears a coarse apron, fastened over her figure with two loops, and having a square, impregnable bib in front, stuck full of pins and needles.

 

Biddy

We first meet Biddy as a ragged, unkempt, orphan girl, possessed, however, of sound intelligence and a warm heat. Later, Biddy develops into a sweet, wholesome woman with a remarkable understanding of human nature. Throughout the story, she shows herself as a loyal friend to Pip and her unobtrusive influence for good is felt at all times.

When we first meet her, “her hair always wanted brushing, her hands always wanted washing, and her shoes always wanted mending and pulling up at the heel”. She is introduced in her grandmother’s little general shop and school. When that old lady conquers a “confirmed habit of living”. Biddy comes to the forge to nurse Pip’s sister.

Subsequently, when Pip’s fortunes improve, he overlooks her, and she becomes a school- mistress. By the time Pip appreciates her true worth and would make amends, she has become Joe’s second wife and the mother of a younger Pip.

 

Abel Magwitch

Although we first see Abel Magwitch as a dirty, ragged and desperate escaped convict, we feel nevertheless that beneath that awesome exterior there lies a heart from which even the horrors of years in a prison hulk have not succeeded in driving all the good. This is first revealed to us when, after his recapture, a meaningful glance passes between the convict and the boy, Pip, and when the wretched creature falsely announces that he stole food from the house of the blacksmith.

The good in Magwitch comes out when he determines that his sole purpose in life shall be to aid the small boy who, through sheer terror, helped him in his attempt at escape on the marshes. Thus, after his escape from captivity in Australia, the convict uses virtually every penny of his considerable wealth to make a gentleman of Pip and to give to the youth those opportunities in life which he himself has never known. Magwitch even risks death by returning to England to see Pip.

We have, in Magwitch, a strange contrast to Miss Havisham. The disappointed woman, her reason twisted and her mind warped to sadism, marshals her every resource to gain vengeance by hurting her fellow beings. In Magwitch, we find one who has strayed along the paths of wrong, but who, even after the horrors of years in wretched prison cells, has a heart which can yet respond to human kindness; thus, from one to whom life gave so little, there comes forth the noble purpose of devoting his last years to doing good.

 

Estella

Estella is, as much as Pip, a product of an unnatural up bringing. A beautiful and cultured girl, she has been schooled to be proud and heartless. Miss Havisham uses Estella for the purpose of wreaking her own vengeance on men, the girl proving a very apt pupil; it is, of course, on the unfortunate Pip that her art is practiced, ably aided and abetted by her guardian. Only after her unfortunate marriage to Bentley Drummle and the wretched years which follow is the proud and scornful spirit of Estella broken. She is then able to see the good in Pip and the wrongness of her treatment of him in the past.

Pip himself is enchanted by Estella from the very first time he encounters her at Satis House, where she is being trained by her deranged foster-mother to break men’s hearts. Pip continues to love her, even after her marriage to “the Spider”, and subsequently learns that she is the daughter of Magwitch and Molly, Mr. Jagger’s housekeeper.

 

Miss Havisham

Miss Havisham is a strange woman whose mind has been warped by the disappointment which she suffered on her wedding day. Psychologically unbalanced by the unhappy events of that day, she determines that life will, for her, end at the very hour of her disappointment and thus, to satisfy what has become almost a lust for the sordid, she determines that everything around her shall remain as it was at that moment. Further than that. moreover, she determines to wreak vengeance upon men and to further that end she brings up the child, Estella, to think along the same sadistic lines as he thinks. Then, again, the woman gains a cruel delight in leading her relatives to believe that they are to receive nothing on her death from her considerable estate.

Nevertheless, this embittered personality is not entirely devoid of heart. Thus we see her paying the money required for Pip’s apprenticeship to Joe; she responds to Pip’s request for the balance of the money required to see the establishment of Herbert; and she offers Pip financial assistance- which, however, he refuses. Furthermore, Miss Havisham prefers that her name should not come into the picture with respect to these gifts. Then, again, her better nature reveals itself when she asks Pip for forgiveness.

When Pip first encounters her, she appears as an immensely rich and grim old lady living a life of seclusion in a large and dismal house. She is dressed in rich, faded materials, satins, lace, and silks, all of them white, with a long white veil and bridal flowers in her hair.

 

Mr. Jaggers

Dark-complexioned, burly, with an exceedingly large head, prematurely bald on top, and with sharp suspicious eyes, Mr. Jaggers reveals in his character many of the traits which his external appearance suggests to us. This brilliant criminal lawyer is a man of hard and forceful personality, he surrounds himself with an impregnable reserve, through which he seeks to prevent even the faintest glimmer of sentiment from shining through. Every word which Jaggers utters is carefully chosen, with that keen selection which enables him to reveal only so much as might, in any case, have been deduced from available evidence.

Nevertheless, we can still feel that, in Mr. Jaggers, there is some softness of heart which, however, he prefers not to be recognized. Thus he took steps to ensure that Estella, the child of a woman charged with murder, found a good home, while the mother herself was taken into his house as a domestic.

He is first introduced at Satis House as Miss Havisham’s legal adviser. For a long time thereafter he is the only person Pip knows in connection with his “great expectations”, as everything done for him is through Jaggers. His last of many appearances in the story is when he conducts the case for Magwitch.

 

Wemmick

Jagger’s clerk is a short, dry little man of dual personality. In business, Wemmick is as hard and reserved as Mr. Jaggers himself, making every endeavour to ensure that he is as cautious and as unapproachable as his employer. At home, however, we see a quite different Wemmick- a man whose life is given up to affectionate devotion to an aged parent, a home lover proud of his castle and of the strange contraptions he has created therein, and a genial host. Wemmick is, also, a good friend and shrewd adviser to the few to whom his heart opens in particular, he shows these traits in his relationship with Pip.

Wemmick’s most pronounced feature is his “post-office slit” of a mouth, set in a square, expressionless face, He wears at least four rings, besides a brooch representing a lady and a weeping willow at a tomb with an urn on it; several additional rings hang from his watch- chain.

Dickens nearly always draws attention to the eyes of his characters, and we are told that Wemmick’s eyes are glittering, small, keen, and black.

 

Herbert Pocket

Herbert appears to us, at our first meeting, as the pale and delicate youth who with an inexplicable spontaneity and without apparent reason challenges Pip to fight, taking his beating in a gentlemanly and sportsmanlike manner. Years later Herbert becomes Pip’s best friend, and in that friendship, we see something of the striking characteristic of loyalty which is part and parcel of Herbert’s whole make-up. With his cheerful, frank and easy manner, Herbert reveals a natural incapacity for doing anything secret or mean. He is utterly unselfish in his devotion to those whom he loves, and he is prepared for any sacrifice to help his friends. Although something of a dreamer, forever coming out with great and ambitious plans for the future, Herbert is nevertheless quick-witted and reliable, and on his judgment, Pip relies in the solution of many of his problems.

 

Minor Characters

Great Expectations is filled with numerous lesser personages encountered by Pip, nearly all of whom are sharply delineated and memorable in themselves.

 

Mr. Pumblechook

With fish-like mouth, dull staring eyes and a great mop of unruly sandy hair. Mr. Pumblechook is unprepossessing of appearance; He is no less unprepossessing as a character. This despicable individual is a bully, a braggart and an impostor. He delights in venting his spleen on the youthful Pip and bitterly resents the chances in life which the lad’s benefactor has given him; his complete disregard for honour and truth even allows Pumblechook to pose as Pip’s unknown benefactor.

 

Mr. Wopsle

A vain, self-opinionated man with an exalted opinion of his own capabilities, this onetime clerk of the church afterwards turns to what his conceited nature tells him to be his natural bent-play acting, Although an utter failure in his new calling, the futile Mr. Wopsle is quite incapable of seeing himself as he really is, for his efforts on the stage are nothing but ludicrous.

 

Orlick

Orlick is a low, dull and vicious criminal, from whom only the meanest can be expected. Revengeful, deceitful and devoid of all goodness, this wretch is incapable of responding to any kindness; he is prepared to stoop so low as to strike down the defenceless Mrs. Joe, and afterwards allies himself with Compeyson in order to gain revenge against Pip.

 

Bentley Drummle

Drummle is a coarse, boorish and dull- witted fellow, whose apparent delight it is to capture the heats of the women with whom he associates and to revel in the hurt which his actions cause to others. As a husband he proves himself to be a complete failure, unable to appreciate in any way his responsibilities to his wife, and we can feel little pity when we learn that he has been killed by a horse which he has ill- treated.

 

Matthew Pocket

Herbert’s father is a natural and unaffected scholarly gentleman who is an efficient tutor, well-read in his subjects. He proves himself hopeless, however, in the management of his domestic affairs.

 

Compeyson

Compeyson, Miss Havisham’s false lover, originally appears as the second convict whom Pip sees on the marshes, and is recaptured with Magwitch. After his return from penal servitude, he sees Magwitch and gives information about him to the authorities, but is killed when Magwitch is recaptured.

 

Clara Barley

Clara Barley, a pretty, gentle, dark-eyed girl, and Herbert’s fiancée, at first dislikes Pip because he leads her betrothed into debt; her father, a former ship’s purser, is always ordering her about.