Importance of Setting in Great Expectations Essay

Importance of Setting in Great Expectations Charles Dickens viewed London as a place of economic competition and death. In Great Expectations, he used the prevalent bleakness of the places in London to illustrate the unproductiveness of the social and economic struggle which he viewed as fatal, both literally and figuratively. His depiction of this economic struggle is reflective of the nineteenth centurys preoccupation with the rise of the middle-class. Janice Carlisle says, The most common historical clichà © about this mid-Victorian period was that it saw the final consolidation of the social, political, and economic dominance of the middle classes (5). His association with death depicts the uselessness of this†¦show more content†¦In Pips quest to rise above his working-class status, he must learn that wealth and status are not as important as respect; respect and self-respect are not gained in the competition of the marketplace, but in the concern of others. Charles Dickens usage of these characterizations made him a literary pioneer. He was a true artist who drew from his own life, from individuals he knew, from history, from his culture, from the economic state of England, and from his surroundings. He was not born in London and lived only part of his life there. In his writings, he did not provide accurate or detailed descriptions or histories of places in London. However, as E. Beresford Chancellor says in his book, The London of Charles Dickens, No writer has so thoroughly identified himself with a single place as Dickens has with our capital (15). Dickens captured this distinction by his writings of everyday, ordinary life. As F. S. Schwarzbach states, he had brought the city forth from its obscurity and mystery, and made known the urban world to those who inhabited it, and to us, who inhabit it still (223). In his early writings, Sketches by Boz, Dickens marked out a claim, and having done so returned to it as he thoug ht fit and as the argument of his novelsShow MoreRelatedEssay about The Importance of Settings in Great Expectations1503 Words   |  7 PagesThe Importance of Settings in Great Expectations The purpose of setting is to provide a physical background for the narrative and it must enhance or advance the plot. In â€Å"Great Expectations† Dickens has varied and contrasted his settings (on purpose), to make the changes in characters personalities more appropriate. For example Pip goes from a poor, working class boy from the marshes, to a socialite of the upper class who is arrogant and proud in London. In his choice of setting DickensRead MoreEssay On Great Expectations820 Words   |  4 Pages1. Discuss the process of growth that Pip undergoes in the book. What are his values and goals early in the story, and how do they differ at the end of the novel? 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