Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

 

Revision Questions and Essay Topics

 

 

Chapters 1 to 20

  1. Why is the opening chapter of the novel so effective?
  2. Briefly recount Pip’s early experiences in the Gargery household and on the marshes. Include brief sketches of the minor characters and comment on the relationship between Pip and Joe.
  3. What conflicts are caused in Pip as a result of his first visit to Satis House?
  4. Find and note all the other Chapters of the novel which deal with Miss Havisham and Estella at Satis House. In what ways is Pip influenced by the place and its inhabitants?What details are ‘foregrounded’; what is the importance of the Satis House motif for ourt understanding of the major issues of the novel?
  5. Explain the significance of the stranger in ‘The Three Jolly Bargemen’.
  6. What judgement would you make of Estella’s early treatment of Pip? What causes him to fall in love with her? (Trace the process as Dickens outlines it). In what ways does the relationship between them alter in the course of the novel?
  7. Comment on the tone and language of Chapter 14, and explain why this is important. In the novel as a whole, what does Dickens achieve by using the voice of the mature Pip as narrator?
  8. Comment on the changing relationship between Pip. Joe and Biddy. (Chapters 15, 17, 19) What qualities do Joe and Biddyh reveal? Why is Biddy an important character?

 

Chapters 20 – 39

  1. What are the major differences between London and the world Pip has left behind? How effectively does Dickens introduce Pip to London? What elements in the description point to important themes in the novel?
  2. What significance do the following have for the concerns of the whole novel:
  1. Jaggers and Wemmick in their ‘official’ capacities (distinguish between their role in the plot and their importance to the novel in other ways);
  2. Dickens’ presentation of Herbert’s family.
  1. Trace the relationship between Pip and Herbert. In what ways does Herbert help Pip and why is he important for our understanding of Pip’s development?
  2. What is the significance of the Death Masks in Jaggers’ office?
  3. What sorts of environment do Jaggers and Wemmick create for themselves? What point is being made here about the individual and society?
  4. Comment on other examples in the novel of how place and character interact. How significant is this as an issue in the novel?
  5. Comment on Pip’s meeting with the convicts in the coach (prior to his next meeting with Estella). In what ways is Dickens preparing for the climax of the novel?
  6. Discuss the passage on pp. 253-4 (from start of Ch 29 to "…than if I had devoutly believed her to be human perfection." What does this reveal about Pip and why are the hopes he reveals here important to the novel in terms of character and action? How does this passage foreshadow the destruction of Pip’s illusions?
  7. What comment would you make on Miss Havisham’s behaviour in this chapter? Comment on Estella’s attitudes, to both Miss Havisham and Pip. What aspects of Estella’s character are revealed here?
  8. Is the episode with Trabb’s boy merely humorous?
  9. Comment on Herbert’s advice to Pip. Why does he give up so easily?
  10. What effect does Newgate have on Pip? Comment on Wemmick’s relationship with the prisoners, and on his acquisition of the pigeons.
  11. How does Dickens foreshadow the link between the Newgate world and Estella? What is the significance of this, and other links with the "underworld" for the themes of the novel as a whole?
  12. In what light does Estella appear in Ch 33?
  13. What major concerns of the novel are implicit in the description of Pip’s London life?
  14. How does Pip’s return to the marshes (for Mrs Gargery’s funeral) highlight his moral and emotional conflicts?
  15. Describe the relationship between Estella and Miss Havisham. (Ch 38) In what ways has Miss Havisham damaged Estella, and how does Estella react?
  16. What have been Miss Havisham’s motives (and goals)? Why is she bound to be disappointed?

 

Chapters 39 to end

  1. Comment on Dicken’s use of language to create atmosphere in Ch 39. What are the reasons for the terrible impact on Pip of Magwitch and his story?
  2. What major issues with respect to Pip’s development are brought out in Ch’s 40, 41 & 42? How does the relationship between Pip and Magwitch change by the end of Ch 42?
  3. Comment on Pip’s passionate speech to Estella (p.337).
  4. Describe Pip’s meeting with Miss Havisham in Ch 49. Why has he come? What does Miss H finally realise and what major issues in the novel emerge from her conversation with Pip?
  5. Briefly recount the events and revelations which take us to the end of the novel. What qualities in the writing make the final chapters a powerful and effective ending.

 

 

 

 

 

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