Great Expectations Coming Of Age Essay

“Great Expectations” is an 1861 bildungsroman novel by Charles Dickens. Anthony Trollope observed that “no other writer except Shakespeare has left so many “characters which are known by their names familiarly as household words, and which bring to our minds vividly and at once, a certain well-understood set of ideas, habits, phrases and costumes, making together a man or woman, or child whom we know at a glance and recognize a sound, as we do our own intimate friends,”. In particular, his statement is relevant to the characters of Pip, Estella and Miss Havisham from Dickens’ novel “Great Expectations”.

As a novel about the coming of age, “Great Expectations” presents the growth and development of a single character; Pip. As both the narrator and the protagonist of the novel, Pip is by far the most important character in “Great Expectations”. As the protagonist, his actions make up the main plot of the novel and as the narrator, his thoughts and attitudes shape the reader’s perception of the story. As a result of this, the reader develops a deep understanding of Pip. Throughout the course of the novel, Pip has a deep desire to improve

Miss Havisham’s life is defined by a single tragic event: her jilting by Compeyson on what was to have been their wedding day. From that moment forth, Miss Havisham is determined never to move beyond her heartbreak. She stops all the clocks in Satis House at twenty minutes to nine, the moment when she first learned that Compeyson was gone, and she wears only one shoe, because when she learned of his betrayal, she had not yet put on the other shoe. It’s quirks such as these and her characteristics that reinforce her as being one of the most memorable characters from “Great