Exploration of Pale Childhood: a Representation of the Negligence of the “Other” in the Literary Discourses of William Blake and Charles Dickens
Shibajyoti Karmakar, Asst. Professor in English
Chandraketugarh Sahidullah Smriti Mahavidyalaya, Berachampa, Barasat
Abstract
Childhood is the stage in which the children are provided with the atmosphere to prepare themselves to be acquainted with spiritual aspects of life and true faith. But such kind of preparatory stage is denied by the social institutions as depicted in the poetry of William Blake and in the novels of Charles Dickens. Rousseau in his Emile (1762) appealed for a suitable kind of atmosphere for the children in
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Blake’s poetic cosmology is marked by contradiction and to Blake without contradiction there is no progress. Blake has shown us how we the elders create an unjust world for these little children and very finely he has depicted their victimization. Blake was not satisfied with the existing condition of the society. In the poem Holy Thursday of Songs of Experience he has depicted how children have to depend upon the charity. The hope of happiness will never appear in their life and they are bound to live in the eternal winter of neglect and …show more content…
In the novel Great Expectation Dickens has shown us how Pip, the central character of the novel has undergone cruel mental tortures of Miss Havisham, a wealthy spinster. She behaves with the children as inferior creatures and she uses Estella whom Pip loves, as an object of her game because she is dependent on her. She actually uses Estella to revenge her own betrayal in love. In the due course, Pip understands that it was not Miss Havisham who had provided him the economical support, but his real benefactor was none but Magwitch, the convict. Pip’s development is linear and through suffering and agony of life he reaches in a matured stage where he realizes that human qualities are more important than property, cash and social
Pip's fairy tale like view on the upper class is shattered when Magwitch, a convict, declares that he's Pip'd benefactor. Pip can't believe that a low-class criminal had wealth rivaling that of a wealthy gentleman's. It's a wake up call for Pip. (page 294) Magwitch's death also brings out Pip's softer, more sentimental side as Pip learns to love a person for who they are now and not what their standing or past was. (page 428) Pip sells all his belongings to pay for his debts and starts anew as a humble clerk at Clarriker and Herbert's company.
Miss Havisham is a character in Great Expectations that some would say is delusional, crazy, or maybe even evil for her actions in the novel. Miss Havisham’s madness plays a key role in Charles Dickens 's Novel, Great Expectations, because her own heartbreak causes her to wreak havoc on the main protagonist,Pip’s feelings. Miss Havisham’s heartbreak from when she was younger changed her own views on life and on the mystery of love. Miss Havisham uses her own traumatic experiences as an excuse to manipulate others into heartbreak. She causes the heartbreak of Pip.
Speaking about one of the oddest figures in literature, Miss Havisham, there is a lot to say; from the day she was unluckily left at the altar by the man she loved, she never took her wedding dress off, kept only one shoe on and stopped all the clocks at twenty minutes to nine. Since then her life revolved around the pursue for revenge on the entire male gender. Miss Havisham was so obsessed by this thought that she adopted a girl, Estella, and used her to break men’s hearts and get the vengeance she wanted. For Pip, her character is an unconstructive example of a self-destructive pursue for revenge: not only she suffers because of her hunt, but also she is incapable to understand that she’s hurting others too, especially Pip and Estella. For this reason, Estella Havisham grew up to be a rigid manipulative unemotional woman who is not able to love because she was never taught how to do it.
‘Havisham’ is a poem told by a woman called Miss Havisham, who is a character in ‘Great Expectations’ written by Charles Dickens, and in the book she is portrayed as a rich but pathetic woman. Through reading the poem, the readers are able to realise that she detests her ‘title’, and it can also be seen when she does not use the ‘Miss’ in Miss Havisham (she is emphasizing her individuality). The poem is about her anger and fury, and through her choice of words the readers are able to picture her, alone in a dark room, shouting, almost madly, at her lover who betrayed her; he left nothing behind but a small note telling her that he wasn’t arriving on their wedding day, probably forever. The poem is written as a dramatic monologue, where she
In ‘A Christmas Carol’, Dickens presents Ignorance and Want in a metaphorical fashion, depicting them as children. This is done in such a manner as to shock and appall the reader, leading to greater emotional investment. Throughout the extract’s entirety, Ignorance and Want are depicted as children, increasing the atmosphere of pessimism that surrounds them. Dickens describes the manner in which the Ghost of Christmas Present “brought two children” – by describing Ignorance and Want as “children”, Dickens creates the impression of innocence, vulnerability, and weakness.
Happiness and Wealth: two words that are both alike and distinct. One without wealth can be happy, one with substantial wealth may not be happy, but one rarely has both. In Charles Dickens’ novel, Great Expectations, the main character, Pip, suddenly grows wealthy and rises in class; a common Victorian rags to riches story. However, as his capital increases, his character decreases by acting recklessly and being shameful of his modest upbringing. Additionally, Miss Havisham and her adopted daughter, Estella - born wealthy - are spoiled and don’t contribute anything beneficial to society.
Pips quest to become a gentleman is dictated by what others perceive the status to be rather than relying on his heart and moral judgement. Great Expectations is a story that follows the life of a boy named Pip. Pip as an adult narrates his life story about how he became a gentleman. There are many examples in the beginning of Pips young life that showed him what and how a gentleman should act. When Pip was young he did not realize the value of Joe’s actions.
Child development is an area of significant interest to professionals who deal with children on a daily basis. It is through child development theorists and their theories that we begin to form an understanding of how children develop emotionally and socially to become fully grown adults in society with a moral and emotional compass/. Teachers need to study child development in order to provide developmentally appropriate educational experiences for children. Health professionals also need to understand this area to support children in their physical, social, emotional and cognitive journey to becoming functioning adults in society. Childhood is a concept that is affected by social context and also by history. Here in the West childhood was not always considered to be a fundamental developmental phase in life with children in Victorian times working from as early as the age of four.
Miss Havisham wants Pip’s forgiveness when Estella refuses to love her back. Consumed with guilt when she sees Pip trying to convince Estella not to marry Drummle. When Pip hears that Estella is going to marry Drummle he tries his hardest to convince her that he is not right for her. After seeing this Miss Havisham realized that having Estella break men’s hearts like her fiance did to her did not make her feel better. So she begged Pip forgiveness also telling him that she was regretful for all the wrong she did.
In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens tells the story in the perspective of a young boy growing up in England during the Victorian Era. Philip “Pip” Pirrip is the protagonist, where we discover his life experiences and expectations through his narration. Pip’s sister, Mrs. Joe, and her husband, Mr. Joe, greatly influence his childhood. He meets many people later on who teaches him that not everyone will be happy and what it really means to have “great expectations”. Through Pip’s journey, Dickens suggests that happiness becomes achievable if one learns to accept and fix their flaws.
A Father for PipCharles Dickens’s novel Great Expectations is about an orphan named Pip, who is beingraised by his sister and her husband. He comes into a great fortune by means of a secret benefactor, and so leaves his home for London to be a gentleman. The book follows Pip intomanhood, along with his exploits and trials along the way. Throughout the story, several father figures were very prominent. These included Joe, Jaggers, and Magwitch.
In the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Pip, an orphan raised by his cruel sister, Mrs. Joe, and her kindly husband Joe Gargery, a blacksmith, becomes very ashamed of his background after a sudden chain of events which drives him to a different social class. Pip's motive to change begins when he meets a beautiful girl named Estella who is in the upper class. As the novel progresses, Pip attempts to achieve the greater things for himself. Overtime, Pip realizes the dangers of being driven by a desire of wealth and social status. The novel follows Pip's process from childhood innocence to experience.
Through her attempts she replaces her daughter’s heart with ice and breaks young men’s hearts. In Dickens’ bildungsroman Great Expectations, Pip and Miss Havisham’s morally ambiguous characterization helps develop the theme, that one needs to learn to be resilient. The internal struggles that Pip experiences through the novel, reveal his displeasure to his settings and
It is filled with worries and responsibilities. Where one does not only have to look after oneself, but also others. Information collected from secondary sources show that people who had a tension free childhood led a more peaceful adulthood. And that mostly children are devoid of any stress as compared to that faced by adults. This essay shows exactly how we picture the childhood and adulthood and that childhood is actually the best period of life.
In that way, it is possible to get a happy ending even after experiencing something similar to what Pip felt. In the end, Pip became friends with Estella, even after knowing that she was the cause for his change which lead to all his misery in life. A moral theme that was taught in Great Expectations is to not change yourself for anyone or any reason. It is important to always keep your individuality and not to be susceptible to being swayed by someone. Overall, everyone should be their own individual person and not change for