CriticalRealisminGreatExpectations

姚雪蓮

Abstract：Great Expectations is an important work by English novelist Dickens. His novels not only reflect the life experience of a whole generation genuinely， but also disclose the social reality vividly in England in the middle 19th century. Its depth and width go beyond most of the works of his contemporaries. Great Expectations is the excellent novel of critical realism in the later period of Dickens. It describes the development of Pips grown-up and the disillusion of his “great expectations”. Educated by the reality， he came to realize what he pursued in the Vanity Fair was not valuable at all. So as to see clearer the great power of critical realism in Dickens works and thus can understand the novel， this thesis analyzes the heros character development and the influential factors upon the formation of his character.

Key words：Great Expectations； critical realism； character development； social class

Great Expectations is an important work by English novelist Dickens. It appeared initially in serial from in All The Year Round between 1860 and 1861 and is now considered to be one of his finest novels. After Dickens experienced his richful life， he had a profound understanding in human， world and his own life.

Great Expectations is the excellent novel of critical realism in the later period of dickens. It describes the development of pips grown-up and the disillusion of his great expectations. Educated by the reality， he came to realize what he pursued in the variety fair was not valuable at all.

So as to see clearer the great of critical realism in Dickenss works and thus can understand the novel， this thesis analyzes the growth of heros personality and the influential factors upon the formation of his character.

The whole thesis can be divided into six parts. The first part introduces the background information of this novel and the purpose of this thesis. The second part briefly introduces Dickens life and the plot of the novel. The third part talks about the critical realism， including the rising of critical realism， the features of critical realism as well as its specific reflection in the novel. The fourth part emphasizes particularly on the presentation of Pips character development， which is divided into four periods. The fifth part analyzes the factors that influence the revival of Pips benevolence. The last part concludes that the novel sharply criticizes the corruption of capitalism society through the description of Pips character development.

Since the Industrial Revolution in the second of half of the 18th century， the class structure in English society had undergone radical changes. The industrial capitalists began to play a more important role and fought for political power with the old aristocracy. Due to the support the people， this struggle for power ended in the victory of the bourgeoisie over the aristocracy. With the development of capitalism， there arose a powerful working class， though the conflict between labor and capital was for some time kept in the background of the struggle between the feudal and the bourgeois classes. But ever since the thirties of the 19th century， the struggle between the workers and capitalists became the main contradiction in English social life.

As a representative of critical realism， Charles Dickens was the greatest English realist of the time. With a striking force and truth fullness， he creates pictures of bourgeois civilization， describing the misery and sufferings of common people. The greatness of Charles Dickens lies not only in their satirical portrayal of bourgeois and in the exposure of the greed and hypocrisy of the ruling classes， but also in their profound humanism that is revealed in their sympathy for the laboring people. He creates positive characters that are quite alien to vices， the rich and who are chiefly common people.

Dickens' s core idea is the capitalist humanitarianism. His heart is full of love and sympathy towards the oppressed， although he cannot think of the effective measures to solve the social problems except that he hopes that people can change the situation by reform. He advocates freedom， equality， and charity， thinking that the human nature decides the human value. In his works， Dickens maintains "an unbroken faith in people with an entire pessimism as to capitalist society".

In Great Expectations， Dickens has done the merciless revealing and criticism to this batch of parasites of Miss Havisham，Compeyson，and described noble character and sincere emotion existing inside Pip，Joe Gargery and Biddy with limitlessly sympathetic brush stroke .Through " great expectation" to life and love cherished by Pip evaporating one by one， Dickens prove to the people that there is not any chance by sheer good luck in the realistic society. This text has explained deep thoughts and writing artistic characteristic that the author Dickens reflects in the works through the analysis to the novel Great Expectations.

Great Expectations follows Pip from a simple childhood to a lavish adulthood. He has a mysterious benefactor who helps him attain his rich lifestyle， and fills his head with hopes and dreams. When the benefactor turns out to be someone unexpected， he has trouble coming to grips with the harsh truth. As a real sign of maturity he then tries to make amends with those he had wronged.

Among Pip's many false beliefs the idea that his father `s figure Joe was simple and the opposite of a gentleman. Joe was a humble blacksmith， which contrasted to Pip's idea that gentlemen were rich socialites living the 'high life'. When Pip realized that his gentlemanly lifestyle was spoiling him （creating debt and arrogance） he became aware that his image of the ideal gentleman was wrong. He then went home to visit Joe and ask for forgiveness.

One way to see Pips development， and the development of many of the other characters in Great Expectations， is as an attempt to learn to value other human beings： Pip must learn how to value Joe and Magwitch， Estella must learn how to value Pip， and so on. Throughout the novel， social class provides an arbitrary， external standard of value by which the characters （particularly Pip） judge one another. Because social class is rigid and preexisting， it is an attractive standard for every character who lacks a clear conscience with which to make judgments—Mrs. Joe and Pumblechook， for instance. And because high social class is associated with romantic qualities such as luxury and education， it is an immediately attractive standard of value for Pip. After he is elevated to the status of gentleman， though， Pip begins to see social class for what it is： an unjust， capricious standard that is largely incompatible with his own morals. There is simply no reason why Bentley Drummle should be valued above Joe， and Pip senses that fact. The most important lesson Pip learns in the novel—and perhaps the most important theme in Great Expectations—is that no external standard of value can replace the judgments of ones own conscience. Characters such as Joe and Biddy know this instinctively； for Pip， it is a long， hard lesson， the learning of which makes up much of the book.

[Bibliography]

[1]Dickens Charles ，Great Expectations Angus Calder， 1965

[2]Studying relationships in Great Expectations. http：//www.universalteacher.org.uk/gcse/grexp.htm#intro.

[3]Literary analysis： The development of Pip's character in the novel， Great Expectations， by Charles Dickens. http：//www.helium.com/tm/503775/chose-title-because-think.

[4]Cliffs notes on Dickens' great expectations[M]， Gary Carey， Lincoln ： Cliffs Notes Inc， 1979.P18

[5]Dickens ： great expectations [M] R. George Thomas.P35

（作者單位：武漢職業(yè)技術(shù)學院 外語系，湖北 武漢430074）