What is Gothic?
Gothic Fiction, in the classic way, is a gene of literature that combines elements of horror and romance. It feeds our pleasure of being terrorised and the main viewers of horror films are women because women love horror! Dickens gave people horror and they loved it. Gothic Architecture is an important factor as well because when you look at these buildings you are in awe, they are an attempt to create an atmosphere. Architectural ruins demonstrate the decay and collapse of the human spirit. English gothic writers often saw medieval buildings as darkened evil and for centuries, gothic buildings have given authors something to write about.
"Mutation
Corruption
Decay"
How is the Gothic depicted in Great Expectations?
Great expectations is so famous because it belongs to more than one genre, it isn't just gothic - its almost like a fairytale. In Dickens first novel, Estella and Pip don't actually end up happily ever after, his readers requested a happy ending and he revised it!
Satis house is a Gothic setting, with its darkness and atmosphere of deterioration and ghostliness. When I first read the book, the way Dickens describes the house made me nervous as to who lives in there. It grabs the attention of the readers and makes you want to find out more.
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Chapter 8: page 46
"We went into the house by a side door - the great front entrance had two chains across it outside - and the first thing I noticed was that the passages were all dark, and that she left a candle burning there. [Estella] took it up, and went through more passages and up a staircase, and still it was all dark, and only the candle lightened us...I entered, therefore, and found myself in a pretty large room, well lighted with wax candles. No glimpse of daylight was to be seen in it. It was a dressing-room, as I supposed from the furniture, though much of it was of forms and uses then quite unknown to me. But prominent in it was a draped table with a gilded looking-glass, and that I made out at first to be a fine lady's dressing-table."
Chapter 8: page 48
Just the way he describes Pip's view of the interior frightens me a little. Its pitch black and all you have is a candle light. What's going to be around the corner? We already know the house isn't well looked after because of the description of the outside, but the fact Pip presumes the room is a dressing-room proves that too. If the house is in this state then what does that say about the lady living in it?
Another thing that is quite Gothic is the introduction, where we first meet Pip and where he lives. It makes me imagine the unknown in a dark, vast open space. If Pip is afraid of it and he lives there, should the reader be afraid too?
"At such a time I found out for certain, that this bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard...the dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes; and that the low leaden line beyond was the river; and that the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing, was the sea; and that the small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip."
Chapter 1: first page
How is the Grotesque depicted in Great Expectations?
Grotesque to me is something that is repulsive or distorted, just like the way Dickens describes Miss Havisham. She is an 'unreal' character and is portrayed as these mad lady who is haunted by her own dead past. She has almost become the living corpse of her own unhappiness which isn't allowing her to let the past go.
"In an arm-chair, with an elbow resting on the table and her head leaning on that hand, sat the strangest last I have ever seen, or shall ever see. She was dressed in rich materials - satins, and lace, and silks - all of white. Her shoes were white. And she had a long white veil dependent from her hair and she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table. Dresses, less splendid than the dress she wore, and half-packed trunks, were scattered about. She had not quite finished dressing, for she had but one shoe on - the other was on the table near her hand - her veil was but half arranged, her watch and chain were not put on, and some lace for her bosom lay with those trinkets, and with her handkerchief, and gloves, and some flowers, and a Prayer-Book, all confusedly heaped about the looking-glass...I saw that everything within my view which ought to b white, had been white king ago, and had lost its lustre, and was faded and yellow. I saw the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and the flowers had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes...Now waxwork and skeleton seemed to have dark eyes that moved and looked at me. I should have cried out, if I could."
Chapter 8: pages 48-49
"A fearful man, all in coarse gray, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars, who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin."
Chapter 1: Page 4
Dickens using the grotesque style of writing to describe [Magwitch]. Why does he have an iron on his leg? Why is he been living in the marshes? Is he hiding from someone? It makes you question who this man is and what does he want with Pip. It allows you to imagine this 'monster' who's soaked and covered in mud with cuts and sores all over his body, he almost resembles a zombie, limping from wherever he's been hiding.
What are specific elements of the uncanny?
The uncanny is something that is strange or mysterious in a way that makes someone feel nervous or uneasy. There is lots of uncanniness in the novel, one example being that Pip uses the same words over and over again "...all of white. Her shoes were white. And she had a long white veil dependent from her hair...but her hair was white." It is almost like he is trapped in that chapter and can't let go of it. "I should have cried out, if I could." The use of repetition in this chapter makes me feel uneasy, almost like a broken record going round and round in your head, constantly reminding us how Miss Havisham looks. The uncanny often occurs in Satis house, a place where we would normally feel safe, yet this house is where our fears come alive.
How does Dickens give the uncanny a unique twist within the novel in terms of characterisation?
The theme of doubles in Great Expectations is closely related to the uncanny. Dickens uses doubles through the characters, events and settings. For instance, Joe and Magwitch are both father-like figures to Pip. They are both from a lower class background with little education and money, but they are both kind to Pip. Another comparison would be that Drummle brings out the worst in Pip, he has what pip wants, class, money and Estella. Could Dickens be hinting that Pip has the wrong dreams and that these won't make him happy? Dickens uses a double narrator, Pip tells the story as if he was the age that he is in the novel, however he makes comments which Pip would say when he's older. It gives us an insight in to whats going to happen in the future. For example when he firsts visits Miss Havisham's house, he says "it made great changes in me" but how would he have known this at the time? This is the uncanny with a twist, it is mysterious and a unique style of writing that grabs the readers attention to make them find out why Dickens has said that.
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Chapter 8: pages 48-49
Dickens describes Miss Havisham as a waxwork and a skeleton with dark eyes that moved and looked at pip. This reminds me of a ghost house you can go though at a fair, where you feel like you are being followed and watched by the ghosts and ghouls and it frightens me. The description of the house and Miss Havisham certainly match up - they are both rotting and decaying as time goes on. Time has frozen but she is still living in her own sadness, unwilling to move forward. She is such a powerful character, but at the same time she is so powerless.
"A fearful man, all in coarse gray, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars, who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin."
Chapter 1: Page 4
Dickens using the grotesque style of writing to describe [Magwitch]. Why does he have an iron on his leg? Why is he been living in the marshes? Is he hiding from someone? It makes you question who this man is and what does he want with Pip. It allows you to imagine this 'monster' who's soaked and covered in mud with cuts and sores all over his body, he almost resembles a zombie, limping from wherever he's been hiding.
What are specific elements of the uncanny?
The uncanny is something that is strange or mysterious in a way that makes someone feel nervous or uneasy. There is lots of uncanniness in the novel, one example being that Pip uses the same words over and over again "...all of white. Her shoes were white. And she had a long white veil dependent from her hair...but her hair was white." It is almost like he is trapped in that chapter and can't let go of it. "I should have cried out, if I could." The use of repetition in this chapter makes me feel uneasy, almost like a broken record going round and round in your head, constantly reminding us how Miss Havisham looks. The uncanny often occurs in Satis house, a place where we would normally feel safe, yet this house is where our fears come alive.
How does Dickens give the uncanny a unique twist within the novel in terms of characterisation?
The theme of doubles in Great Expectations is closely related to the uncanny. Dickens uses doubles through the characters, events and settings. For instance, Joe and Magwitch are both father-like figures to Pip. They are both from a lower class background with little education and money, but they are both kind to Pip. Another comparison would be that Drummle brings out the worst in Pip, he has what pip wants, class, money and Estella. Could Dickens be hinting that Pip has the wrong dreams and that these won't make him happy? Dickens uses a double narrator, Pip tells the story as if he was the age that he is in the novel, however he makes comments which Pip would say when he's older. It gives us an insight in to whats going to happen in the future. For example when he firsts visits Miss Havisham's house, he says "it made great changes in me" but how would he have known this at the time? This is the uncanny with a twist, it is mysterious and a unique style of writing that grabs the readers attention to make them find out why Dickens has said that.
Key Motifs
Strange Places
The silent pool, in Shere, is a strange place to me, legend has it a woodcutters daughter fell into the deepest part of the lake and drowned. The lakes eerie calmness sends shivers down peoples spines which is why it is known as the Silent Pool.
Clashing Time Periods
I visited a church at 8:40, the time Miss Havisham was jilted by her husband to be. I feel this photograph best represents clashing time periods as the picture was taken at 8:40 and the church was built in 1847 (nineteenth century).
Power and Constraint
These photographs were taken at Guildford Cathedral, where I was christened, and where horror film "The Omen" was filmed. It represents this motif to me as its so big and powerful.
A World of Doubt
There are so many mysterious things out there in this world and the unknown scares me a little.
Terror vs Horror
I saw these books in London and they reminded me of The Monster Book of Monsters book from Harry Potter which makes me jump and scares me every time I watch it.
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Image from: http://www.twingrouptravel.co.uk/
media/16737/harry_potter_monster_book.jpg |
Sexual Power
I have chosen this picture as an angel is beautiful and in the bible it states that fallen angels used to tempt and lure people to make love with them.
The Uncanny
This is on the Cathedral doors. Who is it? What is it? Why is it there? Its quite scary looking.
The Sublime
The Sublime
The sublime has masculine qualities of strength and size and these pictures of Guildford Cathedral best represent this to me as I everyone looks up in awe and feels dwarfed by the height of the building.
Crisis
This photo represents crisis as all of the gravestones belong to soldiers who bravely fought in the war. Even in death, they appear to be marching in a uniform straight line.
The Supernatural and the Real
Ghosts and Humans. The ghosts that may be in this graveyard were once alive and human.
Some extra photographs...
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