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Great Expectations: context
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Dickens knew poverty and success, and he wrote with sharp awareness of class.
Dickens and publication
Dickens published Great Expectations in weekly parts in his magazine *All the Year Round* in 1860 to 1861.
This is why many chapters end with suspense.
Dickens originally wrote a sadder ending, but changed it after advice from his friend, the novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
This is why many chapters end with suspense.
Dickens originally wrote a sadder ending, but changed it after advice from his friend, the novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
Class and gentlemen
Victorian Britain was changing: new money from trade could make people rich, and many wanted to rise socially.
Being a 'gentleman' meant manners, education and not working with your hands.
Being a 'gentleman' meant manners, education and not working with your hands.
Crime and punishment
Convicts could be held in prison hulks (old ships) and transported to Australia. Magwitch was transported and forbidden to return on pain of death.
The novel's opening, though, is set earlier in the century.
The novel's opening, though, is set earlier in the century.
Why do so many chapters end on a cliffhanger?
- The novel came out in weekly parts.
- Readers had to wait for the next instalment.
- Suspense made them buy the next issue.
Answer: Because it was published weekly, and suspense kept readers buying.
Published weekly in All the Year Round (1860 to 1861); ending changed after Bulwer-Lytton's advice; Victorian ideas of the gentleman; prison hulks and transportation to Australia.
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