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Great Expectations Quotes: Characters
Characters
Miss Havisham
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‘dressed in rich material- satins, lace, silks’ (Ch 8)
 Asyndectic listing shows her material wealth, but she has a ‘broken’ heart,
which suggests wealth doesn’t lead to happiness as one would think
‘the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and the flowers, and
had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes’ (Ch 8)
 Syndectic listing emphasises Miss H’s lack of personal care (theme of selfdestruction), which Dickens uses this case to suggest that she is both a villain
and the victim, as she is the cause of her own suffering
 Contrast between what she wants to be there- her wedding day- and what is
really there (theme of appearance and reality) emphasises self-destruction
‘but I saw that everything within my view which ought to be white…was faded and
yellow’ (Ch 8)
 Ironic use of colour symbolism- white is used on a person who is obsessed
with revenge on men
 The symbolism of white, which connotes purity, fading into yellow reflects a
suggested deterioration from purity to impurity
‘She sat, corpse-like… the frillings and trimmings on her bridal dress looking like
earthly paper… she looked as if the admission of natural daylight would have struck
her to dust’
 Semantic field of death and decay (‘corpse-like’) and the vampiric
connotations of ‘natural light… struck her to dust’ suggests her selfdestruction
 Sunlight gives life and happiness, yet she deliberately rejects it: selfdestruction
 The juxtaposition of ‘earthly’ and the fantasy reference to vampires
emphasises the horror of her appearance
 Dickens introduces Miss Havisham in a way that highlights her villainous
appearance
‘utter loneliness’ (Ch 49)
 Pip’s older voice notices this, causing the reader to empathise with her
‘What have I done! What have I done! What have I done!’ (Ch 49)
 Self-realisation emphasised with the repetition of these exclamations- typical
of bildungsromans
 Miss H looses all of her usual linguistic sophistication and eloquence, which is
evidence of her great change of emotional state

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‘dropped to her knees at my feet, with her folded hands raised to me’ (Ch 49)
 Lowers herself to a position of submission, vulnerability and gratitude
 Dickens uses this to symbolise that she’s emotionally broken and ‘not all
stone’
 We are left with the more sympathetic view of Miss H as the last scene
depicts her as both emotionally and physically fragile
Pip’s prompt forgiveness redeems the majority of her wrongdoings at the end of the
novel, although Estella’s forgiveness of her is never explicitly revealed, leaving
ambiguity about whether she was fully redeemed or not
Throughout the novel, the reader discovers that it was Compeyson is the person who
caused her to act as she does, as he broke her heart the day he jilted her- Miss H is
the victim of his deception (Appearance v reality)
‘I saw her running at me, shrieking with a whirl of fire blazing around her’ (Ch 49)
 Active verbs (‘running’; ‘shrieking’; ‘blazing’) vividly depicts her spiritual
cleansing, as fire was commonly associated with that
 However, it is ambiguous as fire also has negative connotations, and it could
be interpreted that being set on fire was her punishment
‘corpse-like’ (Ch 8) ‘faded spectre in the chair’ (Ch 17)
 The change from a weaker descriptive simile to a strong and vivid
metaphorical supernatural comparison gives the reader a strong image and
impression of Miss H’s deterioration (theme of self-destruction)

Pip
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‘I was a blacksmith's boy but yesterday; I am—what shall I say I am—to-day?’
 The younger Pip values what he is rather than what he does, which Dickens
uses to mock how society only values the status of people, rather than their
qualities and actions
 ‘It would have been cruel in Miss Havisham to practise on the susceptibility of a poor
boy
...
I am going to try to get the place of mistress in the new school
nearly finished here…’ (Ch 35)
 Biddy is the epitome of Dickens’ ideas of modest ambitions; her
determination (as shown through the imperative ‘I’ll tell you’) proves to be
an admirable trait

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Biddy’s burning ambition here conveys her resilient and optimistic nature
overcoming her working-class nurture
 Dickens shows admiration for those who work towards their realistic
expectations by portraying them more favourably in Biddy
 These ‘self help’ aspects were a popular concept in the 19 th Century
‘I hope I can be industrious, and patient, and teach myself while I teach others’ (Ch
35)
 Syndectic listing of Biddy’s positive ambitions shows her kind nature as she is
not only focussed on her own future, but also on helping others

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Magwitch
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‘A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied around his head
...
Also suggests Magwitch is passive to the damage he has enduredhe is impartial as all the violent actions are being done to him, rather than
done by him- Dickens exploits the punishment of criminals through Magwitch
as it treats him brutally and makes him look even more like a criminal
 This juxtaposition begins to give ambiguity about whether Magwitch is a
violent criminal or a vulnerable victim of the legal system and societysomething that Dickens explores throughout the novel
 Shows how Magwitch has been physically influenced by his environment

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Jaggers
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‘burly man of an exceedingly dark complexion…exceedingly large head, and a
correspondingly large hand… his eyes were disagreeably sharp and suspicious’ (Ch
11)
 Dickens caricaturises the description of Jaggers- he has an ‘exceedingly large
head’ and ‘correspondingly large hand’- in order to give a satirical and
exaggerated representation of ‘shady’ lawyers (as suggested with his
‘exceedingly dark complexion’) in Victorian society

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Exaggeration of his appearance emphasised with the repetition of
‘exceedingly’ and the syndectic listing vividly describes his features
 Dickens mocks lawyers by reflecting Jagger’s personality in his appearance:
‘disagreeably sharp and suspicious’ suggests Dickens viewed lawyers to have
a distrusting nature- Jaggers is the only lawyer in the novel
 Emphasis of ‘large head’ suggests Jaggers’ lack of emotions as a character; he
values rationality above compassion and emotion
 The repetition of ‘large’ links to Jaggers’ arrogance, as he is so sure of his own
reputation that he never locks his own home and openly wears his large and
expensive watch-chain, and dares the criminals of London to rob him- which
they never do, such is his fearsome reputation
 ‘burly’ is indicative of his physical dominance and size, and reflects his
aggressive and intimidating approach to his profession and also suggests the
corruption of law and London life
Jaggers described to be constantly washing his hands
 He is ‘decontaminating’ himself from the people he works for and from the
actions he has done- suggests guilt
Jaggers is only interested in Drummle when he invites Pip and his ‘gang’ to dine
with him, suggesting the corruption of law as they are interested in those who can
bring them wealth, even if they are corrupt and disagreeable, like Drummle

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Pumblechook
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‘large, hard-breathing, middle aged, slow man, with a mouth like a fish, dull staring
eyes…’ (Ch 4)
 Dickens sets an impression with the asyndectic listing of these vivid adjectives
that Uncle Pumblechook is physically repulsive, stupid and ridiculous- all of
which is reflected in his character
 In this case, appearance reflects reality
 Pumblechook is made into a memorable character with this humorous
description

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Wemmick
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His ‘mechanical’ smile when at work vs his genuine love for ‘the Aged’
His character changes in different environments
‘My own Jack Of All Trades’- Wemmick does his own work and does not rely on
others
‘Walworth sentiments’ help Pip
He and M both work in the same place but he is a more empathetic person

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Dickens uses this to show how people can be differently influenced by the
same environment

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Molly
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Her desire for revenge on Magwitch’s supposed lover caused her to become a
violent murderess
Her ‘powerful wrists’ symbolise how her vengefulness turned her into a murderer
 Dickens uses this to exploit the power of revenge

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Herbert
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‘wonderfully hopeful’ with ‘a natural incapacity to do anything secretive or mean’
 Shows Herbert’s kind nature (‘natural incapacity’) and alienates Herbert from
bad behaviour
 Contrasts with Drummle, who is ‘heavy, idle, proud, niggardly reserved…’
Herbert’s humble but admirable expectations are based on saving enough money to
invest in a business, which is presented to be an example of positive expectations by
Dickens

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Compeyson
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Theme of appearance and reality- Compeyson appears to love Miss H but in reality
he is just using her for her money

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Drummle
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‘sulky fellow’ who is ‘heavy, idle, proud, niggardly reserved and suspicious’
 The asyndectic listing of all of Drummle’s faults emphasises his bad character
Comes from ‘rich people’
 The use of ‘people’ instead of ‘family’ or ‘parents’ shows the alienation and
the lack of familial love in Drummle’s wealthy family, suggesting Dickens’
view that money cannot make up for love
 Drummle’s expectations is to live purely for his own comfort and pleasure
without regard for others, which contrasts greatly with Herbert
 Dickens makes it clear that, although society would view Drummle as the
gentleman and Herbert as something less because he works for a living, it is
Herbert who has the better characteristics of a gentle man



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