Not So Great Expectations

[changeling67]

I have come to the end of my study of Great Expectations for the time being. I must admit to skimming it and I think if it is a book I will be studying, then I will revisit and take notes with the exact essay title in mind. No spoilers, but every Gothic novel has its sinister setting and Satis House is no exception.  Throw in a token mad woman and her brainwashed mini me and bingo - Gothic Central.  Some critics would say that both lead females eventually become sympathetic characters in their own way.  Sometimes I wonder what I am missing, because I think they are both monsters.

There's Mrs Joe, the sadistic husband/nephew beater; Havisham as the rotting Rapunzel, with her virago-in-waiting Estella (another automaton - what IS it with this specific Dickens archetypes?) honed to drive men to make masochistic fools of themselves.  Lots of themes here - social class, sexual inequality and Dickens own deep psyche needs exploring.  Or does it? I think he was a product of his time and he reflects the prejudices and presumptions across the scale.

I am preferring Brick Lane, which is quite a thick book to get through - I am chipping away with it night after night before I go to sleep.  A review on that book another time.