It seems that the 19th-century industrial development and generally the period called Victorian age was not suitable for the urban writer such as Dickens. It should not come as a surprise that Dickens was not very satisfied with the period he lived in, or with people around him. The fact that he had already sold the lease on his London house and moved to the swamp – North Kent Marshes, before he started to write the novel “Great Expectations” may come as a proof for this statement.
Dickens was forty-eight then, and he could not stand pollution and bad public health, or the famous London fog of which he wrote so much in his novels “Bleak House” and “Our Mutual Friend”. There is however always a huge diversion between rural and urban in Dickens’ novels, especially in “Great Expectations”. Because of this huge distinction Tristan Sipley in her work ‘The Revenge of ‘Swamp Thing’: Wetlands, Industrial Capitalism, and the Ecological Contradiction of Great Expectations’ divides Dickens in the two groups – “pastoral Dickens” and “gritty urban Dickens”. In “Great Expectations” marsh, the place where the main protagonist – Pip lives (the marsh) is without a doubt showed as a place of wrongdoings, criminality and everything bad.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION – The representation of the Victorian period in Dickens’s Great Expectations
1.1 The theme of a constant class competing mostly provoked by Industrialization
1.2 Work and money as a society link
1.3 Possession – physical and material
2. DICKENS IS STILL ALIVE
2.1 The use of the very title of the book Great Expectations in the popular culture – online web pages, shops and restaurants, contemporary comic books Great Expectations
2.2 Dickens day and Dickens Festival
2.3 Why are we still reading Dickens? Is it because we want to know more about the period in which he lived in, or because we can identify ourselves with his characters?
2.4 Why is Dickens still so widely adapted and why?
2.5 The differences in modern adaptations: reliable "faithful" vs. unreliable "unfaithful" adaptation
2.6 Great Expectations by BBC, mini-series (2011)
2.7 Great Expectations by Alfonso Cuarón (20th century Fox)
3. CONCLUSION
Objectives & Core Topics
This paper explores the enduring relevance of Charles Dickens's novel "Great Expectations" in contemporary culture, specifically analyzing how its themes and characters are interpreted through modern adaptations and digital presence. The research seeks to understand why, despite the passage of time, the Victorian author remains a central figure in media, literature, and popular discourse.
- The depiction of Victorian class structures and industrialization.
- Dickens's continued presence in 21st-century popular culture and internet media.
- The evolution of "faithful" versus "unfaithful" narrative adaptations.
- A comparative analysis of the 2011 BBC mini-series and the 1998 Alfonso Cuarón film.
- The role of universal themes like social mobility, wealth, and human nature.
Excerpt from the Book
1.2 Work and money as a society link
‘In his handling of Magwitch, Dickens achieves a more complex binding, both of the aggression associated with work and money, and of social anger. Pip’s attempt to buy off Magwitch with clean notes, only to be reminded of the sweated money wrapped around the file, reveals that work and money link the high and low more decisively than any potential for right feeling.’
The excerpt above also proves that Dickens did believe that Victorian England was corrupted, and that justice was always more leaned to the rich/wealthy ones - Compeyson, rather than to the poor ones – Magwitch. We can say that Magwtich is a criminal because he have to be one, in order to survive, and Compeyson is a criminal because he can be, and because of his personality. We cannot but ask ourselves: “Have times really changed?” In our country, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the situation is pretty much the same, and maybe this is the reason why we really read Dickens even today – we can identify with his characters very easily.
Summary of Chapters
1. INTRODUCTION – The representation of the Victorian period in Dickens’s Great Expectations: This chapter contextualizes the novel within the Victorian era, exploring how Dickens used the landscape and social structures to depict class conflict and industrial pressure.
2. DICKENS IS STILL ALIVE: This section investigates why Dickens remains a relevant cultural icon, examining his massive digital presence and the constant adaptation of his work.
2.1 The use of the very title of the book Great Expectations in the popular culture – online web pages, shops and restaurants, contemporary comic books Great Expectations: This chapter illustrates how the novel's title has been appropriated across various facets of modern consumer culture and media.
2.2 Dickens day and Dickens Festival: This chapter looks at how academic and public celebrations help maintain Dickens's legacy as a shared cultural tradition.
2.3 Why are we still reading Dickens? Is it because we want to know more about the period in which he lived in, or because we can identify ourselves with his characters?: The author argues that Dickens's deep understanding of human nature allows contemporary readers to connect personally with his characters' struggles.
2.4 Why is Dickens still so widely adapted and why?: This chapter explores the reasons behind Dickens's status as the most adapted author, attributing it to his visual writing style and complex plots.
2.5 The differences in modern adaptations: reliable "faithful" vs. unreliable "unfaithful" adaptation: This section differentiates between cinematic fidelity to the original text and the creative license taken by modern directors.
2.6 Great Expectations by BBC, mini-series (2011): This chapter provides a critique of the 2011 BBC mini-series, highlighting its visual fidelity and casting choices.
2.7 Great Expectations by Alfonso Cuarón (20th century Fox): This chapter analyzes Alfonso Cuarón’s modernized 1998 interpretation, which transports the story to 20th-century America.
3. CONCLUSION: The author summarizes the findings, reiterating that regardless of the fidelity of the adaptation, Dickens’s universal themes ensure he will remain a permanent fixture in global culture.
Keywords
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, Victorian era, literary adaptation, film studies, class struggle, Industrialization, modern media, popular culture, social mobility, Alfonso Cuarón, BBC, narrative fidelity, human nature, digital presence.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this paper?
The paper examines the continued relevance of Charles Dickens's novel "Great Expectations" in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, specifically focusing on its adaptations and its pervasive presence in popular culture.
What are the central themes discussed in relation to the novel?
Key themes include the impact of industrialization on class structure, the role of wealth and work as social bridges, and the universality of human emotions and struggles.
What is the research goal of this paper?
The goal is to analyze why Dickens remains an influential literary figure and how his works are reinterpreted through modern cinema and digital media to stay relevant to contemporary audiences.
Which scientific or analytical method is used?
The paper employs a qualitative analysis of literary criticism, film studies, and comparative media review to evaluate how different adaptations transform the original source material.
What does the main body of the paper address?
It covers the historical context of the novel, the cultural survival of Dickens, the phenomenon of film adaptations, and detailed case studies of the 2011 BBC series and the 1998 Alfonso Cuarón film.
How would you summarize the paper's key characteristics?
The paper is characterized by a mix of literary analysis, exploration of popular cultural trends, and a specific focus on the transition of 19th-century literature into modern multimedia formats.
How does the BBC version compare to the Alfonso Cuarón version in terms of adaptation style?
The paper describes the BBC version as a "faithful" adaptation that respects the original Victorian setting, while the Cuarón version is described as an "unfaithful" or modernized interpretation that reimagines the story in 20th-century America.
What role does the setting play in these adaptations?
The setting is crucial; the BBC version emphasizes the "bleak and godforsaken" marshes of the 19th century, whereas Cuarón uses a contemporary American coastal setting to reflect modern class and social dynamics.
- Quote paper
- Enver Kazić (Author), 2014, The Afterlife of Charles Dickens's "Great Expectations" in the Late 20th and Early 21st Century, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/321483
