Charles Dickens

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ISBN: 9780231119252 | 0231119259
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 2/1/2000

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Surveying the key debates about a novel which has provoked an immensely rich critical response, the extracts and essays included here examine Great Expectationsin structural, symbolic, social, political, psychological, and sexual terms, relating the novel to its own time and to a range of twentieth-century theoretical perspectives. Exploring secondary sources, from initial reviews in the 1860s to the most up-to-date critiques of the 1990s, the Guideis an essential resource for the study of one of Dickens's most complex works.

Introduction

(11)

Outlines how Dickens came to write Great Expectations, sets the novel in the context of his life, and summarises its critical reception from 1861 to the present

Early Expectations: Reviews 1861-62

(25)

Surveys the range of review responses to Great Expectations, showing their diversity and the ways in which they highlighted topics that would be important for future criticism. Includes reviews from a variety of newspapers and journals, including The Times, The Spectator, Atlantic Monthly and Blackwood's Magazine

Expectations Lost and Found: 1870-1949

(34)

Traces the decline, defence and revival of Dickens's reputation from his death to the end of the 1940s. With extracts from accounts of Great Expectations by Andrew Lang, George Gissing, Algernon Swinburne and G.K. Chesterton; from Bernard Shaw's celebrated `Foreword' to the novel; from T.A. Jackson's forceful political interpretation; from the seminal essays of George Orwell and Edmund Wilson; and from Humphry House's lively and provocative account of Pip's story as `a snob's progress'

Expanding Expectations: The 1950s

(25)

Looks at four major studies that emerged in a period of expansion for literary criticism, and for studies of Dickens and Great Expectations. Includes extracts from Jack Lindsay's powerful critical biography; Dorothy Van Ghent's rich symbolic interpretation; G. Robert Stange's classic essay on `Dickens's fable for his time'; and J. Hillis Miller's formidable reading, which draws on European criticism and philosophy

Consolidating Expectations: The 1960s and 1970s

(26)

Follows the consolidation and development of critical interpretations of Great Expectations in the 1960s and 1970s, and considers some new departures. Includes extracts from Julian Moynahan's interpretation of Orlick as Pip's alter ego; Barbara Hardy's account of the role of food in the novel; Robert Garis's penetrating analysis of the novel's theatrical qualities and of its relation to Freud's Civilization and its Discontents; Q.D. Leavis's suggestive exploration of guilt and shame in Pip's life and society; Peter Wolfe's innovative account of Dickens's `double plot'; and Harry Stone's pursuit of the magical symbolism of hands in the novel

Upsetting Expectations: The 1980s

121

(23)

Explores the rich crop of new readings of Great Expectations that emerged with the revolution in literary criticism of the 1980s. Extracts from Peter Brooks's compelling interpretation of the plot of the novel in the light of Freud's Beyond the Pleasure Principle; Steven Connor's insightful Lacanian analysis; Jeremy Tambling's powerful application of Foucault to Dickens's treatment of crime and punishment; and the questioning of Dickens's representations of women by Kate Flint and Carolyn Brown

Exceeding Expectations: The 1990s

144

(24)

Examines three major interpretations of Great Expectations in the 1990s that open up important and exciting new directions for future criticism: Edward W. Said's post-colonial reading; William A. Cohen's teasing pursuit of the novel's autoerotic and homoerotic subtexts, and Caroline Waters's analysis of the role of women and the family in Pip's world

Appendix A: The Original Ending of Great Expectations

168

(1)

Appendix B: Chapter Equivalents for the Clarendon Edition

169

(2)

Notes

171

(16)

Bibliography

187

(11)

Acknowledgements

198

(1)

Index

199

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Charles Dickens

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