Reading 19Th Century Fiction: Close Analysis

Reading 19th century fiction: close analysis

Read the following extract carefully. It is taken from the novel Great Expectations written by Charles Dickens in 1860-61. A young boy, Pip, has been sent for by Miss Havisham, an elderly woman who was jilted on her wedding day years before. Since then, she has remained just as she was when she was given the news that her husband-to-be would not marry her and she lives a reclusive life.

(NB The extract has been taken from the Wordsworth Classic edition, 1992)

I entered, therefore, and found myself in a pretty large room, well lighted with wax candles. No glimpse of daylight was to be seen in it. It was a dressing-room, as I supposed from the furniture, though much of it was of forms and uses then quite unknown to me. But prominent in it was a draped table with a gilded looking-glass, and that I made out at first to be a fine lady’s dressing-table.

Whether I should have made out this object so soon, if there had been no fine lady sitting at it, Icannot say. In an arm-chair, with an elbow resting on the table and her head leaning on that hand, sat the strangest lady I have ever seen, or shall ever see.

She was dressed in rich materials – satins, and lace, and silks – all of white. Her shoes were white. And she had a long white veil dependent from her hair, and she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table. Dresses, less splendid than the dress she wore, and half-packed trunks, were scattered about. She had not quite finished dressing, for she had but one shoe on – the other was on the table near her hand – her veil was but half arranged, her watch and chain were not put on, and some lace for her bosom lay with those trinkets, and with her handkerchief, and gloves, and some flowers, and a Prayer-Book, all confusedly heaped about the looking-glass.

It was not in the first moments that I saw all these things, though I saw more of them in the first moments than might be supposed. But I saw that everything within my view which ought to be white, had been white long ago, and had lost its lustre and was faded and yellow. I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes. I saw that the dress had been put upon the rounded figure of a young woman, and that the figure upon which it now hung loose, had shrunk to skin and bone. Once, I had been taken to see some ghastly waxwork at the Fair, representing I know not what impossible personage lying in state. Once, I had been taken to one of our old marsh churches to see a skeleton in the ashes of a rich dress, that had been dug out of a vault under the church pavement. Now, waxwork and skeleton seemed to have dark eyes that moved and looked at me. I should have cried out, if I could.

“Who is it?” said the lady at the table.

Reading 19th century fiction: close analysis

“Pip, ma’am.”

“Pip?”

“Mr. Pumblechook’s boy, ma’am. Come – to play.”

“Come nearer; let me look at you. Come close.”

It was when I stood before her, avoiding her eyes, that I took note of the surrounding objects in detail, and saw that her watch had stopped at twenty minutes to nine, and that a clock in the room had stopped at twenty minutes to nine.

“Look at me,” said Miss Havisham. “You are not afraid of a woman who has never seen the sun since you were born?”

I regret to state that I was not afraid of telling the enormous lie comprehended in the answer, “No.”

“Do you know what I touch here?” she said, laying her hands, one upon the other, on her left side.

“Yes, ma’am.” (It made me think of the young man.)

“What do I touch?”

“Your heart.”

“Broken!”

She uttered the word with an eager look, and with strong emphasis, and with a weird smile that had a kind of boast in it. Afterwards, she kept her hands there for a little while, and slowly took them away as if they were heavy.

Now answer the following questions:

Lines 1 – 10 Identify Pip’s first reaction to Miss Havisham. (1 mark)
Lines 9 – 15 Give two short phrases that show Miss Havisham is dressed as a bride. (2 marks)
Lines 16 – 26 How does the writer use language to show Miss Havisham has become a faded and frightening character over time? Support your points with detailed reference to the text. (4 marks)
Whole text How effectively does the writer build up tension in this piece, first in Pip’s eye-witness account and then in the dialogue that follows? Support your points with detailed reference to the text. (8 marks)

Extension task

To help you prepare to tackle longer answers in the exam, make some notes or write a short paragraph on each of the following:

overall structure and sentence structures (types, length etc.)

vocabulary choices

language features and literary techniques, e.g. effect of first person narrative.

Reading 19th century fiction: close analysis

Self or peer marking

Use the suggested answers below to help you mark the paper.

‘the strangest lady I have ever seen, or shall ever see’ – 1 mark

(Think about the effect of using a superlative in this phrase.)

1 mark each for two examples.Choose from:

‘satins, and lace, and silks – all of white’
‘Her shoes were white.’
‘she had a long white veil dependent from her hair’
‘she had bridal flowers in her hair’
‘Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands’ (not as clear as the other possible answers but acceptable).

Her appearance has faded:

White clothes are described as having deteriorated over time, e.g. her white outfit is now ‘yellow’ and has ‘lost its lustre’, her flowers have died, e.g. ‘withered’.
She shows signs of old age, e.g. ‘shrunk to skin and bone’, ‘sunken eyes’.
She is compared to images of dead people, e.g. ‘ghastly waxwork’, ‘skeleton in the ashes of a rich dress’ making her appear frightening.

1 mark for comments, 2 marks for explanations, 3-4 marks for analysis

You are given a hint on the overall structure in the question; use it to start your analysis:

Pip’s eye-witness account is written in the first person, helping the reader identify with his point of view, and in the past tense. It starts in a dark and gloomy candlelit room, which immediately creates tension.

From line 8 to line 38 there is a slow build-up of detailed description which helps the reader visualise the scene. Repetition of vocabulary linked to light, e.g. ‘white’, ‘sparkled/ing’ and brightness contrasts with the darkness to create an unsettling effect for the reader, especially as the scene is one of decay and images of death. The dialogue dramatises the meeting of the two characters, using short, direct exchanges which increase the tension. Use of present tense in the dialogue creates a sense of immediacy. Miss Havisham’s accompanying dramatic body language, e.g. ‘laying her hands…on her left side’ makes it even more frightening for the child, Pip.
Note how on lines 5 and 37 Dickens makes us realise the encounter is being narrated from the adult Pip’s point of view, using hindsight, e.g. ‘I was not afraid of telling the enormous lie…’ adds a little humour as Pip looks back on this meeting.

1 mark for description, limited assertions, limited textual references; 2-3 for comment and some text references;4-5 for explanation and appropriate text refs;6-7 for analysis and supportive references;
8 for evaluation, sustained response, well-selected textual references.