Dima Elena-Izabela

2nd Year English Major

Group 1

Female figures and their position in Great Expectations

By Charles Dickens

The visible clash between man and woman in the Victorian age represents one of the most
portrayed issues in literature and it has been approached and depicted by many writers of the
era, who expressed their vision concerning the subject.

In my essay I shall discuss about Charles Dickens’ masterpiece, namely Great

Expectations by focusing on the place occupied by women in the Victorian age. I am going to
analize the symbolism of the names and follow the identity and the destiny of some of the
main female figures in the novel, in the attempt to give an image of how women were
perceived. At the end of the essay I shall formulate my personal view on the matter.

Charles Dickens is particularly known for his criticism of society, which appears in his
novels. The generalized opinion that the ideal woman is the one who is „ firmly rooted in the
home and who subordinates her own self in favor of her husband and children.” is present in
Great Expectations as well. However, it appears that the majority of them are „horribly
deficient at performing the duties which Victorian culture prescribes to them.” (Farrell)

The first female figure who appears in the novel is Mrs. Joe, the protagonist’s older sister,
married to Mr. Joe, a simple man and devouted blacksmith. She is depicted as having „black
hair and eyes” and being „tall and bonny” compared to the fair figure of Mr. Joe Gargery.
(Dickens, pg.13-14) Although it is her who seems to be the head of the house, rather than her
husband, she has no identity of her own; her first name is never mentioned, she takes on the
name of Joe. Mrs. Joe is definitely not satisified with her condition of the wife of a poor man
and she does not bear any kind of affection for her little brother. However, after Orlick causes
her the poorly condition of an invalid (which ultimately led to her death), she would not
confess his crime; she is, after all, silenced by a man, defenceless.

While Mrs. Joe was almost an antithetical figure of the ideal Victorian woman because of
her lack of emotions and harshness, Biddy is described as being nice and pleasant, but also as
an intelligent and resourceful young girl. According to Krauskopf, she is „an able domestic
caretaker (...) and when Mrs. Joe dies and Biddy must consider a new means of income, she is
confident she will make a successful school mistress.” In the beginning, Biddy stands for

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 Dima Elena-Izabela
2nd Year English Major
Group 1

women’s aspiration at a possible career and for independence but she ends up marrying
widower Mr. Joe and bears his child; in the end, she maintains her given role of the „angel of
the house”.

One of the most controversial female figures in the novel is Miss Havisham. Her name
might stand for the shame of being betrayed by her half-brother Alfred but mostly for the
shame of being fooled by her lover, Compeyson, who never showed up at their wedding. She
never abandons her manor and all signs prove that she is mentally deranged; she always wears
her wedding dress and she stopped all her clocks at the hour when she received the note from
Compeyson. More than that, she adopted Estella, whom according to Rayo she does not see
„as a whole person” but rather as an object which she „breaks into the separate pieces that
together create her vehicle of revenge.” She raises Estella into becoming a cold, emotionless
person, who’s sole purpose in life is breaking men’s hearts. In the end, she realises her
mistake and she repents. She dies in Satis House, her place of isolation.

Estella is Miss Havisham’s adopted daughter and her name might come from the Spanish
word „estrella”, which means „star”. Pip idealizes her and develops an infinte passion for her
from the very beginning even though she looks down on him and treats him poorly. She is
actually the main reason behind his „expectation” of social advancement; only in this way he
can reach to her. The defective education she received from Miss Havisham might have
induced and influenced some of her traits, but her honesty reveals that she has overcome both
this and the potential negative genetic legacies from her criminal parents. She is the only
woman who does not live all her life in one place but her condition is not at all better. She
marries Drummle and only after several years she gets to reunite with Pip.

In my opinion, the female figures in Great Expectations are extremely powerful because ,
in a way, each of them attempts at modifying her imposed status: Mrs. Joe shares a
dissatifaction with her life and does not hide it, Biddy is a clever and practical young woman,
Miss Havisham uses her own adopted daughter in order to take revenge on all men and Estella
is not afraid of being honest with everyone. Although they don’t really succeed in doing so,
their „rebellion” is definitely worth mentioning.

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 Dima Elena-Izabela
2nd Year English Major
Group 1

Bibliography:

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. 2nd ed. London: Penguin Classics. 2003

Farrell, Timothy. „Separate Spheres: Victorian Constructions of Gender in Great

Expectations” . '97 English 168 Sec. 2, Brown University, 1996.

http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/ge/farrell2.html Retrieved on 24.11.2018

Krauskopf, Katie . „Victorian Working Women” '97 . English 73, 1995

http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/ge/workwom.html Retrieved on 24.11.2018

Rayo, Maya. „Miss Havisham's Objectification of Estella” . English 168, Brown University,
1996 http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/ge/gerao1.html Retrieved on 24.11.2018

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