Structural Pattern in The Novel

Structural Patterns in Dickens's Great Expectations
Author(s): John H. Hagan, Jr.

Source: ELH, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Mar., 1954), pp. 54-66
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2871933 .
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STRUCTURAL PATTERNS IN DICKENS'S GREAT
EXPECTATIONS
By JOHN HI. HAGAN, JR.
It is evident at firstglance that Great Expectations falls

intothe familiargenreof the Bildungsroman, the novel dealing
witha protagonist'sinitiationintolifeand the changesit effects
in his personalityand character. But after the picaresque
fictionof the eighteenthcenturymade that theme a part of
the novel's earliest traditions,the nineteenthintroduceda
varietyof refinements, in the patternof which change Great
Expectations'significance as a transitionalworkhas stillto be
noted. Dickens's treatmentofhis herolacks the fullcomplexity
and subtletywe have since come to expect in modernworks
of thisgenre,but it marksa distinctadvance beyondthe loose,
episodic mannerof, say, Oliver Twist and David Copperfield.
The centralplot is still a variationon an old picaresquemotif
-just as Tom Jones,forexample,discoversthe worthinessof
his originsand therebywinsthe lovelySophia, so Pip discovers
the ignominiousorigins of his wealth and loses the lovely
Estella-but the artistrywith which Dickens constructshis
storyand clearlyand consistently, withfulltruthto life,marks
out every stage of his hero's development,completelyraises
Great Expectationsinto a new class.
The most conspicuousfeatureof this artistryis the way
in whichthe storyhas been organizedinto threelarge sections
of virtuallyequal lengthwhichDickens calls " Stages " in the
progressof Pip's expectations. Not until Hard Times did
Dickens so explicitlydivide his novels into parts,the division
becominga sign of the greatercare and planninghe expended
on his later work. In Great Expectationsthe divisionscorre-
spond exactly to the three principalphases of Pip's life. In
moralor temporaltermsthesephases are Boyhood,Youth, and
Maturity. In the firstofthemPip is an innocentchild,content
withhis modestlot in lifeand fullof love and affection forhis
protectors,Joe and Biddy. But the various forcesthat are to
changehim are already at work,and in Stage Two they have
54

JOHN H. HAGAN, JR. 55
their disastrouseffect: Pip becomes a youthfulspendthrift,
and, totallyabsorbedin selfishpursuits,neglectsall in his past
lifethat is worthyof his remembranceand gratitude.Finally,
in the third Stage, througha knowledgeof suffering and in-
justice won by his own disappointments and his acquaintance
with Magwitch, he rises above self and achieves in loving
devotionto anotherhis regeneration.
Each of these Stages has its various subdivisions,no less
evidentbecause theygo withoutexplicitmention. Stage One
has four subparts,Stage Two three, and Stage Three four
again.1 This suggestsconcretelythe highdegreeoforganization
Dickens succeeded in imposingon his material. That Stages
One and Three should both be divisible into four distinct
phases pointsto a kind of symmetry that would be impossible
to findin the earlier,haphazardlyconstructednovels. But what
is more remarkablethan this superficialnumericalsymmetry
is the symmetrical balance betweenthe actual contentsofthese
respectivesubdivisions.Withoutoverstatingthe case, it is per-
fectlyfair to say that Dickens, consciouslyor unconsciously,
rounded off his book not only by resolvingproblems with
whichit began, but by arranginghis resolutionsin the same
sequence as that in which the problemswere firstpresented.
If this seems forced,one should reservehis judgmentuntil
presentlywe explore Dickens's careful and elaborate use of
repetitionin the novel. In the meanwhile,the evidencecannot
be ignored. In the firstsectionof Stage One (Chapters 1-6)
Dickens deals with Pip's first meeting with the stranger
Magwitch; in the firstsection of Stage Three (Chapters 40-
46) he deals withthe second meetingof these characters,and
providesus withthe hithertoundiscloseddetailsof Magwitch's
history.In Chapters7-11 he introducesPip to Miss Havisham
and Estella, showingus the former'sperverteddesires, but
keepingthe natureof Estella's relationshipto her a secret;in
1 These subparts are as follows: in One, Chapters 1-6, 7-11, 12-17, 18-19; in
Two, 20-27, 28-35, 36-39; and in Three, 40-46, 47-51, 52-56, 57-59. The criteria
for determiningthe subdivisionsof Stages One and Three are made clear in the
above discussion. With regard to Stage Two, Chapters 20-27 forma distinctunit
by virtue of the fact that they center entirelyabout London and Pip's initiation
into the life of that city. With the returnto the village in 28 it is clear that a
new unit begins which is neatly rounded off when Pip returns a second time.
Chapter 36, by markingPip's comingof age, plainly begins a third section.

56 DICKENS'S GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Chapters47-51 he resolvestheseissues by bringingabout Miss
Havisham's regenerationand disclosingthe truthof Estella's
parentage. Chapters 12-17 deal with the formationof Pip's
selfishambitions;Chapters52-56,withhis regeneration through
selflessdevotion to another. And finally,as Chapters 18-19
concernPip's firsthopeful departurefromthe old forge,so
Chapters57-59showhimreturning to the forgeafterhis ordeal,
no longerthe slave of illusions,but a matureman experienced
in life. Such carefullybalanced contrastsas these are im-
menselyfruitfulin a novel whose subject is that of personal
development.The full significance of each successivestage of
a character'shistorycan be appreciatedbest when one stage
is placed, by eithercomparisonor contrast,in relationto the
othersthat precedeor followit. We shall returnto this point
when we discuss the device of repetition.
From the overall point of view, then, Dickens definedhis
intentiondelicatelyyet firmlyby the groupingof materialinto
explicit divisions and by the artificeof patternedcontrast.
This success is no less evident in the smallersectionsof the
book. In Stage One, for example, almost every event that
occurspreparesthe readerand Pip himselfforthe futurecourse
his careeris to take. Carefultracingof the evolutionof a state
of mindor situationin its causal, step-by-stepprogression from
one phase to anotheris a technique usually associated with
George Eliot and Meredith. But in handling it in Great
ExpectationsDickens proves himselfno less an adept. Pip's
veryfirstdeviationfroma normalway of life-his pilferingof
the food and the file for Magwitch-not only serves the
obvious plot functionof bringingthe boy and the convict
together,but it also foreshadowswhat are to be the baleful
consequencesof theirrelationship;it preparesPip for future
deviations fromvirtue and, at the same time, presentsthe
pangs of consciencehe is later to sufferas a consequence. In
the meanwhile,his firstoffenceleads naturallyto a second:
concealmentof his guilt fromJoe. BeforePip and the reader
are scarcelyaware of it, the formeris forgingaround himself
an unbreakablechain of cause and effect.From theftfollows
concealment,and fromconcealmentthe transitionis easy to
moreaudacious evil in the formof lies. The firstgreatchange
in Pip's charactercomes when Estella ridiculeshim and he

growsashamed of both himselfand Joe, with the resultthat
he tells fantasticlies about the crucial interview.The next
step is fromnegativediscontent,shame,to positivediscontent,
the decisionto changehis condition.And when,at the begin-
ning of Chapter 10, Pip decides to make something" un-
common" ofhimself, he is alreadyon the way to the even more
specificand higheraspirationto possess Estella in marriage.
At the end of Chapter11, therefore, he kisses the girl'scheek
and reflectsupon how muchhe would have sacrificed, if it had
been necessary,to do so. In the same chapterhe meetsHerbert
Pocket whose" gentlemanliness " tortureshim aftertheirfight
and helps establishthe gentlemanlyideal in his mind.
With the seeds of discontent,deceit,and futureideals thus
sown in Chapters 1-11, the momentumof Pip's development
steadily increasesin the next section, Chapters 12-17. (All
thiswhile,of course,the injusticeof Mrs. Gargeryand Pumble-
chook,and,theirinsistenceupon the idea that Miss Havisham.
are also shapingPip's destiny.) When
will be his benefactress,
in Chapter12 he wishesto tellJoe about his fightwithHerbert,
he findsthat he cannot,forjust as concealmentoriginallyled
to lies, so, on a new occasion, in order to be believed, he
mustresortto concealmentagain. Thus the subtleriftopened
betweenPip and his old lifeat the verybeginningof the novel
has imperceptiblywidened. When, at the terminationof his
servicewithMiss Havisham, in Chapter 13, Joe appears with
him at the old lady's house in the presenceof Estella, the rift
growswiderstill,forthis is the firsttime the two worldsare
broughtintosharpjuxtapositionforhim. On the same occasion
Miss Havisham's generousgift (the firstof many Pip is to
receive annually) helps to fix in his mind the idea of her as
his benefactress.By Chapter 14 Pip's unrest,heightenedby a
year of hopelessapprenticeship, has grownsteadilyworse,and
it takes the formin Chapter 15 of a vain wishto educate Joe.
At last, in Chapter 16, the assault upon Mrs. Gargeryraises
a crucial moral problem. Unintentionally, Pip provided the
weapon (a sawed-offmanacle) for the brutal crimewhen he
stole the fileyearsbefore.He must decide now whetheror not
to confessthe truthof that old episode to Joe. But so much
time has elapsed that the entire situation has grownmuch
more complicatedthan it was in the beginning.The secret

has not only so growninto Pip that he cannot tear it away,
but the assault, the latest outcomeof the originalincident,is
morelikelythaneverto alienateJoe fromhim-even assuming
that after the lies he told him about Miss Havisham Joe
believesthe storyat all. Thus Pip has by degreesbecome the
victimof his originaldeceit and the successivedeceptionsthat
grewout of it, and his secretsnow alienate him fromall the
people around him. The motif is one frequentlyused by
Hawthorne and George Eliot: a crime or sinful act never
remains simple; as time goes on difficulties accrete about it
until the possibility of atonement grows less and less. Pip,
against his will and knowledge, has committed himselfto an
irresistablecourse of action. He cannot escape his acts; they
bring with them their inevitable consequences. Finally, in
Chapter 17, all of Pip's suppresseddesiresreceive theirmost
explicitexpressionin a passionateoutburstbeforeBiddy. For
the firsttime he gives a positive statementof his desire to
become a " gentleman" (the seeds of which desire were im-
planted at the time of the fightwith Herbert), and expresses
in its fullestintensityhis irrationalpassion forEstella. Thus,
even beforehe learnsof his " greatexpectations,"the stage for
Pip's eager receptionof themhas been thoroughlyset and the
wholemoral issue of his careerclearlydefined.Dickens has so
beautifullyorderedhis materialthat Chapter 17 depends for
its existenceupon all that has previouslyhappenedto his hero;
it bringsto a perfectculminationthe whole chain of events
set in motion in Chapter 1. With Chapter 18, therefore,
Dickens is able to move on to the advent of the "great
expectations" themselves.2
Such scrupulousorderingof successivestagesof development
is evident as well in the thirdgreat part of the novel. Here
Dickens's problemis the veryreverseof what it was in Stage
One: instead of buildingup Pip's hopes and ideals, he must
now break them down. He does so by taking Pip one step
afteranotherdownthe ladderof disillusionment. At the begin-
2 Other smaller hints of Pip's destiny are also given in the early chapters.
Miss Havisham's two giftsof money to him foreshadowthe " great expectations"
themselves.A song Biddy sings in Chapter 15 points forwardto his experiencesin
London. And Pip's own referencesto the tragedyof George Barnwell foreshadow
his coming defectionfromJoe, for Barnwell, like Pip, is a man of common life
who sacrificeshis all for an illusoryreward.

ningof Stage Three,in Chapter40, Pip receivesthe firstgreat
shock of his career: he learns that the source of his wealth is
Magwitch,not Miss Havisham, with the resultthat both his
social and romanticaspirationsreceivea severeset-back. But
he does not yet totally give up the idea that Estella might
marryhim. Accordingly, he returnsto the village in Chapter
43 with the intentionof proposingto her. Stopping at the
Blue Boar inn,he encountershis old enemyBentleyDrummle
fromwhomhe receivesoblique hints as to a recentchange in
Estella's plans-hints that are painfullyclarifiedin Chapter44
whenhe learnsfromthe girl'sown lips that she and Drummle
are engaged. ThereuponPip's hopes drop anotherrung. But
they are not yet at the bottom; with almost ruthlesscon-
sistencyDickens pushes his hero's disappointmentsto their
utmost. Therefore,in Chapter48 Pip has to discoverthat the
beautifulgirlhe has worshippedso long,whomhe has wished
to shelterfromall that is sordidand low in life,and forwhom
he has sacrificedall that is good in his own character,is the
daughterof a murderess.In Chapter50 he suffers the further
bitterrevelationthat her fatheris Magwitch. Still not at the
bottom,however,Pip has next to lose all his moneywhenthe
fortunesaved forhim by the capturedconvictis forfeitedto
the Crown. By Chapter54, therefore, his " greatexpectations,"
consideredfromboth the monetaryand the romanticpoints
ofview,have completelyevaporated. His desolationis accentu-
ated by a total alienationfromthe people who were formerly
closest to him: Wemmickmarriesand settlesaway fromhim
with his wife;Herbert,too, marriesand goes to the East on
business; Magwitch dies; and Joe and Biddy, whom he has
so grievouslyinjured,are still far away. But one hope still
remainsto him. In 58 he returnsto -theold village with the
intentionof proposingto Biddy-only to discover,however,
that she has already become the wifeof Joe. This, at last, is
the bottomof the ladder.
But the descentis in termsof Pip's hopes alone. Justas in
Stage One there was a rise in hope coincidentwith a fall in
moralcharacter,so in the last Stage, counterto declininghope,
thereruns a risingspiritualmovement-a growthof love for
the sufferinglMagwitchwhom Pip firstregarded with un-
qualifieddisgustand horror.Thus on one morelevel the novel

attains an overall symmetry.As forthe stages themselvesof
the growth,the readerwill observethemforhimself,and will
note that they are delineatedwiththe same precisionas those
we have just examined.
Meanwhile,we must turn to the other strikingfeatureof

the novel we have alreadymentioned:its highlyskilfuluse of
repetition.To such a highlevel is the art of tastefuland subtle
repetitioncarriedin GreatExpectationsthat the novel remains
distinctivein the Dickens canon fora unique kind of beauty
and intensity.Repetitioncan take place, of course,on at least
threelevels: the level of wordsor phrases,the level of charac-
ters,and the level of incidents.Dickens's achievementson the
firstof theselevels (Micawber's" somethingwillturnup," and
so forth) are such conspicuousand famousfeaturesof his art
that theyrequireno discussionhere. But the skillhe was able
to attainon theothertwo levelsis patentin GreatExpectations
whereit becomesone of the chieffactorsin the novel's success.
On the level of charactersone may see repetitionoperating
most clearly. Not onlyhas Dickens,contraryto his usual cus-
tom, greatlycurtailedthe mere numberof charactersin the
story,but he has contrivedit so that nearlyeveryone who ap-
pears shedslightin one way or anotheron the concernsof the
centralfigure.Rarely beforeHard Times and A Tale of Two
Cities are the materials of a Dickens novel thus properly
proportionedand subordinated. This is not to say that in
Great Expectations success in this particular is complete;
Dickens's artisticconsciencewas neverto attainthe purityand
rigorof certainmodernmasters,and it would be a distortion
of his claim to greatnessto rest it upon such criteria.3But to
appreciatehow closelyDickens could approximatethe modern
ideal one has only to considerthe way in whichthe motifof
"great expectations" is constantlyheld beforethe reader's
eyes in the personsof a numberof different characters.'Pip
furnisheswhat we may call, in musical terminology, the prin-
cipal theme; about him are groupedseveral characterswhose
' The charactersof Mr. Barley and the " aged P.," for example,are carry-overs
from Dickens's earlier,more unrestrainedlyinventiveperiod. But even they are
relevant in so far as they help provide an agreeable domestic backgroundagainst
which Pip's frustrationscan be set in contrast.

primary functionis to play a seriesof variationson thatthenie.
Atone end of thescale we have, of course,Joe and Biddy who
have no " greatexpectations" at all and whose acceptanceof
a humblelot in lifefurnishes the sharpestpossiblecontrastto
Pip's selfishness.At the other end we have the characters
of Pumblechook,Wopsle, Sarah Pocket and Camilla, MaIrs.
MatthewPocket,and HerbertPocket,whoall in different ways
also have " great expectations" of their own. Pumblechook
wouldlike to come in fora shareof Pip's new fortune;Wopsle
hopesto revivethe decliningdrama;Sarah Pocket and Camilla
expectto be named in 'Miss Havisham's will; Mrs. Matthew
Pocketlooksforward to the day whenshe willreceivethedefer-
encedue thedaughterofa baronet;and herson Herbertdreams
ofbecominga greatcapitalist.Even Wemmickwithhisconcern
for the " portable property" he receives from condemned
criminalsis not withouthis affinityto Pip, for the latter's
propertyalso has its source in the underworld.Furthermore,
all of these charactersreact to theirvarious expectationsin
different ways. Pip revealsingratitude; Pumblechookdescends
to grovellingservility;Wopsle makes a fool of himselfon the
stage; Sarah Pocket and Camilla are torn by jealousy; Mrs.
Pocket abstractsherselffromeverydayreality;and Herbert
developsinto an amiable optimist.Thus, in an ingeniousway,
Dickens manages to display a whole range of the different
effects " greatexpectations" can have upon the human spirit.
But in additionto those who have no expectationsand those
who have exorbitantones, still a third group is introduced
comprising thosewho may once have had highhopes but who
are now disillusioned.Magwitch,Miss Havisham, Matthew
Pocket,and Jaggersbelongin thiscategory.Magwitchtrusted
the slick Compeysonas an ally in crime,and Miss Havisham
trustedhim as a suitor;MatthewPocket distinguished himself
at the universitybut ruinedhis prospectswhen he married;
Jaggerssimplysaw too much of life. In each of these cases,
as in theothers,the effectofeach experiencehas beendifferent:
Magwitchseeks to returnto societyvicariouslythroughan-
other;Miss Havishamsinksintoa cruelmisanthropy; Matthew
Pocket lives in a state of perpetual bewildermentand sup-
pressed exasperation;Jaggerscultivates a callous " profes-
sional" character. When Pip himselfcomes to sufferstill

anotherkindof disillusionment he willstrikea balance between
the reactionsof Magwitch and Miss Havisham: he will rise
above thelatter'ssourdefeatismand hostilityto love as intense
as Magwitch's but devoid of its possessiveness.
Thus, through a series of skilfullyvaried repetitionsof
character response to a presidingidea, Dickens is able to
achieve a maximumof economywhileat the same timeillumi-
natingPip's situationfroma numberof different sides. At the
he
same time achieves more strikingeffectsby brilliantlyhand-
lingrepetitionon the level ofincident.Chapter 31, forexample,
is entirelytakenup withan episodethathas absolutelynothing
to do with the plot: Pip and Herbertgo to a theatrewhere
Wopsle, playing the lead in Hamlet, gives a ridiculousper-
formanceand is jeered unmercifully by the audience. At first
the incidentseems to be no more than a humorousinterlude,
comicreliefto offsetthe moreseriousaction. But the moment
one remembersthat in the immediatelyprecedingchapterPip
had his memorableencounterwith Trabb's boy the episode
takes on an entirelynew dimension. Wopsle and his fellow
actorsare trying,like Pip, to play rolesforwhichtheyare not
fitted;they are a parody of Pip himselfwhose pretensionsfar
outreachhis natural habits and instincts.And the jeers they
receive fromthe gallery are deliveredin the same spirit as
those whichPip receivedfromTrabb's boy. Pip himselfhas
becomea ham actor like the detestableWopsle; unconsciously,
in his egotism,he has become more and more like the very
type of man he hated in his boyhood. His only saving grace
is that, unlikeWopsle who remainsstupidlyindifferent to the
audience'sreceptionofhim,he is not invulnerable:the mockery
of Trabb's boy hits the mark. But at the timeof his firstvisit
to the theatrePip is still relativelyhigh on the crest of his
wave and Wopsle's obviously fantasticaspiration to revive
single-handedlythe drama is a ludicrousvariationon his own
ambitions. He is due, however,for defeat,and when at last
in Chapter 47 he has come to know suffering and disillusion-
ment, he runs across Wopsle once more in entirelydifferent
circumstancesand the parallel is drawnunmistakably:
I was aware that Mr. Wopslehad not succeededin revivingthe
had ratherpartakenof its decline.
Drama, but, on the contrary,

He had beenominously heardof;throughthe playbills, as a faith-
ful Black, in connexionwith a littlegirl of noble birth,and a
monkey.And Herberthad seen him as a predatoryTartar of
comicpropensities, withface like a red brick,and an outrageous
hat all overbells.
Probably every reader, when he firstgoes throughGreat
Expectations,bringsaway fromthe novel an unaccountable,
but thoroughly satisfying, its rounded,
senseof its completeness,
finishedquality-a feelingthat is not evoked by an earlier
book like Martin Chuzzlewit,for example. If he tries to
discover why this is so he will find that Dickens is always
playingvariationslike the one above-some ofthemeven more
subtle-on scenes and events he does not want the reader
to forget. He is continuallycirclingback upon old material
froma new point of view. There is nothingas explicitin all
of this as in Hawthorne'suse of the " centralscene" in The
Scarlet Letter,for instance,but Dickens's approach is analo-
gous. Considerthe way in which the Three JollyBargemen
inn figuresin the action. In Chapter 10 Pip goes there one
Saturdayeveningto fetchJoe whomhe findssmokinghis pipe
by " a bright large kitchen fire . . . in company with Mr.
Wopsle and a stranger."The strangerturnsout to be a convict
who is acting temporarilyas Magwitch'sagent and gives Pip
a giftof two one-poundnotes. Now thisentirescene distinctly
anticipatesa muchmoreimportantone that occursin Chapter
18 in which almost every significantdetail of the firstscene
is carefullyreproduced.Once again it is a Saturdaynight,and
again Pip visits the JollyBargemen where" round the fire"
are assembledJoe,Wopsle,and anotherstranger.This stranger
turns out to be Jaggersand he, also acting as an agent for
Magwitch,gives Pip anothergift: the giftof his " great ex-
pectations." By means of such repetitionDickens is able to
underscorean importantfact about Pip's development.When
the boy firstvisits the Bargemenhe is still an innocent. He
has alreadybeen on his firstvisitto Miss Havisham's and the
seeds of discontent,therefore,have been planted, but they
have not yet blossomed.By the timehe makes the secondtrip
to the inn, however,his discontent,under the weightof four
years' burdensomeapprenticeship,has reached a climax. By
placing Pip at two contrastingpoints in his career in the

same setting and similar circumstancesDickens is able to
heightenour awareness of the momentouschange that has
come over him. The constancyof the backgroundaccentuates
the variabilityof the character.4
This techniqueDickens uses all throughthe novel for the
same purpose.5 However, it should be noted that one of the
most effectiveuses of repetitionin the book involvesnot Pip,
but Magwitch. Considerthe sectiondealingwiththe convict's
flightdown the Thames late in Stage Three. This episodeis a
quiet variation on the events with which the story opened;
much of its melancholybeauty resides in that fact. For we
rememberthat Magwitchappearsto us in the veryfirstchapter
near the water,fleeingfroma prison-ship.Now, at the end of
his career,he appearsto us again on the water,thistimefleeing
to a ship for safety. But he never does escape and his final
capturehearkensback to the endofChapter5 whenhe was once
beforetaken prisonerand " the ends of the torcheswereflung
hissinginto the water,and wentout, as if it wereall over with
him." The pathos of the later scene increaseswhen we bring
to it our memoryof the earlier,and upon re-readingthe earlier
gains meaningforus as an anticipationof the later. Nothing
as well as this circularmovementcould suggestthe profound
futilityof Magwitch'sdestiny.
But to bringthis discussionto a fittingclose we must turn
brieflyto whatis perhapsthe mostbeautifulinstanceofthe use
of repetitionin the entirenovel. The story ends, we recall,
withPip and Estella, aftertheirnumeroushardships,meeting
'The repetitionalso gives us a clue to the mysteryunderlyingthe plot. We
are never told on the firstoccasion that the two pounds come fromMagwitch,
but we are led stronglyto suspect it, not only because the messengerhimself
is a convict and questions Joe about the presence of gypsies,tramps, and other
vagrants on the marshes, but also because he possesses the stolen file. When,
therefore,on the second occasion at the Bargemen, another strangerturns up,
also acting as an agent, and makes Pip anothergiftof money,Dickens is skilfully
hintingat the true identityof the benefactor.
'Limitations of space forbidthe full developmentof this thesis,but the reader
can verifyit for himselfif he will note the followingpairs of scenes: interviews
between Pip and Biddy (in Chapter 17 and again after Mrs. Gargery'sfuneral);
meetingsbetween Joe and Pip in London (Chapters 27 and 57); Pip's visits to
Wemmick's" castle" (Chapters 25 and 37); dinnersat Jagger'shome (Chapters
26 and 48); Pip's journeys fromLondon to Miss Havisham's (Chapters 2,9 and
49). In each of these pairs thereis a strikingchange in Pip's characteror situation
fromthe earlier scene to the later.

on the formersite of Miss Havisham's vanishedhouse withthe
moon risingand the mist quietlysettlingaroundthem. If the
reader asks why he is moved by this scene he will discover
that its forcederivesnot solely fromitself,but dependsupon
the incidentbeingcomparedwithearlierincidentsof a similar
character. For Pip and Estella togetherhave been associated
with the ruinedgarden before. In Chapter 8, when Pip paid
his veryfirstvisitto Miss Havisham's house,he wanderedinto
the brewery-yard, and, lookingover the old gardenwall, saw
Estella walkingamongthe tangledweeds; a fewmomentslater
he saw her again, balancing herselfatop the old beer casks.
In Chapter11, whenhe returnedto Miss Havisham's a second
time, he strolledinto the garden himselfand there had his
fightwithHerbert. In these early chapters,then,the garden
was definitely associatedwiththe childhoodof Pip and Estella
and the firstawakeningof the former'sinfatuation.When next
it appeared,in Chapter29, the novel was almostat its half-way
point, and many changes had come about. Pip and Estella
wanderedinto the gardentogetherand recalledold times: she
confessedto having seen him fightwith Herbert and he re-
mindedher of how she walkedatop the casks. These incidents
had now acquired considerablepoignancy,forthoughthe set-
ting had remainedunchanged,the principal actors were no
longer what they were: Estella had growninto a beautiful
young woman and Pip into a youngman with a new fortune
and bright romantic dreams. But both were destined for
disappointment, and when,at the end ofthe novel,even greater
changes having come about, they meet in the garden for the
thirdtime,youth and the freshnessof Estella's beauty have
fled, and for both who have had their share of sorrowthe
" poor dreams" have " all gone by . . . all gone by." Thus,
throughthe repetitionwithvariationof a singlesituation-the
meetingof Pip and Estella in Miss Havisham's old ruined
garden-at strategicpointsin the story,Dickens has been able
strikinglyto punctuate the three great Stages of his pro-
tagonists' lives. The repetitionis not obtrusiveenough to
appear mechanical,but it remainsfirmenough in the back-
groundto definethe significant variations.6
6 It is worthnotingthat mists are also an importantfactorin the effectiveness

Whether or not Great Expectations is Dickens's "best"
novel will probably always remain an open question. The
fundamentally miscellaneouscharacterof Dickens's art makes
personalpreferencea difficult arbiterto challenge-if it does
not make preferenceitselfsomewhat impossible. Great Ex-
pectationsobviouslylacks, or presentswith far less intensity,
a numberofqualitiesthatmade theearlierworksso memorable,
but in that novel,commensuratewithsubstantialityof charac-
ter, incident,and scope of meaning,Dickens attained to a
beauty of form,a shapelinessof design,that not only marks
the book as somewhatunique in his own canon, but places it
securelynear the level of a select groupof nineteenthcentury
English novels-Wuthering Heights, Henry Esmond, and
Middlemarch,to name only the firstthat come to mind-that
forthe same reasonhave becomeclassic.
Universityof Chicago
of the last scene. They, as well as the garden, appear in the novel at crucial
moments. At the very end of Stage One when Pip leaves the forgeon his first
excursioninto life, he tells us that " the light mists were solemnlyrising,as if to
show me the world." Here the risingmists representPip's awakening,the bright
lure and promiseof new experience. But when they appear again much later in
Stage Two afterMrs. Gargery'sfuneral-when Pip, now well along on his egotistic
course, is leaving the forgefor the second time-they have an entirelydifferent
message for the changed man: " Once more, the mists were rising as I walked
away . . . [and] they disclosed to me . . . that I. should not come back." They
unveil no attractivefuturenow; beyond them lies the vista of comingisolationand
despair. When the mistsrecur,therefore, at the end of the novel, they bringwith
them all the associationsthey have acquired on these two occasions-the suggestion
of innocencedispelled by costly experience,youthfulardor dampened,brighthope
shattered-to interweavewiththe gardenmotifand enrichimmeasurablythe closing
scene's inherentpathos and beauty.


Structural Pattern in The Novel

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Structural Patterns in Dickens's Great Expectations

Author(s): John H. Hagan, Jr.

This content downloaded from 116.203.216.97 on Wed, 20 Nov 2013 10:24:28 AM

By JOHN HI. HAGAN, JR.

It is evident at firstglance that Great Expectations falls

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Meanwhile,we must turn to the other strikingfeatureof

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