Previous
Similes
Key Examples in Great Expectations
Book 2, Chapter 29
Explanation and Analysis—Doubles :
Many critics have noted that Great Expectations is filled with the motif of doubles: characters who mirror each other in a way that allows the reader to note similarity and difference easily. These symmetrical pairs act as foils for each other and for the developing aspects of Pip's character. Each pair also contains a strong element of irony, as the novel's commentary on class structure and good behavior plays out in relation to them.
Related Themes:
Book 2, Chapter 39
Explanation and Analysis—Magwitch, the Benefactor:
One of the most important situational ironies in a novel filled with irony is the true identity of Pip's benefactor. Provis, whom Pip originally encounters as Magwitch the terrifying criminal, is actually a generous and broadly upstanding person who devotes his labor to helping the boy succeed. Provis tells Pip at the climactic finale of the second volume that he has been his patron all along, only wishing to make up for his crimes and
Unlock with LitCharts A+“to know in secret that I was making a gentleman[.]"
Related Themes:
Book 3, Chapter 42
Explanation and Analysis—Doubles :
Many critics have noted that Great Expectations is filled with the motif of doubles: characters who mirror each other in a way that allows the reader to note similarity and difference easily. These symmetrical pairs act as foils for each other and for the developing aspects of Pip's character. Each pair also contains a strong element of irony, as the novel's commentary on class structure and good behavior plays out in relation to them.
Related Themes:
Book 3, Chapter 51
Explanation and Analysis—Estella's Parentage:
Estella Havisham's true parentage is an instance of emotionally intense situational irony in Great Expectations. Mr. Jaggers the lawyer explains in Chapter 51 that Provis is her father and her mother was another convict, and that nobody knew but himself. When he says these things to Pip, he couches the secret's gravity and his difficulty in keeping it in hilariously euphemistic and noncommittal lawyerly language:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Put the case that the child grew up, and was married for money. That the mother was still living. That the father was still living. That the mother and father unknown to one another, were dwelling within so many miles, furlongs, yards if you like, of one another. That the secret was still a secret, except that you had got wind of it. Put that last case to yourself very carefully.
Related Themes:
