Rory's Book List: Great Expectations
“What real love is. It is blind devotion, unquestioning self-humiliation, utter submission, trust and belief against yourself and against the whole world, giving up your whole heart and soul to the smiter.” (page 276)
Great Expectations
At the start of the tale, Philip “Pip” Pirrip, is visiting his parents at the graveyard. Since being orphaned, his sister and her husband, Joe, have cared for him. A strange man approaches Pip at the graveyard and threatens him. It turns out that this man is a runaway convict. Pip agrees to help the convict but eventually, the man is captured, both of them remember the encounter for a long time.
“I [Pip] had a taste for reading, and read regularly so many hours a day.” (page 358)
Joe is a blacksmith and as soon as Pip is old enough he begins working in the smith. Pip is content until a letter from Miss Havisham demands the boy to visit her uptown. Miss Havisham is a sad and lonely old lady living in an abandoned house, once a brewery. She was once rich and to be married until love betrayed her. Miss Havisham’s only companion is her adopted daughter, Estella. The beautiful, cold-hearted and charming Estella had learnt that men were evil and rotten.
“That girl’s hard and haughty and capricious to the last degree and has been brought up by Miss Havisham to wreak revenge on all the male sex” (page 205)
“I [Miss Havisham] stole her heart away and put ice in its place” (page 457)
As soon as Pip sees Estella his heart swells and he falls deeply in love with her. However, Estella bullies and ridicules him for his common ways. As Pip visits Miss Havisham each week he falls deeper in love with Estella and the aura of the upper class. After a few years, Mr Jaggers approaches Pip and informs him that someone has funded his great expectations.
“I love – I adore – Estella.” (page 284)
“In a word, and a young fellow of great expectation” (page 161)
Pip starts to hate being a blacksmith and dreams about becoming a gentleman. Going to Miss Havisham each week fuels the distaste for his common life and gives him an ever-so-tiny taste of wealth. He loves his caregiver, Joe but disassociates with him because of his stature. His distaste for his common background derives from Estella’s taunts.
“I want to be a gentleman on her account” (page 150)
“Do you want to be a gentleman, to spite her or to gain her over?” (page 151)
“I felt more than ever dissatisfied with my home and with my trade and with everything; and that was all I took by that motion” (page 136)
“O dear good faithful tender Joe, I feel the loving tremble of your hand upon my arm, as solemnly this day as if it had been the rustle of an angel's wing!” (page 165)
Pip leaves his hometown to hopefully win over Estella’s heart. Reality hits him hard as he matures into a young man. He finds the horrible truths in life and unravels past mysteries. He finds out why Miss Havisham always wears the same bridal dress and why she keeps the clock at twenty-nine. Who the mystery convict was and how he got a hold of his great expectations. All the connections and twists in this novel make it a real page-turner.
“I knew to my sorrow, often and often, if not always, that I loved her against reasons, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against discouragement that could be.” (page 268)
Book Reference in Gilmore Girls
In season 1, episode 2: “The Lorelais’ First Day At Chilton”, Great Expectations is mentioned in Rory’s first English lesson at Chilton. The teacher informs the students that Russian literature was heavily influenced by English and French literature, especially Dickens.
Miss Havisham and Estella’s relationship is referenced in Season 6, episode 12: “Just like Gwen and Gavin.” Rory splits up with her current boyfriend. The boyfriend believes they’re on a break whilst Rory thinks they're just on a break. Rory’s boyfriend tries to win her back after cheating on Rory with another girl. Rory doesn't know if she should take him back or not so Lorelai writes a letter to Rory to share her advice. Lorelai states that she would instruct Rory to be as cold-hearted as Estella, however, she tells her to follow her heart instead.
“... A grievous thing in taking an impressionable child to mould into the form that her [Miss Havisham’s] wild resentment, spurned affection, and wounded pride, found vengeance in” (page 456)
Although Miss Havisham and Lorlie have had different kinds of heartbreaks, they are both very familiar with it. It’s every parent's responsibility to protect their child from external threats. Miss Havisham – and to some extent, Lorlie – believes that men are the cause of trouble. They seem to share a lot of qualities and ideas, however, there's a big aspect that differentiates them. Miss Havisham appears to hate or fear love whilst Lorlie has always embraced it. This is reflected in their daughter as one is a scornful and unhappy divorceé, who’s never experienced true love; another who’s fallen in and out of love and lived through the ups and downs.
“It is well known that your family feelings are gradually undermining you to the extent of making one of your legs shorter than the other ... It's all very true! It's a weakness to be so affectionate, but I can't help it” (page 100)
Great Expectations was published from 1860 to 1861 in instalments. It quickly became popular with the public, only getting a few nasty remarks. The genre of Great Expectations is a bildungsroman, roughly translated into a coming of age. This literary genre usually includes a moral the protagonist must overcome as they age. Bildungsromane focuses on growth within a person or persons. Honestly, I didn’t quite notice that it was a Bildungsroman because I was so entrapped in the story, unlike other novels such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower or Little Women. Great Expectations is a great read if you want to get lost in a tale and have plenty to think about afterwards.
