Abstract

This thesis examines the interplay between Romantic and Victorian discourses in Great Expectations. At the heart of my argument is the contention that Pip has a Romantic childhood and steadily grows into a Victorian adult. The work of some critics suggests that Dickens was not able to reconcile the presence of Romantic and Victorian values in his text, These critics argue that in order to transform Pip into a respectable adult, committed to Victorian values of duty, forgiveness, social harmony, and steady employment, the text repudiates much of what it initially endorses about Pip the child, In defence of Dickens' portrayal, I situate Pip's progress in relation to several texts which impinge upon the novel, either directly or indirectly, Chief among these texts is Frankenstein; I propose that, like Frankenstein, Dickens' novel argues that the egotistical resentment of childhood must be relinquished in order to make possible a healthy adulthood, In this way, Pip may be seen not to repudiate the Romanticism of his youth, but merely grow out of it, However, I also suggest that Pip's Victorian values disguise a strategy by which he subverts the authority of those who have manipulated him.