Ovidius University Constana

Faculty of Letters
Department of Foreign Languages and
Literatures and Communication

Charles Dickenss Great Expectations

Being a true gentleman

Student:
Doracu Dilara

Professors:
Prof. Dr. Ciugureanu Adina
Lect. Dr. Stanca Nicoleta

Constana
2015

Charles Dickenss
Great Expectations
According to Herbert Pockets father, A true gentleman in manner must be a true
gentleman at heart. How does Chapter 57 in Dickenss Great Expectations develop this
idea?

Being a true gentleman

Written in 1860, the story of Charles Dickenss Great Expectation is set in the early part
of 1800s. The period mostly emphasized values as respectability, sense of public duty or
integrity, all parts of the definition of a gentleman.
Being a true gentleman is, actually, one of the main themes of the novel. Dickens put
the main character, Philip Pirrip, better known as Pip, in the situation of self-developing
from a low statute to the (so-considered) high statute of a gentleman. This development is
realized in the book in two steps: at first, Pip becomes a gentleman in exterior. Only later, his
heart becomes one of a gentlemans too.
Initially, the definition of a gentleman is associated, by the young Pip, with wealth.
Adopted by an anonymous benefactor who gave him money in order to put him above work,
Pip started to taste the experience of a fine man. After studying with Pocket, Pip acquired
knowledge of fiction, essays, poetry, philosophy in English and even of French and even a
little Latin. He has acquired "a taste for reading," which will be an asset to him for the rest of
his life. He could recognize names like Homer and Socrates, Shakespeare and Milton. In fact,
he was probably as well "educated" as a lot of the spoiled rich boys who went through Eton
and Oxford. The mark of an educated man is that he is adept at reading, speaking, and writing.
Even though he was taught to act like a member of the high-class, money bore him away of
his values. He let himself absorbed in a life style that could not be defined as one of a
gentlemans. He became selfish, arrogant, and irresponsible once in London. He turns his
back on Joe, who is his only relative. He considers himself superior to his old friend and is
ashamed of his poor manners. The fact that he was well-dressed and able to keep am
intellectual conversation made him a gentleman in appearance but his heart lowered his
potential.
By quoting his father, Herbert Pocket says that "no man who was not a true gentleman at
heart ever was, since the world began, a true gentleman in manner, and manage to clarify the
definition of the true gentleman. Pips development as a real gentleman begins only after he
discovers the identity of his benefactor. Knowing that the man who brought him in the highclass is Magwitch - a convict with little education - , made Pip see through the superficial
cover of the fine society. The real transformation begins when his kindness and compassion
interfuse with all his new assemblage of knowledge and manners and all this is materialized in
Chapter 57.
1

In Chapter 57, Pip realizes that he is now completely alone and that he has a heap of
debts, and no money. He is also arrested for debt and nearly carted away to prison; he is
spared only because of his extreme ill health. In these circumstances, being a real gentleman
is a real challenge but Pip seems to have now all the qualities to pretend this title. He
reestablished his values and understood the difference between being a fine man and just a
rich man. After spending time with so many people of the high-class in London, he realized
that one of the most valuable man in his life is Joe.
After going in and out of deliriums, Pip finally emerges and he finds himself with Joe. He
wishes Joe would be angry with him for the way he treated him, but Joe tells him they will
always be friends. Joe tells Pip that they received a letter about his being ill, and Biddy had
urged him to go to London. She had taught Joe to write, and he has kept her updated. This
made Pip conscious of his foul play towards Joe and brought him back to the reality that
money managed to blur. Even the fact that Pip is now aware of his own unfairness makes him
approach the status that he was so willing to get. Now, when all the money are gone and the
society is not so cheerful to him as it was, he is probably more of a gentleman than many rich
people.
So what are the criteria of being a gentleman? As child, Pip felt compassion for the
convict; he saw the humanity in the convict; as a gentleman with expectations, he is a snob
and continually judges by the external criteria of status and wealth. In London, where Pip
lives out society'sand his ownconcept of a gentleman, he leads a directionless, futile life; he
has no intellectual, cultural, or spiritual values and no meaningful purpose. Pips being a
gentleman seems to consist of having good table manners, acquiring an upper class accent,
wearing the right clothes, and going into debt. He joins the Finches of the Grove, a group of
empty "gentlemen" whose only activity and purpose seems to be to spend money foolishly.
Drummle - who is a gentleman because of his family and wealth, is not only a member of the
Finches but is accepted in fashionable society, despite his stupidity, ignorance, and brutality.
Learning the identity of his benefactor and the hard work he does to provide him money,
Pip starts to change, moved by the feeling of gratefulness. When he finds himself poor again
and alone, he gets conscious of the real values that a gentleman should have and he is really
becoming more deserving of this status.
The two phases of his development lead to the true gentleman that Herberts father was
talking about, because being rich and educated is not enough if the heart is not aware of the
importance of love and respect towards people.
Dickens contrasts the traditional concept of a gentleman as a man of wealth, status, and
leisure with the gentleman as a man of moral integrity. He uses the portrayal of the gentleman
to show one more of society's faulty and destructive values. The destructive potential of
wealth in Pip's society is shown by his emotional and moral deterioration in becoming a
gentleman.

Bibliography

Melani, Lilia. Pip's expectations. Discussion of Great

Expectations (May 7, 2002). <http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/>

Great Expectations Themes. Great Expectations (August 16,

2009). < http://www.enotes.com/topics/great-expectations/themes>

Great Expectations. Literature Study Guide (September 16, 2012)

<http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/greatex>