Great Expectations: A Synopsis Essay

The worst prisons are those we prepare for ourselves. To what extent do you agree? crash in the 19th Century niminy-piminy England, m any of the main characters in dandy Expectations are imprisoned either closely or metaphoric whollyy. Magwich is an actual captive of the position penal system, and is also a prisoner of his bear desire to revenge Compeyson and the caste system. take to the woods Havisham ad lash establish prisons for themselves come out of their bear fixations and obsessions. It could also be argued that office and Estella are both metaphoric exclusivelyy imprisoned by dangle Havisham and Magwitchs need to revenge.Although the description of Newgate is ghastly, and the powers of the prisons impose upon clear up and Estella are difficult to overcome- the insalubrious lite and psychological effects on Pip, Miss Havisham and Magwitch resultant of their self impose prisons are the worst prisons of all, because they are so illusive and deceptive, that the characters often dont know of their creative activity until the damage is done. Through his exposure to Satis put up and Estellas taunting malice, Pip becomes alert of his social inferiority, and thus sprouts the first seeds of discontented with his phratry.Like a distant barely alluring star, Pip is tantalised by Estellas wealth and beauty, and out of his exposure to her his all consuming obsession with becoming a gentelman emerges. Ironically, when this idea first emerged, Pip in truth had very little understanding of what a gentleman was. Although he cannot articulate whether he has this desire to spite her or to accession her over, this fervent urge dictates the direction of his life. He becomes imprisoned into a superficial and sign up be. cf that a gentleman is mortal with wealth, status and learning, and will go to any lengths to achieve this aim, albeit rejecting Joe and Biddy. Pip gains his great expectations frorn Magwitch, and although he was metaphorically imprisoned by Magwitchs exploitation of him to revenge the sieve system- Pip had already begun to laud the false set of gentilify. Pip could thrust used Magwitchs money to become a phallus of the upper class, but quiesce entertain qualities of kindness and compassion (like Herbert. Instead, Pip becomes locked into the orb of lavish expenditure, greed and corruption. scorn his unhappiness, shown clear the Finch Club there was a snappy fiction that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a keleton of trueness that we never did, it takes him many an(prenominal) years and trials to complimentary himself from this elusive self imposed prison. Despite the guilt that he feels, he still manages to Justify his treatment of Joe because the prison he has take a shitd for himself is so difficult to break out of.Miss Havisham is the epitome of the devastating consequences of creating ones own prison. After being swindled and left at the alter, Miss Havisham is so emotionally u ndone that she creates her own virtual and rnetaphorical prison. She frontier herself to her mansion, which had a great many iron confines bars to it? and tells Pip that she had never seen the sunlight since you were born. But she also confines her and peak her purely as an instrument to dally havoc in the hearts of men.Miss Havisham creates her own prison to revenge all males, and this prison envelops her existence. So consumed by hatred, Miss Havishams heart begins to decay, as is emblematic in her surroundings covered in dust and mould and dropping to peices, as closely as her spider infested shitty wedding cake. Like Pip, it takes Miss Havisham many yearsand much suffering to understand that she was actually imprisoned. The urning point for her came when she realised that Estella could not devotee her because l stole her heart outside(a) and put ice in its place. Pip acknowledges that Miss Havishams internment of Estella was a greivous thing but recognised that her ow n seclusion from the world and from the healing influcences to her head teacher and broken heart were infinitely worse. Conversly, Magwitch is a prisoner of the penal system. Although he pull a crime that saw him hardened in a Jail, Magwitch did not create this prison because he was forced into chains by the authorities, and was basically forced to present rime in order to survive.His handcuffs was not a conscious choice, as was Pip and Miss Havishams, and unlike the others, Magwitch was well aware of this imprisonment. Despite his loss of liberty and years immersed in sub-human conditions, his mental imprisonment in the need to revenge Compeyson and class system, which he creates for himself, has the most damaging effect on his life. After escaping from the prison ship, Magwitch could have been free had it not been for his revenge upon Compeyson. Because of these acitons, Magwitch finds himself over again imprisoned and sent for life to Australia.Again, it was his voluntar y imprisonment that caused the most damage. Magwitch spends most of his cadence in Australia working to convert Pip into a gentleman to revenge the class system, instead of Just forgetting his past and sorrowful on with his life. He even goes so far as to come keep going to Englas to see my gentleman, and is consequently sentenced to decease for returning. Through the stories of Pip, Miss Havisham and Magwitch, Dickens is clearly expressing that the worst prisons are those we create for ourselves, as their damage is subtle to the victim who whitethorn be unaware of their existence.