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Deep Reading & Appreciation of the Opening to Great Expectations (Patreon)

Published:
2021-12-03 15:16:43
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

The beginning to any great novel contains the key to unlocking the whole book.

Great Expectations opens on the misty marshes, with our protagonist ruminating upon the letters on his parents' gravestones. There Pip comes face-to-face with the convict who turns his world, literally and metaphorically, upside down.  

In this video, we will conduct a deep-analysis and critical appreciation of the first chapter. 

We're discussing Darwinian readings of the novel, the popularity of orphan literature, the exploitation of humans as "things", distorted fairytales, identity, psychologically complex characterisation, and much more.

Please have your copy of Great Expectations open at the first chapter so we can dive in together.

Video Timestamps:

  • 0:00 how to approach the beginning of a novel
  • 3:00 the publication history of Great Expectations
  • 3:30 deep reading the opening
  • 4:40 round vs flat characters
  • 5:50 naming, self-naming, and “Pip”
  • 7:00 orphan literature in the 19th Century
  • 10:00 birth, death, identity
  • 11:00 reading the novel through a Darwinian lens
  • 12:56 exploitation of human as “thing”
  • 15:00 guilt in Great Expectations
  • 16:00 the poetics of Dickens’ openings
  • 18:00 the primitive vs the “civilised”
  • 19:00 Great Expectations as distorted fairy tale
  • 20:00 Pip meeting the convict on the marshes
  • 22:22 Dickens’ depictions of criminals

Some questions to consider

1) How does the opening to Great Expectations compare with your favourite openings to other works of literature? Can you compare what the authors are doing similarly/differently?

2) If you had to pick one aspect of the first chapter to put under a microscope, what would it be? And what would you find?

Happy reading, everybody!

Files

Previews only

Deep Reading & Appreciation of the Opening to Great Expectations

0:00 how to approach the beginning of a novel 3:00 the publication history of GE 3:30 deep reading the opening 4:40 round vs flat characters 5:50 naming, self-naming, and “Pip” 7:00 orphan literature in the 19th Century 10:00 birth, death, identity 11:00 reading GE through a Darwinian lens 12:56 exploitation of human as “thing” 15:00 guilt in GE 16:00 the poetics of Dickens’ openings 18:00 the primitive vs the “civilised” 19:00 GE as distorted fairy tale 20:00 Pip meeting the convict on the marshes 22:22 Dickens’ depictions of criminals

Comments

Jonathon Glover

I’ve decided to make ‘Great Expectations’ my audiobook for my commute this month. I really enjoyed the opening as it established a really relatable young protagonist, with a very engaging Gothic atmosphere that I instantly vibes with. The lecture was a great entry point into the text and I’m excited about being able to hit the lectures while reading along the next couple of weeks. That has me finishing ‘War and Peace’ with the book club, doing a serial read of ‘Middlemarch’ and now ‘Great Expectations’, all while being able to engage with these wonderful guided lectures. I feel grateful for these literary gifts and the book club definitely enhances the experience of what I am gaining from these great texts. See you at Chapter 20 👍

Barbara Lucrezia Paganelli

Meanwhile. I've only read the first part. My favorite characters are: Miss Havisham (she's so like myself... except that I am married, but reclused and lost as she is); Biddy ( because instead of being like Miss Havisham I would like to be like her); and Joe (how can be possible not to love him?)

Barbara Lucrezia Paganelli

"who gave up trying to get a living" and "a belief I religiously entertained that they had all been born on their back with their hands in their trouser.pocket". A terrible Protestant principle used to support free-market theory: if you're poor, it's your own fault. And one of the historical consequences of the "guilt" of poverty—namely, laziness, lying on your back with your hands in your pockets—is one of the reasons that led to the deaths of two million (there's no consensus on the figures) Irish people. Religiously entertained.

Anonymous

I just signed up for your course after reading Joseph Campbell’s ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces.’ I’d never read Great Expectations but thought what better place to start in this deep drink from the fountain of literature than with Mr. Dickens. In this opening, the clear mythological component of the orphan on a hero’s journey was apparent after reading Campbell’s work. The description of Pip naming himself not only due to the beginning of his identity but also due to the struggle of pronunciation, greatly reminded me of my own brother in childhood; his name is Christopher, and it was ever so difficult for him to pronounce, so there was a litany of nicknames. In this case, Pip’s is unique as it is his own. I enjoyed the mood of this opening as almost a gothic nightmare that had a simultaneous charming effect due to Pip’s perspective. His personality and plight immediately attach the reader to him in this monstrous marsh. Lastly, the description of the dead infant children, “Born on their backs with their hands in their trouser-pockets, and had never taken them out,” struck me as a unique description of a child death indicative of the economic plight of society in this time; the wealth inequities are apparent enough that a child is identifying other dead child siblings as those “who gave up trying to get a living, exceedingly early in that universal struggle.” Indeed, it is a sad reality likely reflected in Dickens own life, working in the shoe blacking factory while his father was imprisoned for debt.

hardcoreliterature
>>91901344

Hi Brandon! Welcome to the club :) We’re so happy to have you here reading with us. Joseph Campbell’s ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’ is remarkable, isn’t it? Reading Campbell over the years has taught me so much. In recent times, he has even helped me understand James Joyce’s notoriously dense Finnegans Wake. A remarkable man! That’s interesting to hear that your brother struggled with pronunciation. My little brother was exactly the same. He struggled with his name and needed focused lessons. For the longest time, he called me ‘Benj’m’, omitting the second syllable of my name. Fantastic points about the mood of the opening being like a gothic nightmare and the infant mortality as sad fallout from the economic plight! Dickens’ social purpose really comes through in the latter. No wonder so many readers were affected by his stories!