Charles Dickens is known as one of the greatest novelists from the Victorian Era, who has written many famous works including Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and much more. Great Expectations narrates the life story of Pip, a blacksmith's apprentice in a village, from his childhood to adulthood. His visits to Miss Havisham, a wealthy lady, make him aspire to become a gentleman of high class when he grows up, just like her. After discovering that Pip's secret benefactor is a convict he helped when he was a child, Pip makes a failed attempt to help the convict escape from authorities. Although the plan fails, Pip learns much from his previous experiences and later marries Estella. Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens, narrates the story of a young boy, Oliver, who gets sent to an abusive workhouse after both his parents’ death. After running away from his cruel owner, Oliver is kidnapped by Fagin and his criminal gang, who attempt to teach him to pickpocket and steal. When Mr. Brownlow and the Maylies save Oliver, the party works together to discover the truth behind Oliver’s identity: Monks, a member of Fagin’s gang and Oliver’s half-brother, tries to make Oliver a criminal in order to steal his part of an inheritance. David Copperfield tells of the life of a fatherless child, David, narrated by his grown, older self. After running away from his abusive stepfather, David is helped by his Aunt Betsey, who gives him a good education and supports him in multiple ways. David later becomes an author and after figuring that he and Dora weren’t suitable, marries Agnes Wickfield, the Victorian woman-figure, and lives a full life with her.
Many women in Dickens’s novels take part in a motherly, supportive, and loving role which emphasizes their virtue and appreciation. In Great Expectations, such as Biddy, or even Clara, although a minor character, have several characteristics that show them to be the supportive, virtuous, and idealistic Victorian wife. For instance, Biddy is shown as a kind, selfless, and supportive young woman who is extremely devoted to her family members and her later husband, Joe. Clara is a beautiful and gentle young woman who is extremely devoted to her father and her household. In Oliver Twist, characters including Rose Maylie, Mrs. Maylie, and Nancy are characterized to be virtuous and loyal women who are extremely devoted. Rose and Mrs. Maylie are both kind and gentle women who support and help Oliver, and are willing to do anything for anyone else’s happiness. Nancy, although loyal to Fagin’s criminal gang who raised her, still shows virtue and morals, especially regarding Oliver’s kidnap: “Keep back the dog, Bill!” cried Nancy, springing before the door, and closing it. “Keep back the dog; he’ll tear the boy to pieces.” (Dickens 16). In David Copperfield, both Agnes Wickfield, David’s second wife, and Annie Strong, are female characters who have strong virtues, are loyal, and are the idealistic Victorian wife. Annie Strong stays loyal to her husband, despite the rumors that she was having affairs with another man. Agnes is a kind, virtuous, and hard-working wife to David Copperfield who supports him before and after their marriage. The strength and virtues of certain kind and morally rightful female characters in highlighted throughout many of Dicken’s novels.
In the three novels, several female characters are often depicted with more economic and social power, and no longer in the position of being oppressed or controlled by men. In Great Expectations, characters such as Mrs. Joe Gargery and Miss Havisham hold certain power over men or society. For instance, although Mrs. Joe is cruel and abusive to Pip and Joe, she is mainly in control of the household, manages the household’s finances, and makes decisions in their daily life: “Having at that time to find out for myself what the expression meant, and knowing her to have a hard and heavy hand.” (Dickens 1). Miss Havisham is a wealthy woman who holds extreme economic and social power, even though she is always tramatized by past occurrences. In Oliver Twist, Mrs. Corney, the matron of the workhouse, holds extreme power over the poor orphans and people who work in the workhouse, and especially over her husband, Mr. Bumble: “The matter of fact, is, that the matron was in no way overpowered by Mr. Bumble’s scowl, but, on the contrary, treated it with great disdain, and even raised a laugh thereat, which sounded as though it were genuine.” (Dickens 37). Similarly, Mrs. Sowerberry seems to dislike everything her husband likes or has an interest in, and she often manipulates him into obeying her orders and sharing the same opinions with her. In David Copperfield, Aunt Betsey is the main female character who is able to hold a certain amount of power in society. Her independence and ability to make financial decisions by herself show just how economically and socially powerful she is in the society of her time period. Several particular female characters have a certain amount of economic and social power.
In Dickens’s novels, the author also characterizes several female characters as being more naive and weak than others. In Great Expectations, although she is cold-hearted and wary of her relationships, Estella is later seen to be manipulated by her adopted mother, Miss Havisham, and deceived by Bentley Drummle. When Miss Havisham confesses to Pip about how she raises Estella to turn against all of the male sex, including Pip himself, Estella tells Pip: “I don’t care for what you say at all. I have tried to warn you of this; now, have I not? It is in the nature formed within me. I make a great difference between you and all other people when I say so much. I can do no more.” (Dickens 44). In Oliver Twist, Agnes Fleming, Oliver’s deceased mother, is depicted as naive and weak compared to others. Although she had both inner beauty and out beauty, she was also said to be “weak and erring”: “But, if the spirits of the Dead ever come back to earth, to visit spots hallowed by the love—the love beyond the grave—of those whom they knew in life, I believe that the shade of Agnes sometimes hovers round that solemn nook. I believe it none the less because that nook is in a Church, and she was weak and erring.” (Dickens 53). In David Copperfield, Clara Copperfield and Dora Spenlow both depict women figures who are comparatively frail in society. Clara Copperfield, despite being kind and beautiful, is gullible and weak especially after she marries Mr. Murdstone, an abusive husband and step-father to David. Similarly, Dora Spenlow is so spoiled during youth by her father that she has no idea how to take care of the household after she is married to David. When David tries teaching and changing her for the better, Dora is distressed by his efforts, and later falls deadly ill, supposedly because of her stress. Several women figures may be beautiful on both the outside and inside but aren’t realistic and strong enough to face the hard side of society.
In Charles Dickens’s novels including Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, and David Copperfield, many different female roles are depicted and highlighted throughout the course of the main storyline. For instance, women like Rose Maylie, Agnes Wickfield, Mrs. Maylie, Biddy, Nancy, and Annie Strong are depicted to be virtuous, supportive, and selfless people. In several cases, several of these women’s virtues and motherly character also makes up for the lack of fatherly characters in men in the novels. Women like Aunt Betsey, Miss Havisham, Mrs. Joe Gargery, Mrs. Corney, and Mrs. Sowerberry hold both strong economic and social power, and in many cases, are much more powerful than some men. On the other hand, there are also female characters in Dickens’s stories who have both strong outer and inner beauty yet are also gullible, frail, and unrealistic, including Dora Spenlow, Clara Copperfield, and Agnes Fleming, who aren’t strong or realistic enough to face the darker side of society.
Works Cited
Dickens, Charles. “Great Expectations,” Gutenberg,
Dickens, Charles. “Oliver Twist”, Gutenberg,
Dickens, Charles. “David Copperfield”, Gutenberg,
コメント