1. With the emphasis on Dickens’ Great Expectations and with wider reference to Kincaid’s Lucy, compare and contrast the writer’s intentions and achievements arising from their presentation of women.
Throughout ‘Great expectations’ by Charles Dickens and Jamaica Kincaid’s ‘Lucy’, both authors seem to present women intentionally to relate to the idea of patriarchy (a system or society governed by men) and how independence or obedience links to their social class’s expectations. Dickens does this by upholding the Victorian ideology of gender, which in ‘Great Expectations’ addressed women as either an angel in the house- the ideal wife, obedient, devoted and submissive to their husband or alternatively, the whore. Independent with the desire for more power than their social class expectations allows, very anti-men. Being an angel in the house was expected of all women in the Victorian era, they had a limited amount of power, enough to be the ideal wife who would be generally rewarded, represented by Biddy. However those women whom abused their power and went against all expectations of social class, the whores, were physically punished by Dickens but given a chance of redemption, evidence of this is shown by Estella and Miss Havisham. Kincaid follows the same idea as Dickens to a certain degree in ‘Lucy’. She focuses on the character of Lucy and her journey to independence, constantly trying to prove her power to break free from her homeland and mother, she manages to achieve freedom but in doing so she also ends up isolated. As Lucy does have so many traits of being the typical Victorian whore the title is questioned by readers. She only acts out this way to allow her to figure out where she belongs in the world but is not physically punished like the whores in ‘Great Expectations’ but left unhappy.
In ‘Great Expectations’ Dickens uses Estella’s power, suffering and redemption to emphasise not only the typical Victorian ideology of the whore, but that if anyone was to do more than what your social standings allowed you were physically punished until accepting the social expectations. Estella who is the daughter of Magwitch, a convict ranking in the lowest class of society, was raised by Miss Havisham, of the upper class. She was used as a weapon against all men causing her to be incapable of love, and instead has men fall in love with her so she can break hearts. ‘I have no softness there, no—sympathy—nonsense’ this quote is an example of Estella’s cold and cynical views on love and seems to carry no sense of unhappiness; the phrase ‘nonsense’ gives the readers the idea that she cannot care less about the idea of love. ‘Softness’ denotes something delicate and gentle; it almost has a maternal sense. The lack of ‘softness’ make the readers understand that she is not the typical Victorian expectation. Alternatively ‘softness’ connotes vulnerability, something Estella does not have. The dashes infer a tone change with Estella as she says the word ‘sympathy’ this creates a feeling of hesitation, emphasising her disgust at emotions. As the creation of the upper class Miss Havisham, and essentially being a whore as Estella goes against the very idea of angel in the house, Dickens metaphorically punishes her using the consequences of her actions to do so. An example of this is when she returns to Satis house after her husband, Drummle, makes her life miserable for many years by beating her ‘I have been bent and broken, but—I hope—into better shape’. Estella’s life could relate back to Maria Beadnell, whom Dickens fell in love with only to be heartbroken as she returned from schooling abroad uninterested. Much like Pip, Dickens never stopped loving Maria and so Estella is not destroyed completely and is given the chance of redemption after all her suffering. The experience of such misery causes Estella to finally realise to trust her inner feelings and become her own woman, but within the rules of the social class. The words ‘Bent and broken’ refers to the abuse she received from her husband but it can also connote that she has been mentally beaten as she endured her unhappiness for so long. Once again the dashes around ‘I hope’ indicate a tone change, telling the readers her genuine longing to be happy, and her understanding that to achieve happiness is to follow the rules of social class, being an angel in the house. ‘Shape’ however connotes a sense of entrapment, inferring that Estella understands she must not stray from her social expectations and obey the Victorian sentiment of angel in the house to be successful. From a certain angle the protagonist in ‘Lucy’ also suffers in the same way. Lucy seeks independence from a colonised lifestyle and her mother. Like Estella, Lucy embarks on (sexual) relationships as a way to prove she has power and authority. For example as she talk about a boy, Tanner, whom she lost her virginity to, he realises she was a virgin when he sees blood and feels a sense of triumph to which she downplays by telling him it was just her period. She then says ‘I could not give him such a hold over me’. ‘Could not’ creates a sense of defiance. ‘Hold over me’ infers that if she told Tanner she was a virgin then he would have some sort of power over her, the idea that she was his was not something she was willing to put in his head. However, she suffers as these sexual relationships leave her emotionally detached and unhappy. This is shown at the end of the novel when she writes down in her journal ‘I wish I could love someone so much that I would die from it’. This sentence creates sympathy from the readers as even though she has become her own woman (much like Estella) Lucy becomes isolated.
Furthermore, Dickens’ intention on presenting Miss Havisham as a whore in the Victorian ideology is shown by Pip’s descriptions of what she is wearing. ‘She was dressed in rich materials – satins, and lace, and silk – all of white.’ At first glance the word ‘White’ has general connotations of purity, and innocence, something angelic-like. Also ‘white’ could denote that Miss Havisham seems to be the Victorian ideal angel in the house. Dickens uses the polysyndetion when describing the different fabrics ‘Satins, and lace, and silk’ to shows her eternal wealth and ranking of social class. The fabrics are used to create a perfect image of a housewife. Then again, the list could also be interpreted by others to show Pips child-like awe at such divine materials, the repetition of ‘and,’ infers that each fabric is just as delicate and rich as the other ones. However, Pip then goes onto say that everything he saw that ‘ought to be white, had been white a long time ago’ and it was ‘faded and yellow’. I believe Dickens uses ‘ought’ to have the readers understand that she wanted to be the ideal wife and mother, which follows the idea of angel, putting forth good influences on husband and children but Estella is proof she is not. On a wider scale, Dickens could be inferring that all Victorian women are born to become the ideal woman but it is their experiences and choices that lead them astray. Miss Havisham is no longer an angel and has lost the chance to be as Pip says her clothing was white a ‘long time ago’, reiterating the feeling of longing and sympathy which reflects on Dickens relationship with his mother. His mother had no understanding of Dickens’ needs or feelings, and sent him to work in a factory aged 12, after the horrific experience she was willing to put him back to earn income, traumatising Dickens [David Cody, Associate Professor of English, Hartwick College]. As her dress has actually turned ‘yellow’ it connotes a sense of rotting and slightly unnatural. It signifies Miss Havisham’s sickly and horrid persona. ‘Faded’ infers that she has disappeared from her society. In ‘Lucy’ Mariah is presented in a similar way. Kincaid also uses the word yellow to describe Mariah, ‘pale yellow skin and yellow hair’. ‘Yellow’ could represent the same thing, rotting and unnatural, furthermore it can also connote the sun, warm and bright. However, for the protagonist Lucy ‘yellow’ is not a pleasant colour. It represents the Daffodil, which for Lucy, is a symbol of colonisation. This relates to Kincaid’s life as where she was raised, Antigua, was ruled and colonised by the British. Much like Havisham, Mariah is presented as the perfect upper-class woman by the protagonist’s description, but with a closer look they both represent the entrapment of upper-class.
Dickens uses Biddy’s actions, personalities and social ranking to portray the perfect angel in the house and rewards. For example Biddy is summed up in ‘Great Expectations’ as poor, simple, kind-hearted, obedient and just the complete opposite of Estella. As Pip says ‘she managed our whole domestic life, and wonderfully too’. ‘Managed’ suggested that biddy has full control and power. It also suggests her strength ‘Our’ infers that not only does she take care of herself, but she takes care of Pip and his family also. It also connotes a sense of togetherness, like a family. The fact that she enjoys running a home and looking after a family and does it ‘wonderfully’ proves Biddy’s status as the Victorian angel in the house. Biddy shows that wealth and class are less important than affection and loyalty. Due to Biddy’s status as angel in the house she is rewarded by marrying Joe and enjoying a happy and simple life. However, this is a slight shock for Pip as after his ordeal with the upper class he intended to marry Biddy. Marrying Joe is a reward as he is much like Biddy, kind, simple and also poor. He could be interpreted as a mother figure to Pip. She also has a child, whom she loves and cherishes much like any other good housewife. Biddy is given a happy life with a good family which infers that Dickens is trying to say if you do what your social rank expects you are rewarded with happiness. Compared to Mariah in ‘Lucy’ who is generally the one who comes to mind when thinking about obedient, kind-hearted, and the ideal wife however she is not reward with happiness. Her husband cheats on her and she is left vulnerable, Lucy explains saying that Mariah had no idea he was no longer in love with her and ‘it was not the sort of thing she could imagine’. ‘Could’ connotes that she has a choice, but when Lucy says it as not the ‘sort of thing’ it shows that Mariah is expected a long, full happy life. Kincaid could potentially be saying that in reality, whether you are poor or wealthy or follow your social expectations or not, not everybody is rewarded.
In conclusion Dickens presents women, following the Victorian ideology of gender (angel vs. whore), with the intentions of expressing that social class expectations must be followed for happiness. The typical angel in the house was rewarded, Biddy, and the whore was punished, Estella and Havisham. Kincaid also shows that modern ages have changes since Victorian times and trying to exceed your social standing can result in unhappiness but also rewards, shown with Lucy. Whereas obeying the rules and expectations of your social class can result in pain.