『近 代 英 語 研 究 』 第23号(2007),pp.1-21

A Stylistic

Approach to Pip's Class-Consciousness in Great Expectations

Osamu

Imahayashi

Pip is a hero-narrator of Great Expectations (1860-61). orphaned at a very early stage, and brought up "by hand" by his dreadful

sister, the wife of the village blacksmith,

He is

Joe Gargery,

to

whom he is bound apprentice. Consequently he belongs to the working class, which is first evoked by Estella, a haughty young lady at Satis

House, with

whom

he falls in love, and he is suddenly

promised "great expectations" from a mysterious benefactor, so he decides to go up to London and turn himself into a gentleman. Pip with gentlemanly status in the metropolis considers Joe no longer to be his equal and becomes ashamed

of Joe's lack of cultivation

and his

vulgar verbal behaviour. After the death of Magwitch, his real benefactor, he is once again poor and becomes ill and is devotedly nursed back to health by Joe, which makes Pip realize his true worth again. Our chief concern Dickens makes a stylistic

in this paper is to consider how Charles choice to describe Pip's inner change in

class-consciousness.

1.

Introduction If one of the main literary

lies in Pip's upward to consider

mobility

themes of Great Expectations' to become a gentleman',

it is important

how Charles Dickens makes a stylistic choice todescribe

Pip's inner change

in class-consciousness.

this novel, Pip, the omniscient

At the very beginning

hero narrator,

the landscape

of the marsh country',

small bundle

of shivers"

nothing

(1860-61)

in which he is depicted as"the

as if he were an inanimate

to do with the genteel society: —1—

of

impressivelydescribes thing

and had

Osamu

(1)

Imahayashi

Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within, as the river wound, twenty miles of the sea . My first most vivid and broad impression of the identity of things, seems to me to have been gained on a memorable towards evening.

raw afternoon

At such a time I found out for certain, that

this bleak place overgrown

with nettles was the churchyard;

and that Philip Pirrip, late of this parish, and also Georgiana wife

of the

Alexander,

above,

were

Bartholomew,

dead

and

buried ; and

Abraham,

Tobias,

and

that Roger,

infant children of the aforesaid, were also dead and buried ; and that the dark flat wilderness intersected scattered

with

dykes

and

beyond

the churchyard,

mounds

and

gates,

with

cattle feeding on it, was the marshes ; and that the

low leaden line beyond, was the river ; and that the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing, was the sea ; and that the small bundle of shivers' growing and beginning In this

paper,

represent

I shall

to cry, was Pip. (3-4)5

try

Pip's upward

gentleman

to explore

mobility

by considering

contrasts

and

the

afraid of it all

Dickens's

from "a small

stylistic bundle

the role of Joe Gargery

social

and

cultural

methods

of shivers"

and Estella

background

in

to to a

as his

Victorian

England.

2.

Dialect

Suppression

Pip lives in a small the marsh

between

brought

up

husband

Joe Gargery,

working-class with

Joe.

standard

village

the mouth

"by hand"

and

However, English

by

near Rochester of the Thames

his

sister',

the blacksmith.

he is supposed from

in Kent,

lies on Pip is

lives

Therefore

to share

the beginning

to Pip's speech.

and

which

and the Medway.

the

her

he belongs substandard

of this novel

This application

—2—

with

Dickens is strictly

and

her

to the speech applies kept

in

A Stylistic

the

Approach

to Pip's Class-Consciousness

in Great Expectations

following.

(2)

a.

".. . Hulks are prison-ships, always

used

that

(Mrs. Gargery, b.".

. I'm

name

right 'cross th' meshes." We for

marshes,

in

our

country.

15)

wrong

in these

clothes.

I'm

wrong

out

of

the

forge, the kitchen, or off th' meshes.. ." (Joe, 225) c."You've

been

dreadful

lying

aguish.

out

on

Rheumatic,

the

meshes,

and

they're

too." (Pip, 19)

The elision of the vowel sound occurs in the definite

article

in the

speech of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Gargery (2a, 2b), but it cannot be found in the speech of Pip (2c), while Kentish provincialism found

in the

Jespersen

speech

meshes' is to be

of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Gargery

and Pip. Otto

(1909 : § 6. 13) states, "this elided form was very frequent

in

early ModE, but now it is found in vulgar speech." Dickens lets Pip to use regional

dialect but never allows him to employ class dialect.

Some critics stigmatise

Dickens's application

of standard

English

to the speech of Oliver Twists, who was born and bred in aworkhouse and received no proper education is called

at all. This kind of artificial speech

"heroic speech" by Norman

suppression"

Page (1969 : 101) or "dialect

by G. N. Leech and M. Short (1981 : 170). If you have a

look at the speech of Lizzie Hexam in Our Mutual Friend, you may easily

understand

heroine

that this method

as well as a hero.

the unnatural

is applied

to the speechof

Dickens, however, re-examined

and far-fetched

representations

the time when he wrote Great Expectations.

a

himself on

of Oliver's speech by

His linguistic

penance is to

be found in Pip's letter to Joe : (3 )

"MI DEER JO i oPE U R KRWITE WELL i oPE i SHAL soN B HABELL 4 2 TEEDGE U JO AN THEN WE SHORL B SO GLODD AN WEN i M PRENGTD 2 U JO WOT LARX AN BLEVE ME INF XN PIP."' (46)

—3—

Osamu

This letter

is written

Imahayashi

on the slate with his own hand

side by side with Joe at the fireside in hope and an h-adding lower-class

as well

h-droppings

:

(4 )

one winter

in able clearly

as Joe.'

The

suggest

following

when

evening. that

he is sitting H-droppings

Pip belongs

quotations

to the

include

Joe's

a. "Manners is manners, but still your elth's your elth." (12) b. "I never was so much surprised in all my life—couldn't credit my own ed—to tell you the truth, hardly believed it were my own ed." (48) c.

"The king upon his throne, with his crown upon his ed, can't

sit and

without

write

having

his acts of Parliament

in print,

begun, when he were a unpromoted

Prince, with the alphabet—" (72) d.

"Well, Pip, you know ... you yourself see me put 'em in my 'at, and therefore

e.

"Still more, when

you know as they are here." (101) his mourning

'at is unfortunately

made so small as that the weight of the black feathers brings it off, try to keep it on how you may." (221) f.

"Thankee,

Sir ... since you are so kind as make chice of

coffee, I will not run contrairy

to your own opinions.

But don't you never find it a little 'eating?" (221) g.

"... when there come up in his shay-cart, Pumblechook. Which that same identical ... do comb my 'air the wrong way sometimes..."

h.

"Old Orlick he's been a bustin' open a dwelling-ouse." (4R2)

i . "... a Englishman's j.

(223)

ouse is his Castle. . ." (462)

"... 'Where is the good as you are a doing? I grant you I see the 'arm,' says the man, 'but I don't see the good. I call upon you, sir, therefore, to pint out the good.— (465)

There

are three

examples

of Joe's h-addings 一4一

:

A Stylistic

(5)

Approach

a.

to Pip's Class-Consciousness

The forge

was shut

in Great Expectations

up for the day, and Joe inscribed

in

chalk upon the door (as it was his custom to do on the very

rare

occasions

monosyllable arrow

when

he was not at work)

HOUT, accompanied

supposed

by a sketch

to be flying in the direction

the

of an he had

taken. (99) b.

"... as I hup and married your sister..."

c.

"... and you may haim at what you like ..." (111)

In (5a), Joe's inscription foregrounded 3.

Pip's

named the

vulgar

made Estella.

verbal

door is

lower-class

habit

his first

to realise

visit to Miss Havisham's

his social

She mercilessly by referring

the knaves,

Jacks

boots,

of which

both

on the forge

by using small capital letters in Italics.

It was not until Pip was

of HOUT in chalk

(100)

status

made

Pip notice

to his despicable

in playing-cards are vulgar

Satis House

by a beautiful that

verbal

and to his coarse appendages

young

that lady

he belonged

to

habit

of calling

hands

and thick

of a common

labouring

boy :

(6 )

"He calls the knaves, Jacks, this boy !" said Estella with disdain, before our game was out. "And what coarse hands he has. And what thick boots!" (61)

No dictionary

refers to the connotation

of social identity

in "calling

the knaves, Jacks." A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (s.v. Jack, 11) suggests that the word in question was originally Standard English and fell into colloquialism during the 19th century. According

to OED (s.v. Jack, n'., 5), this noun

underwent

semantic

generalisation.' The Century Dictionary (s.v. Jack', n., 7) quotes this example with "said Estella with disdain, before our game was out," which OED excludes. —5—

Osamu

In Victorian Revolution,

thanks

for gentility

18th century

of the Industrial

some wealth.

and good education.

(1986 : 21) well explains

(7 )

to the success

not a few people obtained

they yearned English

England,

Imahayashi

the written

Next to wealth,

BBC's The Story of

standardization

and the spoken standardization

in the

in the 19th century

:

Throughout the history of English there has been a contest between the forces of standardization and the forces of localization,

at both the written

appearance

of the first substantial

the

eighteenth

standardization.

century

and the spoken levels. The

was

English

a move

It was Victorian

dictionaries

towards

England

in

written

that realized the

idea of "the Queen's English", a spoken standard

to which

the "lesser breeds" could aspire. There

must

Expectations

have

been many

people

who were shocked

Jacks" classified

among

the readers

of Great

to realize that "calling the knaves,

them into the lower and vulgar

society.

G. L. Brook

(1970 : 13) demonstrates that "if the author's works are widely read, his linguistic habits are likely to exert an important influence on others who use the language." Pip's use of Jacks instead ofthe Knaves is considered

as one of the best examples

Phillipps (1984 : 59) also suggests

of Brook's remark.

that "Refinement,

or lack of it, was

apt to be revealed when playing cards." In 1956 about a century Dickens published

K. C. after

Great Expectations, A. S. C. Ross (1956 : 30) defined

Jack, in playing-cards as non-U and knave as U and commentsthat it was his son who called his attention to this extract from Great Expectations. Pip underwent language

a very rapid education

and its possibilities

ways of education

into the social delicacies of

for social shame.

into the sensibilities

more effective than the haphazard

teaching

school kept by Mr. Wopsle's great-aunt 6

Estella's

of social status practices

disdainful were much

of theevening

in his village to which he had

A Stylistic been

Approach

to Pip's Class-Consciousness

too

accustomed

8)

I took the opportunity

in Great Expectations

:

of being alone in the court-yard,

to

look at my coarse hands and my common boots. My opinion of those accessories troubled

They had never

me before, but they troubled

appendages. taught

was not favourable.

I determined

me to call those picture-cards,

be called

knaves.

genteelly

brought

me now, as vulgar

to ask Joe why he had ever

I wished

Jacks, which ought to

Joe had

been

rather

more

up, and then I should have been so too.

(63) He pondered to the

over

forge

(9 )

Estella's

disdainful

remarks

again

on

his way

back

:

I set off on the four-mile walk to our forge ; pondering, as I went along, on all I had seen, and deeply revolving that I was a common labouring-boy

; that my hands were coarse ;

that my boots were thick ; that I had fallen into a despicable habit of calling knaves Jacks ; that I was much more ignorant than I had considered

myself last night, and generally

that I

was in a low-lived bad way. (66) When he returned curious questions. himself they

to the forge, his sister

as to know

He, however,

were so rude

to him.

to his sister

Satis

I told

Joe that

had

Miss

Havisham's

.. . there who

had said I was common, I wished

and asked and exhausted he told them

House

been a beautiful

and that

I was not common,

of

to explain lies.

because He said

thus :

was dreadfully

—7—

was so

a number

and Mr. Pumblechock

He told Joe that

Miss Havisham's

that

and Mr. Pumblechock

Miss Havisham's

felt too miserable

at Miss Havisham's

to Joe all about (10)

all about

proud,

I knew and that

young and

lady that

I was common,

at she and

the lies had come

Osamu

of it somehow, He accused

Imahayashi

though

Joe of their

I didn't

vulgar

verbal

know

habit

how. (71)

and appendages

:

(11) "I wish you hadn't taught me to call Knaves at cards, Jacks ; and I wish my boots weren't so thick nor my hands so coarse." (71) Stylistically,

we must notice that the sequence

been reversed

between

quotations

(8) and (9) and the quotation

In (8) and (9), as you can see, the sequence but in (11), the sequence be considered

4.

Pip's

This can

Dickens made a choice of this rhetoric

day

reproachful

personal

appearance

impressed

Pip

(12)

(11).

Pip's reverse psychology.

memorable

Estella's

has

is hands, boots, and Jacks,

is reversed, Jacks, boots, and hands.

to be chiasmus.

so as to suggest

of the sentences

as

reference at

Miss

"a memorable

to his vulgar

verbal

behaviour

Havisham's

Satis

House

day"

and deeply

:

That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But, it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck

out of it, and think how different

its course

would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment

of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns

flowers, that formation

would

have

bound

you, but for the

of the first link on one memorable day. (73)

From this very memorable was getting

never

or

bigger

day Pip's aspiration

and bigger.

In Chapter

Biddy, "I want to be a gentleman"(126), timely and fortunately

toward

a gentleman

XVII, Pip confided

to

and soon in the next chapter,

Pip was informed by Mr. Jaggers, a lawyer in

London, of his great expectations (13) "I am instructed

:

to communicate —8—

to him . .. that he will come

A Stylistic

Approach

to Pip's Class-Consciousness

into

a handsome

the

present

possessor

immediately from

property.

this

place,

Further,

that

that

property,

of

removed

from

and

be

in Great Expectations

his

it is the

present

brought

up

that

sphere as

he

went

up

should

buy

some

from

Jaggers

:

to

London

new

to be

clothes

brought

to go

up

of

he

be

of life

and

a gentleman—in

word, as a young fellow of great expectations." Before

desire

as

a

(137)

a gentleman,

in, so he received

Pip

twentyguineas

(14) When he [Mr. Trabb] had at last done and had appointed send

the

articles

evening,

he

know,

sir,

now

and

rubbed

experience had

me

morally

out

dog

whose

if you

would

at

the

his hands,

I went

outfit

and

required

a

— Door!" had

not

collapse my

me

I should

the

as hiE

first

of money,

event,

"I to

give

who

him and

power

hosier's,

lock,

expected

obliged.

boy,

I saw

Trabb's

the

parlour be

his back,

memorable and

the

to

Thursday

of a townsman,

But

with

upon

bootmaker's,

Hubbard's

flung

the

cannot

sir, much

stupendous

laid this

; but

quality

meant.

on

upon

morning,

was it

of the

After the

in the

word what

hand

gentlemen as a rule

then

last

Pumblechook's

his

it. Good

notion

master

with

work,

esteem

The

Mr.

London

local

greatly

least

said, that

patronize turn

to

decided

was,

that

it

boy. to the

hatter's,

rather

like

felt the

services

and Mother

of so many

trades. (150) It was

his first

when

he

fashionable experience chapter, Pip's

decided

asked

Mr.

suit was

expectations.

Trabb,

of also

i. e. Chapter

experience

of the

the

clothes a memorable XIX

Dickens

tailor

with

stupendous in the

"ready event

concludes attempted 9

High-street money."

for aspiring

with

powerof

the

end

to foreground

money to

This young

of the Pip's

make

a

snobbish Pip.

first

This

stage

awakening

of

Osamu

in

aspiring

to

snobbery

5.

through

Pip's

tutor

Matthew

if he

of the

would

us.

and

me

you'll

and

as a gentleman much

his

you

few

like

Herbert. Pip said in a country place take

hints.

saw

me

to begin

called

Pip

Handel

"the Harmonious

Herbert

Pocket

made

some

manners

toward

Pip :

at a loss

say

it is not

for fear

of accidents—and

use,

people

it

do.

better deal

is not

worth

under.

the

we

shall

to put

put

the

the has

in only

spoon two

the

while

further

be

restraint

to call me

by

friendship

Frideric

Handel,

(177). In the following,

on

that

mentioning,

Also, This

custom

or

I venture

sophisticated

table

the topic, Handel, by mentioning

London

scarcely

George

Blacksmith"

suggestions

(15) "Let me introduce

that

after

knew

kindness

needless

at once

and

, and

though

I dare

any

Mr.

to Herbert,

it as a great he

to banish

favour

was

name, Herbert ?" (176). Thus their pleasant

who composed

inner

knowledge

"With pleasure,

very

do me the

social

whenever

replied,

want

in London

more

I would

a hint

I should

Herbert

but

perceiving

"memorable."

from his son a blacksmith

Herbert

Will

up

received

give

that

my Christian

and

epithet

of politeness,

wrong"(176).

between

gentleman

him he

ways

together,

began

bring but

of the

to prophesy

often

use

for a gentleman been brought up

little

going

a

in London

to

Pocket,

education "as I had

in him

the

education

Pip's

very

becoming

Imahayashi

knife the

than it's

fork

in the

that in mouth—

is reserved

is necessary.

as well

is not

generally

advantages.

You

to do used

for It is

as other

over-hand,

get at your

mouth

(which after all is the object), and you save a good of

the

attitude

of opening

oysters,

on

the

part

of the

right elbow." (177-78) Herbert sophisticated

Pocket

offered table

manners

these in

friendly such 10

suggestions

a lively

way,

concerning that

they

both

A Stylistic laughed

and

is between ways

6.

Approach Pip

scarcely

Estella's

uttered

What

ways

Joe and

an enormous

of education

Pip, there

Herbert's

there friendly

Pip and Joe

since Pip was very young.

dictionaries

and

difference

had been a kind of password

This

word

this noun is considered

is classified

in the references

or

It is larks, which is always

by the mouth of Joe. Therefore

his idiolect12.

in Great Expectations

!

use of larks between

Between watchword

blushed.

scornful

of education

Symbolic

to Pip's Class-Consciousness

as "colloquial"

below and some of them

to be

in all the quote

the

example from Pickwick Papers.' It means "a bit of merriment, a frolic, 'spree' ," according to The English Dialect Dictionary (s.v. Lark, v. and sb.2). This term implies their merry and pleasant experiences during Pip's childhood. In the following extract, Pip was bringing files and victuals to the escaped convict at the Old Battery, although

he was so scared, saying

to himself : (16)

"I knew my way to the Battery, pretty straight, for I had been down there on a Sunday with Joe, and Joe, sitting on an old gun, had told me that regularly

when I was 'prentice

to him

bound, we would have such Larks there !" (17)

Larks in (16) plays a part in evoking their happy Sunday

and driving

his present fear away. When Pip and Joe visited Miss Havisham for the purpose that

of apprenticing

he persisted

him to Joe, Joe was so embarrassed

in addressing

throughout

the

embarrassed

mind :

interview.

with Pip's indentures

Pip instead

Larks

of Miss

in (17) seems

Havisham

to soften

his

(17) "Well!" said Miss Havisham. "And you have reared the boy, with the intention of taking him for your apprentice ; is that — 11 —

Osamu

Imahayashi

so, Mr. Gargery ?" "You know , Pip," replied Joe, "as you and me were ever friends, and it were look'd for'ard to betwixt us, as being calc'lated to lead to larks. Not but what, Pip, if you had ever made objections

to the business—such

black and sut, or such-like—not been attended When

he

London,

was

with

"what

requested friend,

to, don't you see ?" (100) social

Pip received

to London write

given

education

to become

a letter

from Biddy.

Mr. Wopsle.

Joe asked

larks"

as its being open to

but what they would have

twice

It said that Biddy

in the postscript

her to do and wish to share

a gentleman

in

Joe was coming

most

particularly

to identify

to

the person

larks, i. e. merriments

who

with

his

Pip :

(18)

"My DEAR MR. PIP, "I write you

this

by

know

that

he

Mr. Wopsle

and

would

see you.

He would

9 o'clock,

when

poor

sister

you

in the

saying excuse Pip,

of

Mr

to

London

agreeable same

every

love

and

Tuesday

you

let of

days.

to

morning

word.

left.

wonder in the

old

to

company

leave

as when

of poor

in

Hotel

considered

for

to be allowed

please

night,

If now

. Gargery,

if agreeable

at Barnard's

the

kitchen

the

going be glad

call

doing.

it for

is

if not

is much

and

request

Your

We

what light

talk you

of are

of a liberty,

No more,

dear

Mr.

from "Your

ever

obliged

, and

affectionate

"Servant "BIDDY "P

.S. He wishes

He says

you

be agreeable had

ever

will

to see a good

me

most

understand. him

heart,

particular I hope

even and

一12一

though

to write and

do not

what doubt

a gentleman,

he is a worthy

worthy

larks. it will for man.

you I

A Stylistic

Approach

to Pip's Class-Consciousness

have read him all, excepting he wishes

in Great Expectations

only the last little sentence, and

me most particular

to write again what larks."

(217-18) In spite of Joe's friendliness what

feelings (19)

and kindness,

he was looking

"If I could have

forward

Pip confessed

to Joe's coming

kept him away

by paying

exactly

with

:

money,

I certainly

would have paid money." (218) By the

time

of Joe's

first

visit

incomprehension

at Joe's

Pip's confusion

was caused

(20)

"Next

day,

to him

in London,

realization

of Miss

by the loss of an initial

Sir," said

Joe, looking

Pip was

Havisham's

affecting name

aspirate

and

in "Miss A" :

at me as if I were

a long

way off, "having cleaned myself, I go and I see Miss A." "Miss A ., Joe ? Miss Havisham ?" "Which I say , Sir," replied Joe, with an air of legal formality,

as if he were

otherways

Havisham

This verbal society

confusion

in London.

initial

h with

At

the

gentleman well

as

to which

Joe, when end

a long

he should

suggests

that

As we have already

of

he lived

this

way

Pip belongs

noticed

off from

him,

socially,

belong.

view toward rlialprf •

he really

found

He said to Pip with his

to the genteel the loss of the

in the country. Joe

so

his will, "Miss A., or

seen, Pip shared

chapter

geographically,

and moral nrrimatinnal

(21)

clearly

making

. . ." (224)

job

as

the

that and the

Pip

became

linguistically place

respect blacksmith

and

a as

status

to his ethical by

using

"I'm wrong in these clothes. I'm wrong out of the forge, the kitchen, or off th' meshes. You won't find half so much fault in me if you think of me in my forge dress, with my hammer in my hand, or even my pipe. You won't find half so much — 13 —

Osamu

Imahayashi

fault in me if, supposing

as you should ever wish to see me

you come and put your head in at the forge winder and see Joe the blacksmith, there, at the old anvil, in the old burnt apron, sticking to the old work. I'm awful dull, but I hope I've beat out something

nigh the rights of this at last . And so GOD bless you, dear old Pip, old chap, GOD bless you!" (225) As for this extract,

Norman Page (1988 : 119) claims that "As the tone

of the scene deepens and Joe is seen as a man with a fine moral nature, his language

undergoes

a corresponding

change : the

irregular

grammatical forms and mispronunciations disappear, sentences take on new structures and rhythms." Pip snobbery made

was by

Pip

made

to

Trabb's

notice

notice boy.

the

his

genteel

Ironically

tremendous

appearance

enough,

power

and

it was

of money

and

his

as we

his

his

inner

master

who

have

already

spell

(22) I had not got as much

further

down

the street

as the

post-office, when I again beheld Trabb's boy shooting round by a back way. This time, he was entirely changed. He wore the blue bag in the manner

of my great-coat,

strutting

towards

along the pavement

and

was

me on the opposite

side of the street, attended by a company of delighted

young

friends

with a

to whom he from time to time exclaimed,

wave of his hand, "Don't know yah f' Words cannot state the amount

of aggravation

Trabb's

boy, when, passing abreast of me, he pulled up his

shirt-collar, smirked

and injury

wreaked

upon

me by

twined his side-hair, stuck an arm akimbo, and

extravagantly

and drawling

by, wriggling

to his attendants,

his elbows and body,

"Don't know yah, don't know

yah, pon my soul don't know yah f' The disgrace attendant on his immediately afterwards taking to crowing and pursuing — 14 —

A Stylistic

Approach

to Pip's Class-Consciousness

me across the bridge

in Great Expectations

with crows, as from an exceedingly

dejected fowl who had known me when I was a blacksmith, culminated

the disgrace with which I left the town, and was,

so to speak, ejected by it into the open country. Trabb's

boy

mimicked

shirt-collar. they

This

first

genteel

is the same

visited

(23)

Pip's

appearance

appearance

Miss Havisham's

that

by

pulling

Pip found

Satis House

(246) up his

in Joe when

:

It was a trial to my feelings, on the next day but one, to see Joe arraying

himself in his Sunday clothes to accompany

to Miss Havisham's. necessary

However, as he thought

me

his court-suit

to the occasion, it was not for me to tell him that

he looked because

far better I knew

comfortable,

in his working

he

made

himself

dress ; the

rather,

so dreadfully

un-

entirely on my account, and that it was for me

he pulled up his shirt-collar so very high behind, that it made the hair on the crown of his head stand feathers. Trabb's his

boy

inner

fact Miss

successfully

voice

supposed

in vulgar

to employ

when

The

second

stage

that

it was

Abel

Havisham

great

main

Their

substandard

of Pip's

themes

inner

very

snobbery

Pip

the

by

language"

representing

which

Pip

was

with

the

young.

expectations

comes

escaped

to become

and took hearty

serious

illness. good

of the

last

and reunion

friendship

London

their

or

he was

wished

in the reconciliation

unite

Pip's

to an

transported

end

convict,

a gentleman

and

of Pip's

expectations

not

endowed

to Pip.

of the

and Joe.

drew

Magwitch,

who

expectations One

up like a tuft of

(99)

Joe's

of the true

was revived and hospitable

employment

old days

stage

when

future

Pip

all the way to

in the following

promising

15 —

between

Joe came

care of Pip who suffered

of larks

and their

friendship

lies

:

from

seems

to

Osamu

(24)

a.

Imahayashi

"Which dear old Pip, old chap," said Joe, "you and me was ever friends. And when you're well enough to go out for a ride—what

b.

"Pip," said

"there h

larks!" (459)

Joe, appearing

a little

hurried

and troubled,

as been larks, And, dear sir, what have been

betwixt us—have been." (467) Pip says to Joe with all his heart, "We had a time together, can never forget.

Joe, that I

There were days once, I know, that I did for a while

forget ; but I never shall forget these" (467). When Joe felt sure Pip did better without

him, he went back to his home leaving a note on the

table, lest Pip should be troubled (25)

"Not wishful again

dear

"RS On this

note

to intrude

I have

departured

Pip and will do better

fur you

are well

without

"Jo.

. Ever the best of friends." (467)

Joe wrote

him in the letter

with him :

down

on the slate

his name,

spelt

one winter

"Jo," which

evening

about

Pip taught

twenty

years

to symbolise

their

before. Joe's happy

use

of larks

friendship

before

friendship

to Pip when

friendship

when

7.

played

an important

Pip went he stayed

part

up to London, in London,

Pip was seriously

Joe's

unchangeable

and the reunion

of their

ill.

Conclusion Dickens

unnatural assuring with

succeeded

the reader

that

Joe in his letter

and in his "calling Pip's upward realize

in

his

way of representing

the name

Oliver's

Pip shared

for after

revenge

speech

the same

to him written

the knaves,

mobility,

linguistic

on

vulgar

in an eccentric

Jacks,"

his

behaviour

way

in the slate

Dickens

successfully in London

when

— 16 —

By

verbal

he is educated

of Miss Havisham

far-fetched

in the case of Pip.

it was pronounced

described he did not without

A Stylistic

its initial

Approach

aspirate.

In order

had to free himself Pip's despicable upper-class shocked

Joe's

it classified

symbolised

into

colloquial

"lesser

Pip

reference

to

aspiration

for

reader

breeds."

awareness

Pip's

of his

inner

by the use of "memorable."

term

and reunion

when

Pip's

middle-class

the

and

gentleman

Estella's

petty

and foregrounded

of the

friendship

new

them

the reconciliation

true

habit. evoked

a gentleman

was reinforced use

verbal

his

in Great Expectations

a sophisticated

undoubtedly

made

to becoming

repeated

as their

habit and

to realize

snobbery

to become

from this vulgar

verbal

society

awakening

to Pip's Class-Consciousness

larks,

served

of their

Pip was very

as idiolect,

friendship

as well

young.

NOTES

* This is a modified Conference

of the

version

Poetics

of the paper read at the 26th International

and Linguistics

Association

held at Joensuu

University, Finland on 28th July, 2006. I am deeply indebted to Dr. Nicola Lennon, Queen's University, Belfast, Michael Burke, Roosevelt Academy, the Netherlands,

and three anonymous

for their valuable comments William Shang for stylistic inadequacies 1. Angus produced

of Studies in Modern English

and suggestions. improvements.

I am also grateful to Dr. All remaining errors and

are, of course, my own.

Wilson

Expectations

reviewers

(1970 : 269) admires

is the most : formally

completely

concentrated,

this

novel : "Miraculously,

unified

works

of art that

related

in its

part

Great

Dickens

at every

ever

depth

of

reading."

2. See Humphry

House (1942), J. Hillis Miller (1958), Julian Moynaham

(1960),

Q. D. Leavis (1970), J. H. Buckley (1974), and Anny Sadrin (1988). 3. David Paroissien (2000 : 27) notes that "This is an accurate description the

Hoo

northerly

Peninsula, section

4. All the italics

speaker

in the in the

spur

of land

that

forms

of

the most

of Kent."

in the quotations

5. All the quotations numbers

a triangular-shaped

are mine

are extracted parenthesis

quotation

are

to emphasise

the treating

from

the Clarendon

Dickens

their

page

and

is sometimes

numbers,

— 17 —

inserted

before

Edition.

the

the

matters.

name

page

The of the

numbers

Osamu

when 6.

Imahayashi

it is needed.

My sister,

Mrs Joe Gargery,

was more

than

twenty

years

older

than

with herself and the neighbours

I , and

had established

a great reputation

because

she had brought

me up "by hand," Having at that time to find out for myself

what the expression meant, and knowing her to have a hard and heavy hand, and to be much in the habit of laying it upon her husband as well as upon me I supposed

that Joe Gargery and I were both brought

up by hand. (8)

7. Pip explains "We always used that name for marshes, in our country" (15). According to The English Dialect Dictionary (s. v. marsh, sb.', 1.), mesh is a dialectal form of Norfolk, Suffolk, west Hampshire, and Devon, while OED (s. v. marsh') does not record this form, but mash for a dialectal form in England and the United States from the 17th to the 19th century. 8. See Steven Marcus (1965 : 80), and Norman Page (1969 9.

My dear

Joe, I hope

you, Joe, and then what

larks!

you're

quite

well.

we shall be so glad.

And believe

me.

I hope I shall

And when

In affection,

100-101).

soon be able to teach

I'm apprenticed

to you, Joe,

Pip.

10. As for this, Linda Mugglestone (2003 : 123) claims that "The approximate version of hope and able which Dickens here conferred upon Pip unambiguously

indicate

the intended

social affinities (and social meanings)

in this context." 11. Name

for the knave

of trumps

in the game

of all-fours

; hence

gen. any one

of the knaves. (OED, s. v. Jack, n'., 5) 12. As for Dickens's employment of idiolect, see Randolph Quirk (1961, 1974), G. L. Brook

(1970), Robert

Norman Page (1988). 13. "Here's a lark!" shouted

Golding

(1985), Knud

half a dozen hackney

Sorensen coachmen.

(1985), and "Go to vork,

Sam ! - and they crowded with great glee round the party (Pickwick Papers, 9). See also Tadao Yamamoto 14. This refers to the repetition

(2003 : 406). of "Don't know yah !" and pon for "upon."

TEXTS

Dickens, Charles (1860-1861) M. Cardwell.

The

Dickens, Charles (1836-1837) J. Kinsley.

The

Great Expectations.

Clarendon

Clarendon

Press

: Oxford,

The Clarendon

Dickens. Ed.

1993.

The Pickwick Papers. The Clarendon Dickens. Ed. Press

: Oxford,

— 18 —

1986.

A Stylistic

Dickens,

Approach

Charles

to Pip's

(1837-1839)

Class-Consciousness

Oliver Twist.

in Great

Expectations

The Clarendon

Dickens. Ed. K.

Tillotson. The Clarendon Press : Oxford, 1966. Dickens, Charles (1864-1865) Our Mutual Friend. The New Oxford Illustrate Dickens.

Oxford University

Press : Oxford, 1952.

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[[email protected]] [Received September

— 21 —

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