Understanding Great Expectations: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents

(Hardback)

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More than one hundred years after being written, Great Expectations is still one of the most widely studied works of fiction. This casebook of historical documents, collateral readings and essays brings to life both Dickens' masterpiece and the social issues surrounding his work. The interdisciplinary approach offers students insight into the historically significant issues, such as child welfare, that ignited Dickens' creative and moral sensibilities. Newlin has unearthed significant documentation on the dilemma of Victorian women, supplying original social commentary such as Mary Wollstonecraft's 1792 A Vindication of the Rights of Women, and John Stuart Mill's 1861 The Subjection of Women. This work also addresses the transportation and deportation of convicts with first-hand accounts of the treatment of prisoners. Original materials describing the significance of class distinctions, with demographic data from 1834, point up the socio-economic gaps that stratified Victorian society. Other primary documents describe the physical settings such as the Marsh Country and the river, and Bow Street in London, that figure prominently in Great Expectations. This collection of sources will help broaden students' understanding of Great Expectations and places it within its historical context. A literary analysis chapter introduces students to the important themes and various writing techniques employed by Dickens. Each subsequent chapter offers original essays and explication of historical documents on significant issues. Each section concludes with thought-provoking study questions, topics for research, and lists of suggested readings. This volume will enhance students' reading of this classic and will facilitate further research for student and teacher alike.

Reviews

"Although I have read Great Expectations half a dozen times, George Newlin's impressive study showed me new depths and meanings I'd never glimpsed before. Further, Newlin writes very, very well: clearly, but with weight. Academics should take a lesson, and Dickens lovers should read the book post haste."-John Jakes Author of the Kent Family Chronicles Writer of the new musical, Great Expectations
We have reviewed other books in the Literature in Context Series enthusiastically and this casebook is no exception. So, if your English teachers teach this novel, then this is an essential purchase....Highly recommended.-Reference for Students -- GaleGroup.com Reviews
"We have reviewed other books in the Literature in Context Series enthusiastically and this casebook is no exception. So, if your English teachers teach this novel, then this is an essential purchase....Highly recommended."-Reference for Students -- GaleGroup.com Reviews

Author Bio

GEORGE NEWLIN is an independent scholar who manages to combine his background in the legal profession with his passion for the arts and literature. He is the author of Understanding A Tale of Two Cities (1998) for the Greenwood Press Literature in Context series. He is the compiler and editor of the three-volume Everyone in Dickens (Greenwood, 1995), and Everything in Dickens (Greenwood, 1996).