There is a character in Reuben Sachs who I believe deserves more attention. From her introduction and unfavorable description, I became interested in Aunt Ada. At this point however, I really only know that she resembles a “creature in pain” and that she does not seem to care for herself very well. Though her personality appears to be very different, I was reminded of Miss Havisham in her perpetual wedding dress relative instability. Both women come from a life of wealth, and yet they are equally miserable. What’s more, they both are depicted as perhaps supernatural. Aunt Ada resembles a corse while Miss Havisham is ghostlike. This can thus further be connected to Catherine, who, after her mental breakdown, also turns into a phantom-type character. Then this seems to be something not uncommon of Victorian literature; a female character who’s mental state is weak or questionable taking on a more spectral role. Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre is a wonderful example of this. Now, the cause Miss Havisham’s, Catherine’s, and Bertha’s mental states are all attributed to the actions of the men in their lives. That makes me curious to see, if we learn more about Aunt Ada, if her story will follow a similar path.

In De Profundis and The Ballad of Reading Gaol, Oscar Wilde offers commentary on his time in prison. While both are significant, I am more interested in the latter. The Ballad of Reading Gaol describes events that Wilde experienced, particularly the hanging of a fellow inmate, but more importantly, it presents a call for reform of the penal and prison systems of the era. Not only was the legal system incredibly flawed, but the prisons were inhumanely brutal. Health concerns were countless, work was destructive, and guards seemingly took pleasure in punishing inmates for the smallest of infractions. Wilde himself was sentenced to two years hard labor for “gross indecency.” Reading Gaol appears to comment on the reformative hypocrisy of prison, that it ravishes the minds, bodies, and souls of the very individuals it seeks to reform. More generally, Wilde also focuses on the depressing and hopeless conditions. The poem effectively communicates the perpetual terror and dread the prisoners feel as a result of their environment. Finally, the piece can be read, among many other things, as a criticism of the death penalty, thus rounding out Wilde’s cry for change.

I could not help but be reminded of Great Expectations‘ Newgate Prison while reading both of Wilde’s pieces. I feel that they give important context in understanding the conditions, and make Pip’s visit to Newgate that much more effective. Of course, Pip critically comments on what he observes himself, but Reading Gaol allows us to perhaps better understand Magwitch’s character and his desperation to escape the prison. This is because Wilde’s pieces have the “benefit” of being told by someone who experienced these very hardships. The similarities in Wilde’s and Dickens’ work and criticisms of the prison systems should come as no surprise, as Dickens was a prominent social reformation activist of the Victorian era. While the theme is much less pronounced in Great Expectations, both it and Wilde’s De Profundis and The Ballad of Reading Gaol serve as important criticisms of the penal system of the 19th century.

What stood out to me the most in these last chapters of Great Expectations was the similarities, as well as the differences, between Pip and Magwitch. As we come to learn in chapter 42, Magwitch was an orphan just as Pip had been. However, Magwitch did not have other family he could rely on, and instead had to resort to crime to support himself. The two also share the experience of being somewhat exploited by wealthy individuals who manipulate them. Pip has Miss Havisham, who taunts him with Estella and allows him to believe that she is the source of his wealth. Meanwhile, Magwitch had Compeyson, who ends up getting him arrested through his schemes. The experiences they have with their respective exploiters, however, has different impacts on the two. Miss Havisham’s abuse causes Pip to want to “better” himself and become a gentleman. Magwitch, on the other hand, becomes bitter, and almost vengeful. And understandably so.

Yet another similarity between the two is their lost or unattainable love. Pip is in love with Estella, but in these chapters, she officially rejects him and instead marries Drummle. While talking about his past, Magwitch briefly brings up a girl before quickly brushing it off. This leads the reader to believe that he has lost someone he loves as well. The commonalities continue a bit later in the story as each of the men’s enemies come into more prominence, but I’ll avoid that for now to remain spoiler-free. Overall, I think it is interesting to see how close the two backstories are, and to realize how simply each of them could have gone down opposite paths.

As I was reading the chapters for this week, I was struck by something in Herbert’s story. In chapter 22, he explains to Pip the tragedy of Miss Havisham and the wedding that never was. In his description of Miss Havisham’s bridegroom, Herbert seems to indicate that the man had little money or status, and that he was really supported by Miss Havisham. I was surprised by this because Herbert makes no explicit reference to the class difference between the couple, only references it through other comments. He doesn’t say anything about the marriage being taboo, and nothing else in his story or the book up to this point indicates this either. I had expected this to cause at least a few issues, but it didn’t.

Perhaps why I was so prepared for the class divide to be focused on more than it is in these chapters of Great Expectations is because it was such a significant obstacle in Wuthering Heights. Cathy married Edgar because he was of her class, and therefore suited to her. But Cathy did not love Edgar, she loved Heathcliff. In a conversation with Nelly, she states that she wants to be with Heathcliff, and wants to marry him, but that doing so would shame her. This in effect, is really the main driving force of Wuthering Heights. I just expected the reaction to be similar in Great Expectations; at least significant enough for Herbert to mention in his story.

It is interesting to read Great Expectations and realize that the story is not being told in “real time” but rather that Pip is retrospectively narrating experiences from his life. That begs the question: just how reliable of a narrator is Pip? The stories that he tells are incredibly detailed, and almost seem tangible. How many of these details is Pip essentially “making up”? It seems unlikely that an adult would so clearly recall events from his childhood in the way that Pip does. Perhaps he is cushioning these memories with fabrication because he cannot remember, or maybe he truly believes that what he is saying is real. Regardless, it would seem reasonable to assume that the tales that our protagonist is telling are not 100% accurate.

Of course, we have been faced with the “unreliable narrator” issue before, in Wuthering Heights. While there are several different narrators, all of whom could be unreliable in their own right, Nelly is the one that sticks out. Questioning how it’s possible she knows certain things, if she’s altering the truth to make herself seem a bit better, or other reasons, Nelly is often considered to not be the most trustworthy. In both her and Pip’s cases, the unreliability does not necessarily come from a deliberate attempt at concealing truth, but simply from poor memory, or remembering things “differently.” But it still serves to consider their narration with a critical eye.

As I was reading the excerpts from Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, and considering what I already knew about Darwin, my mind kept going back to the second generation featured in Wuthering Heights. Something that initially struck me about young Cathy and Hareton was that they both exemplified the qualities of their parents and/or, in the case of Hareton, those who raised them. However, they were undeniably improved versions of their predecessors. Cathy had the strong will and determination of her mother, but was complemented with the gentleness and refinement of her father. She was not hot-headed and impulsive like Catherine, nor was she weak of will as Edgar sometimes was. This was similarly true for Hareton. Though Heathcliff was not his dad, he was in many ways more of a father to him than Hindley. Hareton exemplified Heathcliff’s strength, and a sort of stoicism that could also sometimes be found in his mentor. And yet, there was also a gentleness to Hareton that could not be found in Heathcliff. Perhaps it came from his mother, or more likely from Nelly, who cared for him while he was still a boy. Both Cathy and Hareton inherited the most favorable traits, and were the best versions of their parents and caregivers. As such, the two succeeded where their forebearers could not. The opposite of Cathy and Hareton, however, would be Linton. Unlike the others, Linton displayed all of the worst qualities of both of his parents. He inherited the unfavorable traits, and therefore, it fits that he was unsuccessful. This does reflect the idea that Darwin discusses: what Herbert Spencer coined “survival of the fittest.” In many ways, Cathy and Hareton were the “fit,” and therefore survived while Linton, on the other hand, was far too weak, and was naturally, to put it harshly, eliminated.