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Cherry Blo
Great Expectations is one of Dickensâ most vivid presentations of growing up. What means does he use to make it so effective and how successful is it as a portrayal of 19th century childhood?
I will be grateful for any help given.
Many thanks!
Answer
What Dickens portrayed is how poor most people were.
Their education was "hit and miss", and often depended upon luck.
Education was something only the wealthy middle class and rich could afford, and you had to learn good behavior, how to act like a gentleman.
Ladies often did not go to school.
The role of women was greatly restricted, being a wife and mother was about only option. Poor women could became housekeepers, servants. Wealthy women did not work outside their home, but enjoyed greater luxury, if they married well.
I don't remember the names of the main characters now, it's been a long time since I read this book. But, the key character was destined to be a manual worker, and only improved himself because he was sent off to become an apprentice as I recall, at a respected firm.
This was main way to learn a good trade in those days, become an apprentice, and work for a master.
To become " middle class" mean you had to learn to talk better, write better, and have the best manners. (compared to the poorer lower class)
Marriage often wasn't about love, it was about making a good connection, with a more wealthy family.
Marriage then was more about finances, and living a better life, not about romance.
Of course the main character lost out, he wanted romance and love, with his childhood woman.
She however, stayed true to her upbringing, and did not marry for love, as much as a better social position.
That was what was most important in 19th century, your class, or social position.
What Dickens portrayed is how poor most people were.
Their education was "hit and miss", and often depended upon luck.
Education was something only the wealthy middle class and rich could afford, and you had to learn good behavior, how to act like a gentleman.
Ladies often did not go to school.
The role of women was greatly restricted, being a wife and mother was about only option. Poor women could became housekeepers, servants. Wealthy women did not work outside their home, but enjoyed greater luxury, if they married well.
I don't remember the names of the main characters now, it's been a long time since I read this book. But, the key character was destined to be a manual worker, and only improved himself because he was sent off to become an apprentice as I recall, at a respected firm.
This was main way to learn a good trade in those days, become an apprentice, and work for a master.
To become " middle class" mean you had to learn to talk better, write better, and have the best manners. (compared to the poorer lower class)
Marriage often wasn't about love, it was about making a good connection, with a more wealthy family.
Marriage then was more about finances, and living a better life, not about romance.
Of course the main character lost out, he wanted romance and love, with his childhood woman.
She however, stayed true to her upbringing, and did not marry for love, as much as a better social position.
That was what was most important in 19th century, your class, or social position.
How did the writers from the 19th century and earlier got their works published?
Q. I'm aware of the existence of scrolls back then and how these manuscripts are still preserved. For a work to be published in the early centuries, do writers need the approval of authorities like what most modern writers are experiencing now? Do publishing companies and agents existed at that time?
For example, Charles Dickens is a 19th century writer whose works, like "Oliver Twist" and "Great Expectations, are still published by different book companies. How do present publishing companies get classic works published under their name?
For example, Charles Dickens is a 19th century writer whose works, like "Oliver Twist" and "Great Expectations, are still published by different book companies. How do present publishing companies get classic works published under their name?
Answer
Let's grab a time period and hang onto it, shall we?
To answer the first question: books, in their bound and having-paper-in-the-middle form have been around quite a while. Up until Gutenberg invented the adjustable type printing press in the 1430s, most of the bookmaking was done by the church, who had the critical combination of leisure time on their hands, and a whole bunch of educated people who could read and write at their disposal to do nothing but sit around all day and write words.
Gutenberg changed all that with the press. Almost right away printed works went from being nothing but bibles and religious texts to a sudden flood of secular works -- everything from political pamphlets to scientific texts to the early modern version of romance novels. In general, writers weren't independently wealthy and so it was usually a patron or rich friend or relative who paid for a writer's work to be published. I suppose you could see that as a sort of agent, but agents as we know them know haven't been around for long at all.
Publishing companies weren't the size and scope that they are now, but by the 1600s the printshop changed from being more like the other "trades" (smithing, joinery, etc.) to something much more like a corporation. At that point, many publishers began to realize that printing and selling involved risk -- basically you might not sell what you print so what you print had better appeal to folks to buy.
And that's pretty much where that "approval" process you're talking about started.
You're also asking another question here, which is who owns the rights to books by dead/old authors. Some of these works are now what's called "public domain," and anyone can publish them without paying someone for the rights.
However, just because someone's old and dead doesn't mean that the rights to their works aren't owned. Very often rights to authors' works are owned by estates, by their descendents, or by other entities.
Hope that helps.
Let's grab a time period and hang onto it, shall we?
To answer the first question: books, in their bound and having-paper-in-the-middle form have been around quite a while. Up until Gutenberg invented the adjustable type printing press in the 1430s, most of the bookmaking was done by the church, who had the critical combination of leisure time on their hands, and a whole bunch of educated people who could read and write at their disposal to do nothing but sit around all day and write words.
Gutenberg changed all that with the press. Almost right away printed works went from being nothing but bibles and religious texts to a sudden flood of secular works -- everything from political pamphlets to scientific texts to the early modern version of romance novels. In general, writers weren't independently wealthy and so it was usually a patron or rich friend or relative who paid for a writer's work to be published. I suppose you could see that as a sort of agent, but agents as we know them know haven't been around for long at all.
Publishing companies weren't the size and scope that they are now, but by the 1600s the printshop changed from being more like the other "trades" (smithing, joinery, etc.) to something much more like a corporation. At that point, many publishers began to realize that printing and selling involved risk -- basically you might not sell what you print so what you print had better appeal to folks to buy.
And that's pretty much where that "approval" process you're talking about started.
You're also asking another question here, which is who owns the rights to books by dead/old authors. Some of these works are now what's called "public domain," and anyone can publish them without paying someone for the rights.
However, just because someone's old and dead doesn't mean that the rights to their works aren't owned. Very often rights to authors' works are owned by estates, by their descendents, or by other entities.
Hope that helps.
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