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GOTHIC LITERATURE

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (1861)
Great Expectations explores both the dream and the realization of the new ambitions (born out of the Industrial Revolution) both what is gained and what is lost, and showcases lives from all classes of nineteenth century British society.
Listen & Read Online Audio: Great Expectations Read Online
Review: Expectations Video: "Great" Victorian & Gothic Gothic in "Great Expectations"

Videos

Great Expectations: Context & Background

This programme delves into the who, what, when, where and why of Great Expectations. Locate Charles Dickens’ masterpiece in its historical context and learn about the real-life events that prompted him to pen this beloved bildungsroman. The hero, Pip, is presented against the detailed backdrop of the Industrial Revolution and the age of the ‘self-made man.’

SOURCE: Clickview (2016), Rated: E, Duration: 8:01 mins, URL: https://clickv.ie/w/V19o

Dickens' Writing Style: Great Expectations

This programme offers insights into the stylistic devices employed by Dickens to great effect in the novel Great Expectations. Learn more about the characteristics and writing style that have contributed to the perennial popularity of this work, including the author’s use of specific literary techniques and his highly memorable characters; some quite familiar and some very strange.

SOURCE: Clickview (2016), Rated E, Duration: 6:52 mins, URL: https://clickv.ie/w/Q19o

Great Expectations - The Secret Life of Books

Tony Jordan brings his writer's insight to Charles Dickens's Great Expectations.

SOURCE: Foxtel arts (2016), from ClickView, Rated: G, [29:15 mins], URL: https://clickv.ie/w/X1Cp

The Gothic In Great Expectations

Professor John Bowen explores the gothic elements of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations. Analysing the book’s use time and the past, repetition, violence, sexuality, identity, psychological tension and doubles, Professor Bowen provides new insights into the novel as work of Victorian gothic fiction.

SOURCE: The British Library (2014), posted on YouTube, [7:14 mins] URL: https://youtu.be/JPsrftBhmmA

Why should you read Charles Dickens?

The starving orphan seeking a second helping of gruel. The spinster wasting away in her tattered wedding dress. The stone-hearted miser plagued by the ghost of Christmas past. More than a century after his death, these remain recognizable figures from the work of Charles Dickens. But what are the features of Dickens’ writing that make it so special? Iseult Gillespie investigates. [View full lesson on TedEd.]

SOURCE: Iseult Gillespie (2017), published on Youtube, Duration: 5:16 mins, URL: https://youtu.be/5czA_L_eOp4

What Makes Great Expectations a Classic? [Rated G, 3:10 mins]

First published in 1861, Charles Dickens' 'Great Expectations' is a novel about crime, guilt, and social aspiration.

SOURCE: Makematic (2022), What Makes Great Expectations a Classic? [Video] ClickView.

Teaching & Learning Resources

Revision Guide   "Great Expectations" Study Guide