Otto-Friedrich-Universtität Bamberg

Otto-Friedrich-Universtität BambergSS 2008

HS: Neo-Victorian Novels

Dozentin: Dr. Anja Müller

Referentin: Susanne Werner4.6.2008

Peter Carey: Jack Maggs and

Charles Dickens: Great Expectations

Comparison

1. Similarities

-central motif: self-delusion and gradual disillusionment

-general outline of the plot

a convict is the anonymous benefactor of a young gentleman (“creation”) who helped him as a boy
return of the convicts to find their gentlemen (danger of death)
both the creators’and the creatures’ Great Expectations are disappointed
the convicts’ past: a life in jail; women they love lose a child

-the feature of letter-writing (Estella has to write to Miss H.; Henry has to write to Maggs)

-emphasis on childhood experience (Pip’s / Jack’s unhappy childhood)

-atmosphere of suspense and secrecy

2. Differences

Great Expectations / Jack Maggs
focus on Pip (the convict hardly appears);
Pip’s Great Expectations / focus on the convict and his return (Henry hardly appears); Maggs’ High Hopes
remorse, forgiveness, delusion and recognition
→ Pip develops, learns & accepts
→ Magwitch is the one character who is denied development or even self-definition / the convict is the titular hero, allowing him the possibility of achieving selfhood
→ Jack Maggs develops
Magwitch:
-name: Abel Magwitch (→ biblical fratricide, vermin and magic spells)
-objectified into “the convict”
-strong physical presence → dehumanized (animal-like ferocity, association with cannibalism)
-an ignorant and determined man, driven by an idée fixe
-stereotyped character of a savage criminal
-an outsider longingly looking in upon the world he can never enter / Jack Maggs:
-to magg = Victorian slang for to pinch, to pilfer
-mostly referred to by his proper name
-same physical strength, but no dehumanization
-ferocity → positive quality (power to command other people and to make him attractive to others → the homosexual footman falls for him, as well as Mercy)

Literature

Jordan, John O. “Dickens Re-Visioned: ‘Jack Maggs’ and the ‘English Book’.” Dickens: The Craft of Fiction and the Challenges of Reading. Eds. Rossana Bonadei et al. Bibiloteca di Anglistica: Collana di Testi e Studi. 5. Milan: Unicopli, 2000. 292-300.

Letissier, Georges. “Dickens and Post-Victorian Fiction.” Refracting the Canon in Contemporary British Literature and Film. Eds. Susana Onega and Christian Gutleben. Postmodern Studies. 35. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2004. 111-128.

Schmidt-Haberkamp, Barbara. “Great Expectations.” Fabulating Beauty: Perspectives on the Fiction of Peter Carey. Eds. Andreas Gaile and Paul Kane. Cross / Cultures: Readings in the Post / Colonial Literatures in English. 78. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2005. 245-262.

Selles, Colette. “Heritage in Peter Carey’s Jack Maggs.” Commonwealth Essays and Studies 27.1 (2004): 63-75.

Lexikon der Weltliteratur. Biographisch-bibiliographisches Handwörterbuch nach Autoren und anonymen Werken. Ed. Gero von Wilpert. Fremdsprachige Autoren A-K.4thed.Stuttgart: Kröner, 2004.

Metzler-Lexikon Weltliteratur. 1000 Autoren von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart . Ed. Axel Ruckaberle. Volume 1. Stuttgart ; Weimar : Metzler, 2006.