Otto-Friedrich-Universtität Bamberg
HS: Neo-Victorian Novels
Dozentin: Dr. Anja Müller
Referentin: Susanne Werner
SS 2008
4.6.2008
Peter Carey: Jack Maggs and
Charles Dickens: Great Expectations
Comparison
1. Similarities
-
central motif: self-delusion and gradual disillusionment
-
general outline of the plot
o a convict is the anonymous benefactor of a young gentleman (“creation”)
who helped him as a boy
o return of the convicts to find their gentlemen (danger of death)
o both the creators’ and the creatures’ Great Expectations are disappointed
o 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);
focus on the convict and his return
(Henry hardly appears); Maggs’ High
Hopes
Pip’s Great Expectations
remorse, forgiveness, delusion and
recognition
the convict is the titular hero, allowing
him the possibility of achieving
selfhood
→ Pip develops, learns & accepts
→ Jack Maggs develops
→ Magwitch is the one character who is
denied development or even self-definition
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Magwitch:
Jack Maggs:
-
name: Abel Magwitch (→ biblical
fratricide, vermin and magic spells)
-
to magg = Victorian slang for to
pinch, to pilfer
-
objectified into “the convict”
-
-
strong physical presence →
dehumanized (animal-like ferocity,
association with cannibalism)
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)
-
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
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. 4th ed. Stuttgart: Kröner,
2004.
Metzler-Lexikon Weltliteratur. 1000 Autoren von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart . Ed. Axel Ruckaberle.
Volume 1. Stuttgart ; Weimar : Metzler, 2006.
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