The themes of Great Expectations

The two main themes that I will be concentrating on throughout exploring Great Expectations will be Gothic and Horror. I had personally never thought about the novel in this way, but after being more open to the story line and the themes of the novel I would now definitely agree that it has a hint of gothic and horror within the story. Below are 5 general characteristics which I believe fit with the text so far:

1. The novel is foreshadowing using weather and nature to create a mood for the reader
2. Mystery and suspense, as the novel has a lot of tension to it, when reading it for the first time it is an unpredictable story where you cannot tell what may happen later on in the novel for any of the characters.
3. Suffering is something that I would most definitely say is within the novel; many of the characters are sad and lonely in the book.
4. Along with suffering I believe that depression is also a main characteristic within the book as none of the characters within the novel seem to be truly happy.
5. Fear is also a big part of the novel; many of the characters are suffering in some way this causes them to fear how they live.  

Below are some images that I have found in books that reference and match my feelings and understanding of the novel.

Victorian Dress in Photographs written
by Madeline Ginsburg p.82

This photograph on the right is a lady wearing a day dress, the date of which this photograph was taken is unknown, however I am sure that this was taken during the Victorian Era as I found this photograph in a book called 'Victorian Dress in Photographs'. This dress was made from patterned silk with puffed shoulders. As this is an original Victorian dress from the Victorian Era I thought that it was appropriate to put onto my blog as it reflects the Gothic theme of Great Expectations. The textures in this dress appear to be very strong. The lady wearing the dress in this photograph is very still and looks very elegant, the name of the lady is unknown but I think that this lady was an upper class Victorian woman. 

Early Photographs and Early Photographers a survey in diction form 

written by Oliver Mathews p.138

This specific photograph above is from the book which is shown above was taken by Charles Soulier in 1880; he named this photograph Le Chateau de Chillon. I have chosen to include this photograph into my blog as it reminds me of the opening scene of the first episode of the BBC series of Great Expectations.  The original location of this photograph is unknown but it was how ever taken in the Victorian era in France.

Gothic Dark Glamour written by Valerie 

Steele and Jennifer Park p.22

This photograph on the left is of a Victorian mourning dress in 1880 which was photographed by Irving Solero in courtesy of Evan Michelson. This dress was on show at the Gothic Dark Glamour exhibition at the Fashion Institute museum in New York, 2009. This dress was made from black silk and netting. I thought this was appropriate to include on my blog because it’s an original mourning dress from the Victorian era.

Gothic Dark Glamour written by Valerie Steele and Jennifer Park p.23

This photograph above is of a late Victorian mourning dress in 1895, this was also photographed by Irving Solero while also on display at the Fashion Institute of Technology museum in New York in 2009. The colour of this dress gives a gothic feel as it was only designed and made only using black materials. The gothic feel to this dress fits with the gothic theme of Great Expectations.

Early Photographs and Early Photographers a survey in diction form written by Oliver Mathews p.122

This photograph shown above was taken by James Hedderly in 1870; he named this photograph ‘Old Chelsea Reach’. I thought this photograph was appropriate to add to my blog because this image fits with my vision of the opening scene of Great Expectations. This photograph is very dark and gloomy with only one man standing alone in the image.