Nothing Comforts Like Charles Dickens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 I really had not intended to re-read "Great Expectations," darlings.  But after the post I did on "Aged Parent," certain that character had been in "David Copperfield," only to be proven wrong, I, who consider myself a confirmed Dickensian, knew it was time to pay another visit to Miss Havisham, and company.

                                  As a teenager, when I first read it, what I loved best was how both Miss Havisham and Estella dealt with the bitterness of the world, and I made their way mine, as well.  But, with each reading comes a deeper understanding of Miss Havisham; how she eventually succumbs to remorse and sorrow over what she did to Pip and Estella, and, in trying to make the latter her revenge on the male sex, turned that poor girl into a victim, instead.

                                   I chewed on all this, as I reread the novel carefully this time.  I also mused on my own, potential "Pip-ness," that is adopting, in youth, especially, the manner of an educated snob to overcome the hurts of social exclusion and discrimination during my adolescence.  Like Miss Havisham, I look back on the time of my youth, wondering how things might have turned out, if I had just been the self I am now, then.  Would it have netted me all I thought I wanted, then?  Probably not, but it might have made it a lot easier for me to live with myself, back then.

                                   Still, none of this stopped me from enjoying the Gothic trappings of Satis House, the sanctity of both Joe Gargery and Biddy, the way Dickens skillfully connects all the dots--even though I know how they are assembled with previous readings--and the ambiguity of the ending.

                                   Much has been written about the ending, which Dickens himself altered to publisher specification.  In it, there is an implied possibility that Pip and Estella will romantically unite.  As much of a romantic as I am, I would not wish to see this, preferring they remain apart.  They would never be happy together, as the only thing they have to unite them is their mutual unhappiness, meted out by fate and people beyond their control.

                                     I cannot say if I will read this again, but who knows?  Still, the deeper one digs into Dickens, the more one learns about human nature--especially one's own.

                                      And, darlings, how I would LOVE to play Miss Havisham!!!!!!!!!!!!!