Women in Wordsworth and Dickens

Charles Dickens’ novel Great Expectations and William Wordsworth’s collection of poems portrays images of a variety of young women. Dickens’ novel establishes a wide set of personalities through a variety of female characters. The works of William Wordsworth sets a same set of characteristics of girls throughout his poems. Dickens has a more realistic view of women and girls whereas Wordsworth has a slightly more idealistic view of them. Though the works of these two writers are different in terms of individual characteristics, both writings reflect the attitudes of the people during a certain time period; Dickens reflects attitudes of the Victorian Era and Wordsworth reflects attitudes of the Romantic Era.

Dickens’ depiction of young women and girls are identified through characters like Estella and Biddy. Estella, an adopted daughter of Miss Havisham, is extremely wealthy, prideful, ambitious and cold-hearted. Though Estella’s wealth seems to give her everything, she is not satisfied, and even claims that she “she has "no heart… no softness there, no—sympathy—sentiment—... ” (pg.186) Estella is manipulated by Miss Havisham to become the ideal girl for Miss Havisham. She has a very bold and strong character but is trapped within the confinements of Miss Havisham and society. She is regarded as a dark character, luring Pip and others into the Satis House and using him for her and Miss Havisham’s own entertainment. Biddy, who was “brought up by hand” by Mr. Wopsle’s great-aunt, is simple and kind-hearted. “She was not beautiful,—she was common, and could not be like Estella,—but she was pleasant and wholesome and sweet-tempered.” (pg. 107) Biddy and Pip are close in age and are able to get along well, due to the fact that they are both orphans.

Wordsworth’s poem Lucy Gray characterizes young girls who are much different than Dickens’ girls in Great Expectations. Wordsworth’s “Lucy Gray” tells a story of the supposed death of a little girl. Lucy Gray is associated with plants and flowers, being described as “the sweetest Thing that ever grew.” Unlike Estella, Lucy Gray and the little girl at the graveyard are more pure and innocent; they have a much closer connection to nature than the girls from Great Expectations. This already shows that Lucy is not just a human girl, she is sweet and pure as nature. Estella is trapped within the confinements of society, but Lucy Gray, on the other hand, is young and free. Because of her purity, Lucy’s death did not mean that she was gone forever. She became one with nature. Her story made her an influential character to the locals; many regard her as a “spirit and now permanent component of the landscape.” Lucy’s spirit is free, she is not held within the confinements of social class as Estella does in Great Expectations.

The young women in both Dickens’ novel, Great Expectations, and Wordsworth’s poem, Lucy Gray, go through a sense of solitude. Wordsworth’s poem starts off with the lines “No mate, no comrade Lucy knew; She dwelt on a wild moor, The sweetest Thing that ever grew, beside a human door!” Estella, from Dickens’ novel, is very similar to Lucy in many ways. Estella is trapped in the Satis House, owned by Miss Havisham. Estella’s cold-hearted actions and confinement within the Satis House prevents her from making companions; like Lucy Gray, she is also a “solitary Child.” Both Lucy Gray and Estella are in solitude, but they are strong characters. Once Pip meets Estella, he begins to “fancy” Estella, but he realizes that Estella’s social class is too high for him. Pip is embarrassed and strives to become successful in order to get Estella’s attention. Estella gradually becomes more of an idea than an actual person; Pip is always thinking about her, idolizing her. Similarly, Lucy Gray also becomes more of an idea than a girl. Lucy was never to be found by her family after she left, but she is believed to be alive “upon the lonesome wild.” Even though she may have died, the idea that Lucy and her sweet characteristics still lives on as Wordsworth states, “O’er the rough and smooth she trips along... and sings a solitary song, That whistles in the wind.”

Both Dickens’ and Wordsworth’s works are encompassed around young girls and women. But clearly, the two writers have different opinions of what a women should be. The time period of the two types of works also contribute to the differences in views. Dickens wrote Great Expectations during the Victorian Era, a time period of great turmoil, whereas Wordsworth’s pieces takes place during the Romantic Era, an artistic and intellectual movement. Dickens’ novel expresses the compelling views of women, and Wordsworth’s deliberates on the sincere aspects. Despite their differences, Great Expectations and Wordsworth’s poems represents the outlook young women during a certain period of time.