How Is The Grotesque Depicted In Great Expectations

The grotesque does not have one definitive definition but when I think of the grotesque I imagine something ugly and repulsive, however this is not always the case. There can be two ways of defining the grotesque. It can be something in between real and non real, or something in between funny and frightening. The use of funny has to be used with a pinch of salt as people have different ideas of what is 'funny'. The grotesque can however sometimes be the more conventional understanding of it, for example being ugly and almost comical.

When reading the book 'Great Expectations' I was unaware of this definition, so looking back on the book now and trying to find grotesque depictions has been quite interesting. When considering the more conventional idea of the grotesque I think the description of  Pip's Uncle Pumblechook is comical in the choice of words that Dickens uses, for example, 'a large hard breathing middle-aged slow man, with a mouth like a fish, dull staring eyes, and sandy hair standing upright on his head, so that he looked as if he had just been choked'. This description to me is humorous because it is so descriptive, exaggerated and almost repulsive.

In terms of the frightening element of the grotesque, to me the most frightening part of 'Great Expectations' is Pip's first encounter with the convict Magwitch. The encounter is very sudden, with the convict grabbing Pip and shouting, 'Hold your noise!' and with the convict even threatening Pip's life claiming he will cut Pip's throat. There is very little to suggest this encounter will take place as there is a large contrast between the relative calm nature of the story leading up to it. I also find the convict's wish to eat Pip's cheeks terrifying. The idea of cannibalism has frightened me for a long time, since discovering the films of Hannibal Lecter.

Another frightening scene in the book is where Miss Havisham sets herself alight, 'I saw a great light spring up. In the same moment I saw her running at me, shrieking, with a whirl of fire blazing all about her, and soaring at least as many feet about her head as she was high.' This is a frightening description and to me the use of the word, 'shrieking' is terrifying as you get a sense of her pain. It is also frightening that she got to such a dark place in her life that she chose to do this to herself.

Another element of the grotesque is the meeting of life and death and the blend of the two. To me Miss Havisham is almost ghostly with Pip referring her to being 'corpse-like' and like a 'skeleton'. As well as being a blend of life and death these descriptions are almost frightening.

http://www.literary-articles.com/2010/02/charles-dickens-use-of-humour-in-great.html

http://www.sooperarticles.com/art-entertainment-articles/grotesque-great-expectations-pips-early-encounters-magwitch-652194.html

https://literature-classics.knoji.com/charles-dickenss-greatest-comic-and-grotesque-characters/