controversial endings to Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations
Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, is a very intriguing novel that takes place in the early nineteenth century during a time in which the Industrial Revolution was taking place. ... In this novel, Dickens does a tremendous job with tying in all the different aspects of this time period and he even provides us with two different endings. When Dickens wrote Great Expectations one of his friends, Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, was shown the proofs of the last section of the novel. In turn, Bulwer argues that the ending did not fit with what the readers wanted therefore causing Dickens to write a new ending to the novel. Now that Dickens had his readers in mind he wrote a very different ending that has proven to be quite controversial among many readers today. There are definitely distinct differences between the two endings but it all depends on the reader as to which one is which. ... In addition, readers find that one ending fits better into the theme of the novel as well as its general flow. With these two different endings I have found that I prefer the original ending as suppose to the revised ending in which Bulwer aided Dickens. The differences above are ones that I find to be the most distinct between the two endings and help validate why I think that the original ending is superior. ... I can’t think of any other way to make this ending more romantic than it already is, however, I don’t feel that it fits with the aesthetics I would like to be left with at the end, which is another difference between the original and revised endings. ... These two differences lean toward the two different endings of the book. The fact that I think that the revised ending is more romantic than the other does not mean that I think it’s the superior ending to Great Expectations.