{"id":969,"date":"2022-10-28T16:49:55","date_gmt":"2022-10-28T16:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/?p=969"},"modified":"2022-10-28T16:49:55","modified_gmt":"2022-10-28T16:49:55","slug":"great-expectations-is-a-romantic-comedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/2022\/10\/28\/great-expectations-is-a-romantic-comedy\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Expectations is a Romantic Comedy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Could <\/span>Great Expectations <\/span><\/i>by Charles Dickens be considered a romantic comedy? There are many people who have interpreted the novel as a romance novel, but it is never clearly defined to be one. If we were to follow some of the rules of a romantic comedy, <\/span>Great Expectations <\/span><\/i>could be considered one. When deciding the rules of a romantic comedy, I look to the seminal Nora Ephron classic <\/span>When Harry Met Sally<\/span><\/i>. The rules based off of that film are as follows; an invested interest in the two main characters’ romantic plot line, either a near break up or a complete separation when they are either still friends or in the relationship, and a grand gesture.<\/span><\/p>\n

Readers are drawn into Pip\u2019s story almost immediately. The first moment we meet our main character, he is in a graveyard describing how he has learned his family\u2019s history through the gravestones of his deceased parents and siblings in stating that he learns his family’s \u201cname on authority of [my father\u2019s] tombstone\u2026\u201d (Dickens 3). This part of the novel does two things in favor of <\/span>Great Expectations<\/span><\/i> being a romantic comedy. First, it adds an air of mystery and intrigue surrounding Pip. Why does he spend so much time in a graveyard? What happened to the rest of his family? These are questions that we never get answered, but it is not necessary for them to be. Their only job is to draw the reader in. Second, it\u2019s comedic. What child learns his family history from gravestones? It gives us as readers something to laugh at. As for Estella, she is more of a mystery. We have no clue who her family is and how she came to live with the eccentric Miss. Havisham until much later in the novel. We as readers are curious as to how the relationship with Pip and Estella will play out and are intrigued to learn more about Estella\u2019s unknown past and Pip\u2019s unknown benefactor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The separation is more of a natural separation compared to most romantic comedies. In <\/span>When Harry Met Sally<\/span><\/i>, the main characters end up sleeping together and get into a verbal argument that albeit gets physical when Harry receives the most deserved slap in human history, and their relationship splits apart. In <\/span>Great Expectations<\/span><\/i>, Pip receives a large sum of money from a mysterious benefactor and moves to London, away from Estella, thus creating their big separation. The break in time Pip and Estella spend together is a moment that is in most romantic comedies where romantic interest is fostered in either both of the love interests, or is beginning to be reciprocated by the second love interest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The last major rule of a classic romantic comedy is the big romantic gesture at the end of the film or novel. In <\/span>When Harry Met Sally<\/span><\/i>, the gesture involves Harry running across the city of New York on New Year’s Eve to tell Sally he loves her just in time for the new year. For Pip and Estella\u2019s big romantic climax, it is a much more subtle gesture. Pip finds Estella near the now destroyed Satis House. As they talk, they catch each other up on their lives and leave with Pip seeing \u201cno shadow of another parting from her\u201d (483). This gesture is small but still a heartfelt one and provides us with a happy ending to the novel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Great Expectations <\/span><\/i>is a classic novel filled with love, heartbreak, passion, and Dickens\u2019 wacky commentary \u2014 all characteristics of a rom com. With an ending that is left open to interpretation, people have classified the novel in multiple different ways. I thoroughly believe that it is a romantic comedy. The novel hits the three big marks of a romance novel; two main love interests that draw the readers in, a split or separation between those two characters, and a big romantic gesture. Add in Dickens\u2019 comedy, the novel becomes an early version of a romantic comedy.<\/span><\/p>\n

*Attached are the two aforementioned scenes for context*<\/p>\n

The iconic slap\/big breakup from When Harry Met Sally<\/em><\/p>\n