The Satis
Penitentiary
~Blog Post #1~
Topic E
April 17, 2015
by Luke Edwards
In Charles
Dicken's Great Expectations, the
Satis House is described as dark and dreary to foreshadow the environment of
the manor itself and disappointment of everything that will come from it. Pip's uncle Pumblechook was able to arrange
for Pip to play at Miss Havisham's manor, believing that she may be able to
raise his social status. When he arrived
at the manor, known as the Satis House, he immediately noticed that the house
"was of old brick, and dismal, and had a great many of iron bars to
it" (33). All of the windows were
either walled up or barred, and there was a large gate outside the courtyard,
making the home resemble a prison. The
entrance had chains across it, and when he entered the building, he realized
everything was dark. The candle that
Estella held was all that illuminated their path as they walked through the
mansion. Miss Havisham wears a deteriorating
wedding dress, is really because she had been left at the altar twenty minutes prior
to her wedding, which also explains why she keeps her clocks at twenty minutes
before nine. This event results in a
hatred for men, and she intends to exploit Estella in order to get revenge on
all men. She torments Pip with his love
for Estella, and whispers in her ear behind her back to "Break their
hearts" (57). Eventually she does,
and Miss Havisham does not help Pip's social status because she decides to make
him be the apprentice of Joe, the blacksmith.
"Satis" translates to "enough," which symbolizes how its owners are never really
happy, but just satisfactory with the house.
Nothing good ever comes out of it, and now it is falling apart. Pip found nothing but heartbreak in the
manor, and it was foreshadowed as soon as Pip glanced at it.
Luke makes a very good point when he states that the description of the house foreshadows what it will be in the future. Dickens’ description of the house makes it sound exactly like a prison. In a way, the house will be a metaphorical prison to Pip. He is imprisoned by his low social standing. Miss Havisham takes advantage of young Pip’s innocence and his lack of an education. She humiliates him in front of her rich friends, and Pip is forced to go along with it. The Satis Penitentiary will always be a representation of Pip’s social prison. Estella is also a “guard” of the prison. She encourages humiliation of Pip, and she is constantly taking advantage of him. She thinks of Pip as so far below her that she can tell him to do whatever she wants. This mansion certainly illustrates the different social classes at this period of the novel.
ReplyDeleteI would have to give Luke a 24.5. He makes excellent connections and backs up all of his opinions with evidence from the text.
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