Objective Proficiency p 16. The Secret Life of Books: Great Expectations. Extra Listening

Tony Jordan, chief scriptwriter on EastEnders for 15 years and creator of Life on Mars and Hustle, brings his writer's insight to a popular classic - Charles Dickens's Great Expectations.
Dickens serialised his novels and, says Jordan, his brilliant characterisation and cliffhangers make him a godfather to contemporary television writers: 'He's a populist, through and through. He wrote for a mass audience - and they adored him for it'.

Jordan investigates why Dickens decided to change the ending of Great Expectations and what this decision reveals about the writer and the man.

By examining original texts and manuscripts to piece together Dickens's troubled life at the time, Jordan discovers how the author's own personal story may have influenced whether his hero Pip would have a future with Estella.

cliffhangers: a situation in a story, film/movie, competition, etc. that is very exciting because you cannot guess what will happen next, or you do not find out immediately what happens next. E.g. The first part of the serial ended with a real cliffhanger. Tonight’s vote on European policy threatens to be a cliffhanger.

populist: a person who believes in or supports populism (= a type of politics that claims to represent the opinions and wishes of ordinary people). E.g. a party of populists.

through and through: completely; in every way. E.g. He's British through and through. 

Great Expectations is one of Charles Dickens' most autobiographical novels, and one of his greatest works.

But the book has often been criticised, not least because the author hurriedly re-wrote a second, happier ending after his first was deemed too miserable. Was he simply “selling out” in revising the ending to make it more audience-friendly?

Tony Jordan was chief screenwriter on EastEnders for 15 years, and was often reminded that if Dickens were alive today he would be doing the very same job. Using clues hidden in the manuscript, he wants to explore the novel from the perspective of a populist writer, and to understand what it tells us about Dickens as a writer and as a man. 

Critics of Dickens have often suggested that he changed the ending simply to please his audience. There is some truth in this, and Dickens always made it clear that he cared much more about the views of his readership than the literary establishment.

Exploring his periodicals, Tony uncovers Dickens' formidable skill as a serialised writer, and his deeply held relationship with his audience.  

But looking into Dickens' past, Tony realises that Dickens' innate populism is only half the story. The novelist always invested a huge amount into his characters - he hated letting them go - but he invested more of himself in Pip than in any other of his protagonists.

Dickens could never keep his own personal problems out of his novels, and his ongoing childhood issues, a recently failed marriage, and an ongoing unconsummated affair with a young actress are all reflected and explored in the text itself. So in giving his hero a happy - or happier - ending, was he in some way giving one to himself? 

Open University

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A Reader's Guide to Great Expectations