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Great Expectations

by Charles Dickens

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Student Question

What is the significance of people rearranging their clothes after Magwitch's trial in Great Expectations?

Quick answer:

In Great Expectations, the observation that people at Magwitch’s trial rearranged their clothes as they might do at church indicates both the spectacle and the solemnity of the occasion. Before Abel Magwitch goes on trial, the verdict against him seems predetermined. In chapter 56, Pip notes the theatrical atmosphere among the courtroom’s spectators. The pronouncement of the death sentence inspires a more solemn, church-like mood. The spectators’ attitude largely changes from watching a show to reflecting on mortality.

Expert Answers

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Near the end of Charles Dickens’s novel Great Expectations, Abel Magwitch is apprehended trying to flee the country. Because he has violated the terms of his previous convictions and sentences and his actions led to Compeyson’s death, the seriously injured Magwitch is arrested and tried. His conviction, which carries a mandatory death sentence, seems to be a foregone conclusion. In court, Pip literally stays by Magwitch’s side, even holding his hand. He notes the bright, theatrical atmosphere in the courtroom: thirty-two convicts await sentencing, and the room is packed with spectators. The scene begins with

the vivid colours of the moment, down to the drops of April rain on the windows of the court, glittering in the rays of April sun.

Along with the sheriff, court officials and attendants, Pip describes the “great gallery full of people,—a large theatrical audience.”

Although the judge will pronounce the death sentence for all thirty-two convicts, Magwitch’s case has generated the most publicity. As the judge prepares to speak, Pip notes that the contrast between the rain outside and the light entering the room. He makes a comparison between the court’s judgment and that of God.

[A] broad shaft of light …. [was] perhaps reminding some among the audience how both were passing on, with absolute equality, to the greater Judgment that knoweth all things, and cannot err.

The severity of the multiple death sentences tones down the earlier bright atmosphere. The comparison of court to a church emphasizes the solemnity of the experience. Dickens also implies an element of hypocrisy in the spectators’ attitudes. Although they seem more subdued, they still remain interested in Abel, to whom they point as they exit the gallery.

[W]hile the audience got up (putting their dresses right, as they might at church or elsewhere), and pointed down at this criminal or at that, and most of all at him and me.

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