My friend (literatelady)and I were sitting here in English 9 and having an argument with our teacher about the ending of Great Expectations. She says that in the end Pip and Estella spend the rest of their days together; we, OTOH, disagree.
Thought I’d leave it up to you Dopers here in the ‘ciety to answer our quandary.
Thanks in advance.
`Brilharma
Here’s the ending:
It appears to have been left intentionally ambivalent, just so that centuries after it was written people on message boards can still debate it. However IMHO I would argue you’re more right than your teacher. Estella’s words: ‘continue friends apart’ are far less ambiguous than Pip’s; ‘I saw no shadow of another parting from her’ may mean that they will part, but it won’t affect him (by casting a shadow on him).
FYI, the 1946 version of the novel went with your teacher’s interpretation and saw a romantic reconciliation between Pip and Estella.
The edition I read in highschool included as an appendix an alternate ending that Dickens’s readers demanded. Which ending are we discussing?
My copy of “Great Expectations” features two endings, but the differences are only in nuance. It’s not as if Pip and Estella get married in version one and are parted forever in version two.
Both end with Pip meeting Estella again, having a pleasant conversation and parting on friendly terms. In neither version do they fall into each others arms and resume a romance.
The only difference is, one version completely closes the door on Pip and Estella (Pip has moved on, now regards her only as a friend, and isn’t going to pursue her any further), while in the other, the door is left open, with an implication that Pip still carries a torch for her and expects their relationship to resume.
Yep, this is the actual ending, not the alternate. Our teacher translated the line “I saw no shadow of another parting from her.” in the way that they would never part again, ie living their lives together. We thought that it means that they never met again, therefore would never part. (We missed points because of this on a test.) If anybody has any other reliable sources that tell exactly what happens, they would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a million!
~literatelady
iirc, the thought of their never seeing another again was too gloomy and was the whole point for dickens to produce the second (your) version.