Both of these excellent characters are flat characters, in
that they only have two or three attributes and never develop or change as the novel
progresses. The Aged Parent is noted for his deafness and his love for his son and the
pride he has of him. This of course results in hilarious scenes when his audience has
but to nod to communicate with him and the difficulties that anyone has in engaging him
in any topic of conversation. Consider the difficulties that Pip
experiences:
As I could not sit there nodding at him
perpetually, without making some other atttempt to interest him, I shouted an
inquiry...
Miss Skiffins is
presented as another larger-than-life Dickensian character who is notable for her
woodeness and her fondness for garish colours in her
dress:
Miss
Skiffins was of a wooden appearance, and was, like her escort, in the post-office branch
of the service. She might have been some two or three years younger than Wemmick, and I
judged her to stand possessed of portable property. the cut of her dress from the waist
upward, both before and behind, made her figure very like a boy's kite; and I might have
pronounced her gown a little too decidedly orange, and her gloves a little too intensely
green.
She is thus introduced
as another flat character in this chapter who is notable only in terms of her
relationship with Wemmick and the happiness that he manages to attain outside of his
work.
No comments:
Post a Comment