A key theme in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations[1] and Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles[2] is cruelty. Both authors address this cruelty in a way that exposes the flaws of a society in which the powerful, whether in terms of class, physical strength, or otherwise, prey on those without power. Both novels are examples of bildungsromans that focus on young characters, such as. Pip and Tess come of age and become adults. In the interpretive novel, the theme of cruelty becomes increasingly important, as it is also used to emphasize the effects of cruelty on the development and maturation of these children. Say no to plagiarism. a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get original essay One of the major factors that influenced the distribution of power in the early 19th century was social class, a divisive force that persisted even despite the growing forces of industrial modernity. In Great Expectations, perhaps the dominant example of the upper classes' cruel treatment of the lower classes is seen between the characters of Compeyson and Magwitch. Compeyson's cruelty, cornering Magwitch into acting as his "black slave",[3] culminates in his denial of guilt and accusations against Magwitch when the two are arrested for their illegal activities. He uses Magwitch, who is described by Compeyson's defense advisor as "ill-bought"[4], as a scapegoat for his own wrongdoings. The depiction of this rich and powerful man's cruelty towards a disproportionately poor and powerless man not only condemns Compeyson as a figurehead of the upper classes, but also turns into a condemnation of society as a whole. The means by which this is achieved is the portrayal of Compeyson not only as Magwitch's scapegoat, but as actually being legally authorized to do so. His reduced sentence is not due to real evidence in his favor, but simply to the observation that he is a “well-bred”[5] man as a member of the wealthy in society. It is on this basis alone that the guilty Compeyson is “recommended to mercy because of his good morals and his bad company”[6], while Magwitch, much less guilty in comparison, has “done everything, almost "near well – except hanged"[6]7]. Dickens's depiction of the benefit of the upper classes at the expense of the lower classes successfully reflects the cruelty of judicial corruption and the yawning wealth gap between rich and poor that was rampant during the Industrial Revolution in early 19th century England. While the poor were exploited through hard labor and the threat of cruelty, the rich took advantage of their position within the capitalist system to increase their own economic gains. Kenneth Harris supports and emphasizes this point by asserting that "the industrial revolution... had unleashed forces of greed, cruelty and selfishness which had made society ugly in its appearance and materialistic in its outlook"[8]. the lower classes are cruelly exploited for the benefit of the upper classes, albeit in different ways. Unlike Compeyson of Great Expectations, who uses Magwitch's unrewarded criminal labor for his own financial gain in the true spirit of the industrial revolution, Alec d'Urberville of Tess of the d'Urbervilles uses Tess' body for his own sexual gain and physics. Kevin Swafford supports this idea of ​​class division and cruelty by asserting that "because of the very nature ofthe social structure and relationships created in the narrative, Tess is essentially conceived and treated as property or potential exchange value”[9]. Indeed, the social structure he is referring to is that of capitalism, with the same wealth gap as under Great Expectations. However, in addition to depicting the cruelty of those who hold power towards those who do not, Hardy also depicts a society in which the powerless will be cruel to others who are powerless in order to gain the power they lack. In Tess of the d'Urbervilles, we see Tess's own father forcing Tess into the crosshairs of the spoiled and narcissistic Alec's insane desire, in the hopes of gaining recognition. Similarly, Great Expectations shows Pip, who is essentially the moral center of the novel, as showing signs of his capacity to be cruel in order to force his way to the top of the contemporary capitalist system, as he breaks the Biddy's heart. and starts treating Joe like he's beneath him. In this sense, both novels reflect the developments of the industrial revolution. The social structure, although still defined largely by a wide class gap, began to lose its rigidity as it became possible for people to migrate between classes by means other than blood and blood. birthright. In the case of Great Expectations, another group that is depicted inflicting cruelty on a less powerful group is the adult on the child. As a bildungsroman, the novel focuses largely on the impact of a cruel and unjust society on the growing up and coming of age of society's youngest members. In Great Expectations, Pip and Estella are key examples of children who are victims of the cruelty of adults who abuse their power. The first appears to have grown up in the shadow of the cruel violence of his sister, who expresses her anger and discontent. over his physically smaller and weaker brother. Young Pip himself calls her "almighty sister"[10], thus emphasizing her helplessness in the face of her intimidation. The latter suffers a different kind of cruelty, because it is psychological rather than physical. Miss Havisham adopts a poor, innocent child and distorts his perception of the world, of others and of his own emotions. Estella herself highlights the way in which his defenselessness and innocence are exploited when she tells Pip that "[he] had not [his] little minds sharpened by their intrigues against [him], repressed and defenseless – [she] did it”[11]. Nicolas Tredell supports the presence of adults using their power to inflict cruelty, as he calls the novel "concerned with the interaction of painful, vivid individual experience with particular types of social order in which adults exercise a largely uncontrolled power over children.” 12]. Indeed, Dickens uses this dynamic of his characters' child guardians to draw attention to the widespread exploitation of children and the lack of concern over blatant child abuse in early 19th century England. Meanwhile, in Tess of the D'Urbervilles, young Tess is taken advantage of less because of her physical helplessness, but rather more because of her mental innocence. James Gibson highlights Alec's exploitation of Tess's childish naivety by stating that "he takes advantage of Tess's innocence and vulnerability, and such a relationship is considered by Hardy to be completely deplorable".[13] Indeed, Hardy portrays Alec as a stupidly cruel character, who allows his basal sexual desires to take precedence over his morality, while portraying Tess as a much more humanized character as we see her suffer and understand theroots of his final act of violence. all the more obvious as Hardy asks "why is it that on this beautiful feminine fabric, still practically virgin as snow, we should have traced a line such as it was destined to receive". This embodies the cruelty of Alec's destruction of Tess's virginity and innocence, as the "snow-blank" canvas is horribly marred by his sexual assault. Therefore, Gibson's observation that Hardy views the persecution of the weak by the powerful as unjust and reprehensible carries substantial weight in light of Tess's clear emergence as a sympathetic character at least and a blameless victim at most. . It is tempting to assert that: contrary to the superficial appearance of the powerless on whom the cruelty of the powerful prays, the powerless sometimes show themselves capable of fighting against their aggressors or attackers and gaining the upper hand. In Hardy's novel, Tess succeeds in inflicting even greater brutality on her rapist than he had inflicted on her. Likewise, Miss Havisham embarks on a similar revenge journey by raising Estella to help her break hearts, just as hers once was. However, unlike Tess who takes revenge on the same man who hurt her, Havisham generalizes the cruelty of her brother and ex-lover towards her as the cruelty of the entire male gender. To this end, she achieves her goal to some extent, as she breaks Pip's heart. who tells her that he “is as unhappy as [she] could have wanted him to be”[14]. However, in the end, both characters receive equally horrific punishments for their revenge against those who wronged them. Sara Thornton highlights this fact in the case of Miss Havisham by suggesting that "it is Miss Havisham's all-consuming and cruel qualities that link her to other fiery and dangerous women destined for destruction in Dickens...their 'fire' comes from the same self-devouring power. fire of vengeance that burns slowly in Miss Havisham”[15]. Indeed, her fixation on revenge ultimately indirectly leads to her death, as she begs Pip for forgiveness and accidentally sets herself ablaze in the process. This can be seen as symbolic of the self-destructive nature of seeking justice against cruelty. Likewise, Tess's violent stance against Alec is followed by her subsequent execution by hanging, with her life taken in payment for his. The message here is clear; the victim cannot hope to gain the upper hand over the cruelty of their attacker without having to accept ruthless and harsh consequences, without any concession for the suffering that led them to seek revenge. Joseph Caroll highlights the injustice of this situation by stating that "when Tess of the d'Urbervilles is hanged for having stabbed her rapist to death, Hardy is explicitly protesting against a cosmic principle of injustice"[16]. Yvonne Kozlovsky underlies this injustice by asserting that "the idea that Tess was the victim of an injustice was anathema to British conservative and moralist censors: as a member of the lower classes, they believed, death suited her." »[17]. This statement brings us back to the point made above about injustice between social classes. Tess is a working-class woman, which makes her suffering much less than that of her upper-class rapist. Additionally, in Great Expectations, Dickens describes the occurrence of human cruelty as a cycle, with victims of cruelty and abuse eventually becoming perpetrators themselves. The primary example of this cycle of cruelty can be seen through the character of Miss Havisham, a woman so damaged by her abandonment and fraud at the hands of the man she loved that she devotespractically his life inflicting the same cruelty on the whole world. of the masculine gender. However, the real victim of Miss Havisham's cruelty is her adopted daughter Estella, who is forced to endure emotional and psychological abuse in order to make her the perfect tool for revenge. Indeed, Havisham herself tells Pip that she “stole his heart and put ice in its place”. Here, the repercussions of cruelty towards children on their development and transition to adulthood are clearly highlighted. Every aspect of Estella's psychological and emotional development is distorted by her cruel upbringing, including her empathy, morality, and capacity to love. Estella admits to Pip that "it seems... that there are feelings, fantasies... that she is not capable of understanding... it is in the nature that is formed within her"[18]. Indeed, the nature she speaks of was formed under the corrupt leadership of Miss Havisham. Dickens also presents an alternative effect of cruelty on children, through the character of Pip. The novel follows Pip as he falls in love with a girl who has shown him nothing but emotional coldness and cruelty. Despite this, he seems to be attracted to her specifically because of her poor treatment of him. The implication here is that people who were victims of cruelty as children grow up to view submission to victimization as the norm. Joe too was violently abused as a child and therefore married a woman who continues this abuse against him. This is evidenced by the fact that Pip laments that "[he] wished Joe had been bought more gently, and then [he] should have been bought too" [19]. In other words, if Joe had been able to recognize Mrs. Joe's cruelty for what it really was, then he would have been inclined to intervene not only for himself, but also for Pip. Similarly, in Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Tess begins as a character who embodies purity and innocence. However, her rape by Alec d'Urberville constitutes not only a stain on her physical and virginal innocence, but also on her psychological innocence. When juxtaposed with his initially established moral purity, the brutality of his murder of Alec seems inconsistent with his nature at best. The implication here is the idea that cruelty can change a person's perception of the boundary between what is and what is not moral behavior, causing them to behave as cruelly as the person who inflicted pain on him in the first place. As Alec's body is discovered, the description of how "the tip of the blade had touched the victim's heart" can be seen as symbolic. Alec made her lose Angel, breaking her heart in the process, and in retaliation she literally breaks his by penetrating him with a knife. Here we can also note that his violent penetration of her body with a kitchen knife is akin to his phallic penetration earlier in the novel. Samarian Kumar Paul AN Prasad highlights the true ramifications of the rape on Tess's morality and previous kindness by stating that "she has changed a lot from the innocent girl...Now her actions are totally mechanical and her feelings and emotions died with the death of her. chastity”[20]. This recalls Estella's dormant emotions resulting from Havisham's manipulative cruelty. In conclusion, the theme of cruelty in Great Expectations and Tess of D'Urberville is largely treated as an act that those who have power inflict on those who do not. This cruelty takes the form of exploitation or abuse in order to achieve profit, desire, or personal relief. Whether adults versus children, experienced versus innocent, or rich versus poor, the weak, 2013.