Charles Dickens wrote only two of his 15 novels in the first person: David Copperfield and Great Expectations. Both are semiautobiographical and centrally concerned with class mobility. But in key ways they’re mirror images of each other. David Copperfield, published in 1850, charts the title character’s fulfilling progress from poverty to fortune, his talent and determination bringing him success and happiness. Great Expectations, published a decade later, focuses on young, impoverished Pip—equally talented and determined—whose efforts to better his station bring him mostly anguish, doubt, and a crushing loss of self. Not only that, in Dickens’s original version of the story, he doesn’t even get the girl.
But it might have been more compelling if Gupta had allowed some ambivalence into the show’s politics. While in the original novel Pip’s ambition to rise above his station is to some degree laudable, here it’s unequivocally condemned. From the stern reprimand of his sister’s wise husband, Joe, to the subtle admonishments of his sole close friend, Biddy, it’s always clear that Pip is betraying his family and his heritage by pursuing an English education. There’s little cause to root for him, to wonder if he’ll find a successful way to navigate an ethical minefield. Instead we’re left to merely witness his misguided folly and congratulate ourselves on knowing better.
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