Re: Inspiration

Charles Dickens (cdickens@RMPLC.CO.UK)
Mon, 2 Mar 1998 14:07:46 -0100 

My dear Miss Michelle,

  For the most part, I think I can venture to say, writers don't think of
themes which they then, so to speak, illustrate.  They think of stories,
from which themes, if they are lucky, emerge.  In a way, I look at my books,
when themes are the topic of discussion, in much the way that you, as a
reader, do.
  You won't be surprised to learn that, when I was writing "great
Expectations," I did think about disillusionment and broken hopes, about the
relationship between adults and children.  But most of all I thought about
Pip, the kind of boy and man he was, his story, how he felt at different
moments within it.
  If I thought about a theme it was the theme of love, how it flourishes,
how it withers, how it may be betrayed, what gets in its way.
Disillusionment, broken hopes, the relations between adults and children -
these are all reflections of my abiding interest in love.

Faithfully yours,


Charles Dickens
________________________________________________________________________________



Dear Mr. Dickens,
>I thank you very much for your answer. You don't know how much you are
>helping me with my revisions. I wanted to ask you something else: Is the
>main theme of GREAT EXPECTATIONS about disillusionment and broken hopes?
>Or is it about the relationships between adults and children?
>
>Your faithfully,
>
>Michelle.
>>
>>
>>
>>>Dear Mr. Dickens,
>>>Thank you for your quick reply; it will help me in one of my essays. I
>>>am revising for my forthcoming A-Level exams in June.
>>>I would like to be a writer as well one day. Since you are the
>>>professional in this area and one of my favourite authors, I would
>like
>>>to know what it was that personally inspired you. Indeed, some of your
>>>characters are very out of the ordinary.
>>>And please, could you tell me what the moral is behind GREAT
>>>EXPECTATIONS?
>>>
>>>Yours faithfully,
>>>
>>>Michelle.
>>>
>>>______________________________________________________
>>>Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>>>
>>>
>>
>>======================
>>Charles Dickens
>>charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
>>Author
>>
>>
>
>
>______________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
>

======================
Charles Dickens
charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
Author