Intertextual references to Great Expectations

Even as Matilda forays into the public realm of the library and is introduced to “books (which) transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives” (21), her indoctrination by consumerist ideology continues “in the wonderful adventures of Pip and old Miss Havisham and her cobwebbed house and by the spell of magic that Dickens the great story-teller had woven with his words.” (16) Dickens of course, published Great Expectations in installments from 1860-1861. As mentioned in the introduction, the mid nineteenth century was the peak of the development of modern capitalist society. As a side point, Willy Wonka with his “black top hat, tail coat and fine gold-topped walking cane” physically resembles the Victorian gentleman (80). Great Expectations as a Victorian text is largely about the acquisition of great expectations or wealth, a preoccupation with the people of those times. As Kristeva says, “every text is from the outset under the jurisdiction of other discourses which impose a universe on it”. Recalling that language and texts reveal the conditions of society, the significance of Dahl’s reference to Dickens is in the imposition of Great Expectation’s universe unto Dahl’s narrative world. Pip’s Bildungsroman mirrors Matilda’s own economically and politically centered maturation.

Therefore, the intertextual reference to the earlier text reflects an authorial intention or awareness, of the political balance in the world today that is like the nineteenth century, closely associated with wealth. As will be seen later, growing up in Matilda is largely associated with power and money.

Matilda’s relationship with mindless consumerism is complex. On one hand, the household she lives in is not simply a stereotypical portrayal of people “so wrapped up in their own silly little lives” but one in which sons “inherit [their] father’s love of crookery” [sic]. (10, 24) The word “crookery” as a pun on ‘cookery’ reiterates the family’s obsession with consumption. As part of this household and therefore an heir to the culture of the family, Matilda is part of a capitalist consumerist culture.

With this in mind, Matilda’s reaction to her father’s acquisition of wealth is not at an ideological level but at a moral level. As Mr Wormwood points out, “the food in this house…is bought with the profits.” (25). With respect to Dickens, Matilda’s reaction to her father’s profits is similar to Pip’s reaction to Magwitch.

“It’s dirty money,” Matilda said. “I hate it.” (25).

Being subsumed under the culture of consumption, like Pip, Matilda’s abhorrence is not against the money, it is directed to the source of the money.