La Sra. Dalloway cubre un día de la mañana a la noche en la vida de una mujer.

Clarissa Dalloway ,
una ama de casa de clase alta, camina por su barrio de Londres para prepararse para la fiesta que
organizará esa noche. Cuando regresa de las compras de flores, un viejo pretendiente y amigo,
Peter Walsh , pasa inesperadamente por su casa. Los dos siempre se han juzgado con dureza, y su
encuentro en el presente se entrelaza con sus pensamientos del pasado. Años antes, Clarissa
rechazó la propuesta de matrimonio de Peter y Peter nunca lo ha superado. Peter le pregunta a
Clarissa si está feliz con su esposo, Richard, pero antes de que ella pueda responder, su hija,
Elizabeth, entra a la habitación. Peter se va y va a Regent's Park. Él piensa en la negativa de
Clarissa, que todavía lo obsesiona.

El punto de vista luego se traslada a Septimus, un veterano de la Primera Guerra Mundial que
resultó herido en una guerra de trincheras y ahora sufre una conmoción. Septimus y su esposa
italiana, Lucrezia, pasan el tiempo en Regent's Park. Están esperando la cita de Septimus con Sir
William Bradshaw, un célebre psiquiatra. Antes de la guerra, Septimus era un joven poeta en
ciernes y amante de Shakespeare; cuando estalló la guerra, se alistó de inmediato por razones
patrióticas románticas. Se adormeció ante los horrores de la guerra y sus secuelas: cuando murió
su amigo Evans, sintió poca tristeza. Ahora, Septimus no ve nada valioso en la Inglaterra por la que
luchó, y ha perdido el deseo de preservar su sociedad o la de él mismo. Suicida, él cree que su falta
de sentimiento es un crimen. Claramente, las experiencias de Septimus en la guerra lo han
marcado permanentemente, y él tiene serios problemas mentales Sin embargo, Sir William no
escucha lo que dice Septimus y diagnostica "una falta de proporción". Sir William planea separar a
Septimus de Lucrezia y enviarlo a una institución mental en el país.

Richard Dalloway almuerza con Hugh Whitbread y Lady Bruton, miembros de la alta sociedad. Los
hombres ayudan a Lady Bruton a escribir una carta al Times, El periódico más grande de Londres.
Después del almuerzo, Richard regresa a su casa en Clarissa con un gran ramo de rosas. Él tiene la
intención de decirle que la ama, pero descubre que no puede, porque ha pasado tanto tiempo
desde la última vez que lo dijo. Clarissa considera el vacío que existe entre las personas, incluso
entre marido y mujer. A pesar de que ella valora la privacidad que puede mantener en su
matrimonio, considerando que es vital para el éxito de la relación, al mismo tiempo, encuentra
ligeramente inquietante el hecho de que Richard no sabe todo sobre ella. Clarissa ve a Elizabeth y
su maestra de historia, Miss Kilman, que van de compras. Las dos mujeres mayores se desprecian
apasionadamente, cada una creyendo que la otra es una fuerza opresiva sobre Elizabeth. Mientras
tanto, Septimus y Lucrezia están en su departamento, disfrutando de un momento de felicidad
juntos antes de que los hombres vengan a llevar a Septimus al manicomio. Uno de los doctores de
Septimus, el Dr. Holmes, llega, y Septimus teme que el doctor destruya su alma. Para evitar este
destino, salta de una ventana a su muerte.
Peter oye que pasa la ambulancia para recoger el cuerpo de Septimus y se maravilla irónicamente
al nivel de la civilización londinense. Va a la fiesta de Clarissa, donde se reúnen la mayoría de los
personajes principales de la novela. Clarissa trabaja duro para hacer que su fiesta sea un éxito,
pero se siente insatisfecha por su propio papel y agudamente consciente del ojo crítico de Peter.
Todos los asistentes a la fiesta, pero especialmente Peter y Sally Seton, han, hasta cierto punto,
fallado en cumplir los sueños de su juventud. Aunque indudablemente el orden social está
cambiando, Elizabeth y los miembros de su generación probablemente repitan los errores de la
generación de Clarissa. Sir William Bradshaw llega tarde y su esposa explica que uno de sus
pacientes, el joven veterano (Septimus), se suicidó. Clarissa se retira a la privacidad de una
habitación pequeña para considerar la muerte de Septimus. Ella comprende que estaba abrumado
por la vida y que hombres como Sir William hacen que la vida sea intolerable. Ella se identifica con
Septimus, lo admira por haber dado el paso y por no comprometer su alma. Ella siente, con su
cómoda posición como anfitriona de la sociedad, responsable de su muerte. La fiesta se acerca
cuando los invitados comienzan a irse. Clarissa entra a la habitación,

esumen

Clarissa Dalloway , una mujer de clase alta de cincuenta y dos años casada con un político, decide
comprar flores ella misma para la fiesta que organiza esa noche en lugar de enviar a un sirviente a
comprarlas. Londres está bullicioso y lleno de ruido este miércoles, casi cinco años después del Día
del Armisticio. El Big Ben ataca. El rey y la reina están en el palacio. Es una fresca mañana de
mediados de junio, y Clarissa recuerda un verano de niñas en la propiedad de su padre, Bourton.
Se ve a los dieciocho años, de pie junto a la ventana, sintiendo como si algo horrible pudiera
suceder. A pesar de los peligros, y a pesar de tener solo unas pocas ramitas de conocimiento
transmitidas por su institutriz de infancia, Clarissa ama la vida. Su único regalo, ella siente, es la
capacidad de conocer a las personas por instinto.

Clarissa se encuentra con su viejo amigo Hugh Whitbread. Hugh y Clarissa intercambian unas
palabras sobre la esposa de Hugh, Evelyn, quien sufre de una dolencia interna no especificada.
Además del adecuado y admirable Hugh, Clarissa se siente cohibida por su sombrero.

El pasado y el presente continúan mezclándose mientras camina hacia la florería. Ella recuerda
cómo su viejo amigo Peter Walsh desaprobaba a Hugh. Ella piensa cariñosamente en Peter, quien
una vez le pidió que se casara con él. Ella lo rechazó. La hizo llorar cuando dijo que se casaría con
un primer ministro y haría fiestas. Clarissa continúa sintiendo el aguijón de sus críticas, pero ahora
también siente enojo porque Peter no logró ninguno de sus sueños.
Ella continúa caminando y considera la idea de la muerte. Ella cree que sobrevivirá en el
movimiento perpetuo de las calles modernas de Londres, en las vidas de sus amigos e incluso
extraños, en los árboles, en su casa. Ella lee líneas sobre la muerte de un libro en el escaparate de
una tienda. Clarissa reflexiona que ella no hace cosas por sí mismas, sino para afectar las opiniones
de otras personas sobre ella. Ella imagina que su vida volverá a vivir. Ella lamenta su rostro, picudo
como el de un pájaro, y su delgado cuerpo. Se detiene para mirar una imagen holandesa, y se
siente invisible. Ella es consciente de que el mundo la ve como la esposa de su esposo, como la
Sra. Richard Dalloway .

Clarissa mira por la ventana de una tienda de guantes y contempla a su hija, Elizabeth, a quien le
importa poco la moda y prefiere pasar tiempo con su perro o su maestra de historia, la señorita
Kilman, con quien lee libros de oraciones y asiste a la comunión. Clarissa se pregunta si Elizabeth
se está enamorando de la señorita Kilman, pero Richard cree que es solo una fase. Clarissa piensa
en su odio por la señorita Kilman, que ella sabe que es irracional, como un monstruo.

Un auto resulta contraproducente mientras Clarissa está en la floristería, y ella y varias personas
se vuelven para observar a la ilustre persona que pasa en un gran automóvil. Se preguntan si es la
reina o el primer ministro detrás de las persianas. El coche inspira sentimientos de patriotismo en
muchos espectadores.

Mrs. Dalloway covers one day from morning to night in one woman’s life. Clarissa Dalloway, an
upper-class housewife, walks through her London neighborhood to prepare for the party she will
host that evening. When she returns from flower shopping, an old suitor and friend, Peter Walsh,
drops by her house unexpectedly. The two have always judged each other harshly, and their
meeting in the present intertwines with their thoughts of the past. Years earlier, Clarissa refused
Peter’s marriage proposal, and Peter has never quite gotten over it. Peter asks Clarissa if she is
happy with her husband, Richard, but before she can answer, her daughter, Elizabeth, enters the
room. Peter leaves and goes to Regent’s Park. He thinks about Clarissa’s refusal, which still
obsesses him.

The point of view then shifts to Septimus, a veteran of World War I who was injured in trench
warfare and now suffers from shell shock. Septimus and his Italian wife, Lucrezia, pass time in
Regent’s Park. They are waiting for Septimus’s appointment with Sir William Bradshaw, a
celebrated psychiatrist. Before the war, Septimus was a budding young poet and lover of
Shakespeare; when the war broke out, he enlisted immediately for romantic patriotic reasons. He
became numb to the horrors of war and its aftermath: when his friend Evans died, he felt little
sadness. Now Septimus sees nothing of worth in the England he fought for, and he has lost the
desire to preserve either his society or himself. Suicidal, he believes his lack of feeling is a crime.
Clearly Septimus’s experiences in the war have permanently scarred him, and he has serious
mental problems. However, Sir William does not listen to what Septimus says and diagnoses “a
lack of proportion.” Sir William plans to separate Septimus from Lucrezia and send him to a mental
institution in the country.

Richard Dalloway eats lunch with Hugh Whitbread and Lady Bruton, members of high society. The
men help Lady Bruton write a letter to the Times, London's largest newspaper. After lunch,
Richard returns home to Clarissa with a large bunch of roses. He intends to tell her that he loves
her but finds that he cannot, because it has been so long since he last said it. Clarissa considers the
void that exists between people, even between husband and wife. Even though she values the
privacy she is able to maintain in her marriage, considering it vital to the success of the
relationship, at the same time she finds slightly disturbing the fact that Richard doesn’t know
everything about her. Clarissa sees off Elizabeth and her history teacher, Miss Kilman, who are
going shopping. The two older women despise one another passionately, each believing the other
to be an oppressive force over Elizabeth. Meanwhile, Septimus and Lucrezia are in their
apartment, enjoying a moment of happiness together before the men come to take Septimus to
the asylum. One of Septimus’s doctors, Dr. Holmes, arrives, and Septimus fears the doctor will
destroy his soul. In order to avoid this fate, he jumps from a window to his death.

Peter hears the ambulance go by to pick up Septimus’s body and marvels ironically at the level of
London’s civilization. He goes to Clarissa’s party, where most of the novel’s major characters are
assembled. Clarissa works hard to make her party a success but feels dissatisfied by her own role
and acutely conscious of Peter’s critical eye. All the partygoers, but especially Peter and Sally
Seton, have, to some degree, failed to accomplish the dreams of their youth. Though the social
order is undoubtedly changing, Elizabeth and the members of her generation will probably repeat
the errors of Clarissa’s generation. Sir William Bradshaw arrives late, and his wife explains that one
of his patients, the young veteran (Septimus), has committed suicide. Clarissa retreats to the
privacy of a small room to consider Septimus’s death. She understands that he was overwhelmed
by life and that men like Sir William make life intolerable. She identifies with Septimus, admiring
him for having taken the plunge and for not compromising his soul. She feels, with her
comfortable position as a society hostess, responsible for his death. The party nears its close as
guests begin to leave. Clarissa enters the room, and her presence fills Peter with a great
excitement.

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Clarissa Dalloway, the heroine of the novel, struggles constantly to balance her internal life with
the external world. Her world consists of glittering surfaces, such as fine fashion, parties, and high
society, but as she moves through that world she probes beneath those surfaces in search of
deeper meaning. Yearning for privacy, Clarissa has a tendency toward introspection that gives her
a profound capacity for emotion, which many other characters lack. However, she is always
concerned with appearances and keeps herself tightly composed, seldom sharing her feelings with
anyone. She uses a constant stream of convivial chatter and activity to keep her soul locked safely
away, which can make her seem shallow even to those who know her well.

Constantly overlaying the past and the present, Clarissa strives to reconcile herself to life despite
her potent memories. For most of the novel she considers aging and death with trepidation, even
as she performs life-affirming actions, such as buying flowers. Though content, Clarissa never lets
go of the doubt she feels about the decisions that have shaped her life, particularly her decision to
marry Richard instead of Peter Walsh. She understands that life with Peter would have been
difficult, but at the same time she is uneasily aware that she sacrificed passion for the security and
tranquility of an upper-class life. At times she wishes for a chance to live life over again. She
experiences a moment of clarity and peace when she watches her old neighbor through her
window, and by the end of the day she has come to terms with the possibility of death. Like
Septimus, Clarissa feels keenly the oppressive forces in life, and she accepts that the life she has is
all she’ll get. Her will to endure, however, prevails.

Clarissa Dalloway - The eponymous protagonist. The novel begins with Clarissa’s point of view and
follows her perspective more closely than that of any other character. As Clarissa prepares for the
party she will give that evening, we are privy to her meandering thoughts. Clarissa is vivacious and
cares a great deal about what people think of her, but she is also self-reflective. She often
questions life’s true meaning, wondering whether happiness is truly possible. She feels both a
great joy and a great dread about her life, both of which manifest in her struggles to strike a
balance between her desire for privacy and her need to communicate with others. Throughout the
day Clarissa reflects on the crucial summer when she chose to marry her husband, Richard, instead
of her friend Peter Walsh. Though she is happy with Richard, she is not entirely certain she made
the wrong choice about Peter, and she also thinks frequently about her friend Sally Seton, whom
she also once loved.

Read an in-depth analysis of Clarissa Dalloway.

Septimus Warren Smith - A World War I veteran suffering from shell shock, married to an Italian
woman named Lucrezia. Though he is insane, Septimus views English society in much the same
way as Clarissa does, and he struggles, as she does, to both maintain his privacy and fulfill his need
to communicate with others. He shares so many traits with Clarissa that he could be her double.
Septimus is pale, has a hawklike posture, and wears a shabby overcoat. Before the war he was a
young, idealistic, aspiring poet. After the war he regards human nature as evil and believes he is
guilty of not being able to feel. Rather than succumb to the society he abhors, he commits suicide.

Read an in-depth analysis of Septimus Warren Smith.

Peter Walsh - A close friend of Clarissa’s, once desperately in love with her. Clarissa rejected
Peter's marriage proposal when she was eighteen, and he moved to India. He has not been to
London for five years. He is highly critical of others, is conflicted about nearly everything in his life,
and has a habit of playing with his pocketknife. Often overcome with emotion, he cries easily. He
frequently has romantic problems with women and is currently in love with Daisy, a married
woman in India. He wears horn-rimmed glasses and a bow tie and used to be a Socialist.

Read an in-depth analysis of Peter Walsh.

Sally Seton - A close friend of Clarissa and Peter in their youth. Sally was a wild, handsome
ragamuffin who smoked cigars and would say anything. She and Clarissa were sexually attracted to
one another as teenagers. Now Sally lives in Manchester and is married with five boys. Her
married name is Lady Rosseter.

Read an in-depth analysis of Sally Seton.

Richard Dalloway - Clarissa’s husband. A member of Parliament in the Conservative government,

Richard plans to write a history of the great English military family, the Brutons, when the Labour
Party comes to power. He is a sportsman and likes being in the country. He is a loving father and
husband. While devoted to social reform, he appreciates English tradition. He has failed to make it
into the Cabinet, or main governing body.

Read an in-depth analysis of Richard Dalloway.

Hugh Whitbread - Clarissa’s old friend, married to Evelyn Whitbread. An impeccable Englishman
and upholder of English tradition, Hugh writes letters to the Times about various causes. He never
brushes beneath the surface of any subject and is rather vain. Many are critical of his
pompousness and gluttony, but he remains oblivious. He is, as Clarissa thinks, almost too perfectly
dressed. He makes Clarissa feel young and insecure.
Lucrezia Smith (Rezia) - Septimus’s wife, a twenty-four-year-old hat-maker from Milan. Rezia loves
Septimus but is forced to bear the burden of his mental illness alone. Normally a lively and playful
young woman, she has grown thin with worry. She feels isolated and continually wishes to share
her unhappiness with somebody. She trims hats for the friends of her neighbor, Mrs. Filmer.

Elizabeth Dalloway - Clarissa and Richard’s only child. Gentle, considerate, and somewhat passive,
seventeen-year-old Elizabeth does not have Clarissa’s energy. She has a dark beauty that is
beginning to attract attention. Not a fan of parties or clothes, she likes being in the country with
her father and dogs. She spends a great deal of time praying with her history teacher, the religious
Miss Kilman, and is considering career options.

Doris Kilman - Elizabeth’s history teacher, who has German ancestry. Miss Kilman has a history
degree and was fired from a teaching job during the war because of society’s anti-German
prejudice. She is over forty and wears an unattractive mackintosh coat because she does not dress
to please. She became a born-again Christian two years and three months ago. Poor, with a
forehead like an egg, she is bitter and dislikes Clarissa intensely but adores Elizabeth.

Sir William Bradshaw - A renowned London psychiatrist. When Lucrezia seeks help for her insane
husband, Septimus, Septimus’s doctor, Dr. Holmes, recommends Sir William. Sir William believes
that most people who think they are mad suffer instead from a “lack of proportion.” He
determines that Septimus has suffered a complete nervous breakdown and recommends that
Septimus spend time in the country, apart from Lucrezia. The hardworking son of a tradesman, Sir
William craves power and has become respected in his field.

Dr. Holmes - Septimus’s general practitioner. When Septimus begins to suffer the delayed effects
of shell shock, Lucrezia seeks his help. Dr. Holmes claims nothing is wrong with Septimus, but that
Lucrezia should see Sir William if she doesn’t believe him. Septimus despises Dr. Holmes and refers
to him as “human nature.” Dr. Holmes likes to go to the music hall and to play golf.

Lady (Millicent) Bruton - A member of high society and a friend of the Dalloways. At sixty-two
years old, Lady Bruton is devoted to promoting emigration to Canada for English families. Normally
erect and magisterial, she panics when she has to write a letter to the editor and seeks help from
Richard Dalloway and Hugh Whitbread. She has an assistant, Milly Brush, and a chow dog. She is a
descendant of General Sir Talbot Moore.

Miss Helena Parry (Aunt Helena) - Clarissa’s aunt. Aunt Helena is a relic of the strict English society
Clarissa finds so confining. A great botanist, she also enjoys talking about orchids and Burma. She
is a formidable old lady, over eighty, who found Sally Seton’s behavior as a youth shocking. She
has one glass eye.

Ellie Henderson - Clarissa’s dowdy cousin. Ellie, in her early fifties, has thin hair, a meager profile,
and bad eyesight. Not trained for any career and having only a small income, she wears an old
black dress to Clarissa’s party. She is self-effacing, subject to chills, and close to a woman named
Edith. Clarissa finds her dull and does not want to invite her to the party, and Ellie stands alone
nearly the whole time, aware that she does not really belong.

Evans - Septimus’s wartime officer and close friend. Evans died in Italy just before the armistice,
but Septimus, in his deluded state, continues to see and hear him behind trees and sitting room
screens. During the war, Evans and Septimus were inseparable. Evans was a shy Englishman with
red hair.

Mrs. Filmer - The Smiths’ neighbor. Mrs. Filmer finds Septimus odd. She has honest blue eyes and
is Rezia’s only friend in London. Her daughter is Mrs. Peters, who listens to the Smiths’
gramophone when they are not at home. Mrs. Filmer’s granddaughter delivers the newspaper to
the Smiths’ home each evening, and Rezia always makes the child’s arrival into a momentous,
joyous event.

Daisy Simmons - Peter Walsh’s lover in India, married to a major in the Indian army. Daisy is
twenty-four years old and has two small children. Peter is in London to arrange her divorce.

Evelyn Whitbread - Hugh Whitbread’s wife. Evelyn suffers from an unspecified internal ailment
and spends much of her time in nursing homes. We learn about her from others. Peter Walsh
describes her as mousy and almost negligible, but he also points out that occasionally she says
something sharp.

Mr. Brewer - Septimus’s boss at Sibleys and Arrowsmith. Mr. Brewer, the managing clerk, is
paternal with his employees and foresees a promising career for Septimus, but Septimus
volunteers for the war before he can reach any degree of success. Mr. Brewer promotes Septimus
when he returns from the war, but Septimus is already losing his mind. Mr. Brewer has a waxed
moustache and a coral tiepin.

Jim Hutton - An awful poet at the Dalloways’ party. Jim is badly dressed, with red socks and unruly
hair, and he does not enjoy talking to another guest, Professor Brierly, who is a professor of
Milton. Jim shares with Clarissa a love of Bach and thinks she is “the best of the great ladies who
took an interest in art.” He enjoys mimicking people.

Disillusionment with the British Empire

Throughout the nineteenth century, the British Empire seemed invincible. It expanded into many
other countries, such as India, Nigeria, and South Africa, becoming the largest empire the world
had ever seen. World War I was a violent reality check. For the first time in nearly a century, the
English were vulnerable on their own land. The Allies technically won the war, but the extent of
devastation England suffered made it a victory in name only. Entire communities of young men
were injured and killed. In 1916, at the Battle of the Somme, England suffered 60,000 casualties—
the largest slaughter in England’s history. Not surprisingly, English citizens lost much of their faith
in the empire after the war. No longer could England claim to be invulnerable and all-powerful.
Citizens were less inclined to willingly adhere to the rigid constraints imposed by England’s class
system, which benefited only a small margin of society but which all classes had fought to
preserve.

In 1923, when Mrs. Dalloway takes place, the old establishment and its oppressive values are
nearing their end. English citizens, including Clarissa, Peter, and Septimus, feel the failure of the
empire as strongly as they feel their own personal failures. Those citizens who still champion
English tradition, such as Aunt Helena and Lady Bruton, are old. Aunt Helena, with her glass eye
(perhaps a symbol of her inability or unwillingness to see the empire's disintegration), is turning
into an artifact. Anticipating the end of the Conservative Party’s reign, Richard plans to write the
history of the great British military family, the Brutons, who are already part of the past. The old
empire faces an imminent demise, and the loss of the traditional and familiar social order leaves
the English at loose ends.

The Fear of Death

Thoughts of death lurk constantly beneath the surface of everyday life in Mrs. Dalloway, especially
for Clarissa, Septimus, and Peter, and this awareness makes even mundane events and
interactions meaningful, sometimes even threatening. At the very start of her day, when she goes
out to buy flowers for her party, Clarissa remembers a moment in her youth when she suspected a
terrible event would occur. Big Ben tolls out the hour, and Clarissa repeats a line from
Shakespeare’s Cymbeline over and over as the day goes on: “Fear no more the heat o’ the sun /
Nor the furious winter’s rages.” The line is from a funeral song that celebrates death as a comfort
after a difficult life. Middle-aged Clarissa has experienced the deaths of her father, mother, and
sister and has lived through the calamity of war, and she has grown to believe that living even one
day is dangerous. Death is very naturally in her thoughts, and the line from Cymbeline, along with
Septimus’s suicidal embrace of death, ultimately helps her to be at peace with her own mortality.
Peter Walsh, so insecure in his identity, grows frantic at the idea of death and follows an
anonymous young woman through London to forget about it. Septimus faces death most directly.
Though he fears it, he finally chooses it over what seems to him a direr alternative—living another
day.

The Threat of Oppression

Oppression is a constant threat for Clarissa and Septimus in Mrs. Dalloway, and Septimus dies in
order to escape what he perceives to be an oppressive social pressure to conform. It comes in
many guises, including religion, science, or social convention. Miss Kilman and Sir William
Bradshaw are two of the major oppressors in the novel: Miss Kilman dreams of felling Clarissa in
the name of religion, and Sir William would like to subdue all those who challenge his conception
of the world. Both wish to convert the world to their belief systems in order to gain power and
dominate others, and their rigidity oppresses all who come into contact with them. More subtle
oppressors, even those who do not intend to, do harm by supporting the repressive English social
system. Though Clarissa herself lives under the weight of that system and often feels oppressed by
it, her acceptance of patriarchal English society makes her, in part, responsible for Septimus’s
death. Thus she too is an oppressor of sorts. At the end of the novel, she reflects on his suicide:
“Somehow it was her disaster—her disgrace.” She accepts responsibility, though other characters
are equally or more fully to blame, which suggests that everyone is in some way complicit in the
oppression of others

Great

Pip, a young orphan living with his sister and her husband in the marshes of Kent, sits in a
cemetery one evening looking at his parents’ tombstones. Suddenly, an escaped convict springs up
from behind a tombstone, grabs Pip, and orders him to bring him food and a file for his leg irons.
Pip obeys, but the fearsome convict is soon captured anyway. The convict protects Pip by claiming
to have stolen the items himself.

One day Pip is taken by his Uncle Pumblechook to play at Satis House, the home of the wealthy
dowager Miss Havisham, who is extremely eccentric: she wears an old wedding dress everywhere
she goes and keeps all the clocks in her house stopped at the same time. During his visit, he meets
a beautiful young girl named Estella, who treats him coldly and contemptuously. Nevertheless, he
falls in love with her and dreams of becoming a wealthy gentleman so that he might be worthy of
her. He even hopes that Miss Havisham intends to make him a gentleman and marry him to
Estella, but his hopes are dashed when, after months of regular visits to Satis House, Miss
Havisham decides to help him become a common laborer in his family’s business.

With Miss Havisham’s guidance, Pip is apprenticed to his brother-in-law, Joe, who is the village
blacksmith. Pip works in the forge unhappily, struggling to better his education with the help of
the plain, kind Biddy and encountering Joe’s malicious day laborer, Orlick. One night, after an
altercation with Orlick, Pip’s sister, known as Mrs. Joe, is viciously attacked and becomes a mute
invalid. From her signals, Pip suspects that Orlick was responsible for the attack.

One day a lawyer named Jaggers appears with strange news: a secret benefactor has given Pip a
large fortune, and Pip must come to London immediately to begin his education as a gentleman.
Pip happily assumes that his previous hopes have come true—that Miss Havisham is his secret
benefactor and that the old woman intends for him to marry Estella.
In London, Pip befriends a young gentleman named Herbert Pocket and Jaggers’s law clerk,
Wemmick. He expresses disdain for his former friends and loved ones, especially Joe, but he
continues to pine after Estella. He furthers his education by studying with the tutor Matthew
Pocket, Herbert’s father. Herbert himself helps Pip learn how to act like a gentleman. When Pip
turns twenty-one and begins to receive an income from his fortune, he will secretly help Herbert
buy his way into the business he has chosen for himself. But for now, Herbert and Pip lead a fairly
undisciplined life in London, enjoying themselves and running up debts. Orlick reappears in Pip’s
life, employed as Miss Havisham’s porter, but is promptly fired by Jaggers after Pip reveals Orlick’s
unsavory past. Mrs. Joe dies, and Pip goes home for the funeral, feeling tremendous grief and
remorse. Several years go by, until one night a familiar figure barges into Pip’s room—the convict,
Magwitch, who stuns Pip by announcing that he, not Miss Havisham, is the source of Pip’s fortune.
He tells Pip that he was so moved by Pip’s boyhood kindness that he dedicated his life to making
Pip a gentleman, and he made a fortune in Australia for that very purpose.

Pip is appalled, but he feels morally bound to help Magwitch escape London, as the convict is
pursued both by the police and by Compeyson, his former partner in crime. A complicated mystery
begins to fall into place when Pip discovers that Compeyson was the man who abandoned Miss
Havisham at the altar and that Estella is Magwitch’s daughter. Miss Havisham has raised her to
break men’s hearts, as revenge for the pain her own broken heart caused her. Pip was merely a
boy for the young Estella to practice on; Miss Havisham delighted in Estella’s ability to toy with his
affections.

As the weeks pass, Pip sees the good in Magwitch and begins to care for him deeply. Before
Magwitch’s escape attempt, Estella marries an upper-class lout named Bentley Drummle. Pip
makes a visit to Satis House, where Miss Havisham begs his forgiveness for the way she has
treated him in the past, and he forgives her. Later that day, when she bends over the fireplace, her
clothing catches fire and she goes up in flames. She survives but becomes an invalid. In her final
days, she will continue to repent for her misdeeds and to plead for Pip’s forgiveness.

The time comes for Pip and his friends to spirit Magwitch away from London. Just before the
escape attempt, Pip is called to a shadowy meeting in the marshes, where he encounters the
vengeful, evil Orlick. Orlick is on the verge of killing Pip when Herbert arrives with a group of
friends and saves Pip’s life. Pip and Herbert hurry back to effect Magwitch’s escape. They try to
sneak Magwitch down the river on a rowboat, but they are discovered by the police, who
Compeyson tipped off. Magwitch and Compeyson fight in the river, and Compeyson is drowned.
Magwitch is sentenced to death, and Pip loses his fortune. Magwitch feels that his sentence is
God’s forgiveness and dies at peace. Pip falls ill; Joe comes to London to care for him, and they are
reconciled. Joe gives him the news from home: Orlick, after robbing Pumblechook, is now in jail;
Miss Havisham has died and left most of her fortune to the Pockets; Biddy has taught Joe how to
read and write. After Joe leaves, Pip decides to rush home after him and marry Biddy, but when he
arrives there he discovers that she and Joe have already married.

Pip decides to go abroad with Herbert to work in the mercantile trade. Returning many years later,
he encounters Estella in the ruined garden at Satis House. Drummle, her husband, treated her
badly, but he is now dead. Pip finds that Estella’s coldness and cruelty have been replaced by a sad
kindness, and the two leave the garden hand in hand, Pip believing that they will never part again.
(Note: Dickens’s original ending to Great Expectations differed from the one described in this
summary. The final Summary and Analysis section of this SparkNote provides a description of the
first ending and explains why Dickens rewrote it.)

- The protagonist and narrator of Great Expectations, Pip begins the story as a young
orphan boy being raised by his sister and brother-in-law in the marsh country of Kent, in the
southeast of England. Pip is passionate, romantic, and somewhat unrealistic at heart, and he tends
to expect more for himself than is reasonable. Pip also has a powerful conscience, and he deeply
wants to improve himself, both morally and socially.

Read an in-depth analysis of Pip.

Estella - Miss Havisham’s beautiful young ward, Estella is Pip’s unattainable dream
throughout the novel. He loves her passionately, but, though she sometimes seems to consider
him a friend, she is usually cold, cruel, and uninterested in him. As they grow up together, she
repeatedly warns him that she has no heart.

Read an in-depth analysis of Estella.

Miss Havisham - Miss Havisham is the wealthy, eccentric old woman who lives in a manor called
Satis House near Pip’s village. She is manic and often seems insane, flitting around her house in a
faded wedding dress, keeping a decaying feast on her table, and surrounding herself with clocks
stopped at twenty minutes to nine. As a young woman, Miss Havisham was jilted by her fiancé
minutes before her wedding, and now she has a vendetta against all men. She deliberately raises
Estella to be the tool of her revenge, training her beautiful ward to break men’s hearts.

Read an in-depth analysis of Miss Havisham.

Abel Magwitch (“The Convict”) - A fearsome criminal, Magwitch escapes from prison at the
beginning of Great Expectations and terrorizes Pip in the cemetery. Pip’s kindness, however,
makes a deep impression on him, and he subsequently devotes himself to making a fortune and
using it to elevate Pip into a higher social class. Behind the scenes, he becomes Pip’s secret
benefactor, funding Pip’s education and opulent lifestyle in London through the lawyer Jaggers.

Joe Gargery - Pip’s brother-in-law, the village blacksmith, Joe stays with his overbearing, abusive
wife—known as Mrs. Joe—solely out of love for Pip. Joe’s quiet goodness makes him one of the
few completely sympathetic characters in Great Expectations. Although he is uneducated and
unrefined, he consistently acts for the benefit of those he loves and suffers in silence when Pip
treats him coldly.

Jaggers - The powerful, foreboding lawyer hired by Magwitch to supervise Pip’s elevation to
the upper class. As one of the most important criminal lawyers in London, Jaggers is privy to some
dirty business; he consorts with vicious criminals, and even they are terrified of him. But there is
more to Jaggers than his impenetrable exterior. He often seems to care for Pip, and before the
novel begins he helps Miss Havisham to adopt the orphaned Estella. Jaggers smells strongly of
soap: he washes his hands obsessively as a psychological mech-anism to keep the criminal taint
from corrupting him.

Herbert Pocket - Pip first meets Herbert Pocket in the garden of Satis House, when, as a pale
young gentleman, Herbert challenges him to a fight. Years later, they meet again in London, and
Herbert becomes Pip’s best friend and key companion after Pip’s elevation to the status of
gentleman. Herbert nicknames Pip “Handel.” He is the son of Matthew Pocket, Miss Havisham’s
cousin, and hopes to become a merchant so that he can afford to marry Clara Barley.

Wemmick - Jaggers’s clerk and Pip’s friend, Wemmick is one of the strangest characters in
Great Expectations. At work, he is hard, cynical, sarcastic, and obsessed with “portable property”;
at home in Walworth, he is jovial, wry, and a tender caretaker of his “Aged Parent.”

Biddy - A simple, kindhearted country girl, Biddy first befriends Pip when they attend school
together. After Mrs. Joe is attacked and becomes an invalid, Biddy moves into Pip’s home to care
for her. Throughout most of the novel, Biddy represents the opposite of Estella; she is plain, kind,
moral, and of Pip’s own social class.

Dolge Orlick - The day laborer in Joe’s forge, Orlick is a slouching, oafish embodiment of evil. He is
malicious and shrewd, hurting people simply because he enjoys it. He is responsible for the attack
on Mrs. Joe, and he later almost succeeds in his attempt to murder Pip.

Mrs. Joe - Pip’s sister and Joe’s wife, known only as “Mrs. Joe” throughout the novel. Mrs.
Joe is a stern and overbearing figure to both Pip and Joe. She keeps a spotless household and
frequently menaces her husband and her brother with her cane, which she calls “Tickler.” She also
forces them to drink a foul-tasting concoction called tar-water. Mrs. Joe is petty and ambitious;
her fondest wish is to be something more than what she is, the wife of the village blacksmith.

Uncle Pumblechook - Pip’s pompous, arrogant uncle. (He is actually Joe’s uncle and, therefore,
Pip’s “uncle-in-law,” but Pip and his sister both call him “Uncle Pumblechook.”) A merchant
obsessed with money, Pumblechook is responsible for arranging Pip’s first meeting with Miss
Havisham. Throughout the rest of the novel, he will shamelessly take credit for Pip’s rise in social
status, even though he has nothing to do with it, since Magwitch, not Miss Havisham, is Pip’s
secret benefactor.

Compeyson - A criminal and the former partner of Magwitch, Compeyson is an educated,

gentlemanly outlaw who contrasts sharply with the coarse and uneducated Magwitch. Compeyson
is responsible for Magwitch’s capture at the end of the novel. He is also the man who jilted Miss
Havisham on her wedding day.

Bentley Drummle - An oafish, unpleasant young man who attends tutoring sessions with Pip at
the Pockets’ house, Drummle is a minor member of the nobility, and the sense of superiority this
gives him makes him feel justified in acting cruelly and harshly toward everyone around him.
Drummle eventually marries Estella, to Pip’s chagrin; she is miserable in their marriage and
reunites with Pip after Drummle dies some eleven years later.

Molly - Jaggers’s housekeeper. In Chapter 48, Pip realizes that she is Estella’s mother.

Mr. Wopsle - The church clerk in Pip’s country town; Mr. Wopsle’s aunt is the local schoolteacher.
Sometime after Pip becomes a gentleman, Mr. Wopsle moves to London and becomes an actor.

Startop - A friend of Pip’s and Herbert’s. Startop is a delicate young man who, with Pip and
Drummle, takes tutelage with Matthew Pocket. Later, Startop helps Pip and Herbert with
Magwitch’s escape.

Miss Skiffins - Wemmick’s beloved, and eventual wife.

ocial Class

Throughout Great Expectations, Dickens explores the class system of Victorian England, ranging
from the most wretched criminals (Magwitch) to the poor peasants of the marsh country (Joe and
Biddy) to the middle class (Pumblechook) to the very rich (Miss Havisham). The theme of social
class is central to the novel’s plot and to the ultimate moral theme of the book—Pip’s realization
that wealth and class are less important than affection, loyalty, and inner worth. Pip achieves this
realization when he is finally able to understand that, despite the esteem in which he holds Estella,
one’s social status is in no way connected to one’s real character. Drummle, for instance, is an
upper-class lout, while Magwitch, a persecuted convict, has a deep inner worth.
Perhaps the most important thing to remember about the novel’s treatment of social class is that
the class system it portrays is based on the post-Industrial Revolution model of Victorian England.
Dickens generally ignores the nobility and the hereditary aristocracy in favor of characters whose
fortunes have been earned through commerce. Even Miss Havisham’s family fortune was made
through the brewery that is still connected to her manor. In this way, by connecting the theme of
social class to the idea of work and self-advancement, Dickens subtly reinforces the novel’s
overarching theme of ambition and self-improvement.

Crime, Guilt, and Innocence

The theme of crime, guilt, and innocence is explored throughout the novel largely through the
characters of the convicts and the criminal lawyer Jaggers. From the handcuffs Joe mends at the
smithy to the gallows at the prison in London, the imagery of crime and criminal justice pervades
the book, becoming an important symbol of Pip’s inner struggle to reconcile his own inner moral
conscience with the institutional justice system. In general, just as social class becomes a
superficial standard of value that Pip must learn to look beyond in finding a better way to live his
life, the external trappings of the criminal justice system (police, courts, jails, etc.) become a
superficial standard of morality that Pip must learn to look beyond to trust his inner conscience.
Magwitch, for instance, frightens Pip at first simply because he is a convict, and Pip feels guilty for
helping him because he is afraid of the police. By the end of the book, however, Pip has discovered
Magwitch’s inner nobility, and is able to disregard his external status as a criminal. Prompted by
his conscience, he helps Magwitch to evade the law and the police. As Pip has learned to trust his
conscience and to value Magwitch’s inner character, he has replaced an external standard of value
with an internal one.

In Satis House, Dickens creates a magnificent Gothic setting whose various elements symbolize
Pip’s romantic perception of the upper class and many other themes of the book. On her decaying
body, Miss Havisham’s wedding dress becomes an ironic symbol of death and degeneration. The
wedding dress and the wedding feast symbolize Miss Havisham’s past, and the stopped clocks
throughout the house symbolize her determined attempt to freeze time by refusing to change
anything from the way it was when she was jilted on her wedding day. The brewery next to the
house symbolizes the connection between commerce and wealth: Miss Havisham’s fortune is not
the product of an aristocratic birth but of a recent success in industrial capitalism. Finally, the
crumbling, dilapidated stones of the house, as well as the darkness and dust that pervade it,
symbolize the general decadence of the lives of its inhabitants and of the upper class as a whole.

The Mists on the Marshes

The setting almost always symbolizes a theme in Great Expectations and always sets a tone that is
perfectly matched to the novel’s dramatic action. The misty marshes near Pip’s childhood home in
Kent, one of the most evocative of the book’s settings, are used several times to symbolize danger
and uncertainty. As a child, Pip brings Magwitch a file and food in these mists; later, he is
kidnapped by Orlick and nearly murdered in them. Whenever Pip goes into the mists, something
dangerous is likely to happen. Significantly, Pip must go through the mists when he travels to
London shortly after receiving his fortune, alerting the reader that this apparently positive
development in his life may have dangerous consequences.

1998

Winston Smith es un miembro de bajo rango del partido gobernante en Londres, en la nación de
Oceanía. En todas partes donde va Winston, incluso en su propia casa, la Fiesta lo mira a través de
telescópicos; donde quiera que mira, ve el rostro del líder aparentemente omnisciente del Partido,
una figura conocida solo como Gran Hermano. La fiesta controla todo en Oceanía, incluso la
historia y el idioma de la gente. Actualmente, la Parte está forzando la implementación de un
lenguaje inventado llamado Newspeak, que intenta evitar la rebelión política eliminando todas las
palabras relacionadas con ella. Incluso pensar pensamientos rebeldes es ilegal. Tal crimen mental
es, de hecho, el peor de todos los crímenes.

Cuando se abre la novela, Winston se siente frustrado por la opresión y el rígido control del
Partido, que prohíbe el pensamiento libre, el sexo y cualquier expresión de individualidad.
Winston no le gusta la fiesta y ha comprado ilegalmente un diario en el que escribir sus
pensamientos criminales. También se ha obsesionado con un poderoso miembro del Partido
llamado O'Brien , a quien Winston cree que es un miembro secreto de la Hermandad, el misterioso
y legendario grupo que trabaja para derrocar al Partido.

Winston trabaja en el Ministerio de la Verdad, donde altera los registros históricos para adaptarse
a las necesidades de la Parte. Se da cuenta de una compañera de trabajo, una hermosa chica de
pelo oscuro, mirándolo fijamente, y le preocupa que ella sea una informante que lo entregará para
su pensamiento criminal. Le preocupa el control de la historia por parte del Partido: el Partido
afirma que Oceanía siempre se ha aliado con Eastasia en una guerra contra Eurasia, pero Winston
parece recordar un momento en que esto no era cierto. El Partido también afirma que Emmanuel
Goldstein, el supuesto líder de la Hermandad, es el hombre más peligroso que existe, pero esto no
parece plausible para Winston. Winston pasa sus noches deambulando por los barrios más pobres
de Londres, donde los proletarios, o proles, viven vidas miserables, relativamente libres del control
del Partido.
Un día, Winston recibe una nota de la chica morena que dice "te amo". Ella le dice su nombre,
Julia , y comienzan una aventura encubierta, siempre atentos a los signos de control de la fiesta.
Eventualmente alquilan una habitación encima de la tienda de segunda mano en el distrito de
prole donde Winston compró el diario. Esta relación dura por algún tiempo. Winston está seguro
de que serán atrapados y castigados tarde o temprano (el fatalista Winston sabe que ha estado
condenado desde que escribió su primera entrada en el diario), mientras que Julia es más
pragmática y optimista. A medida que progresa la aventura de Winston con Julia, su odio por el
Partido se vuelve cada vez más intenso. Por fin, recibe el mensaje que ha estado esperando:
O'Brien quiere verlo.

Winston y Julia viajan al lujoso departamento de O'Brien. Como miembro de la poderosa Fiesta
Interna (Winston pertenece al Partido Exterior), O'Brien lleva una vida de lujo que Winston solo
puede imaginar. O'Brien confirma a Winston y Julia que, como ellos, odia a la fiesta y dice que
trabaja en contra de ella como miembro de la Hermandad. Él adoctrina a Winston y Julia en la
Hermandad, y le da a Winston una copia del libro de Emmanuel Goldstein, el manifiesto de la
Hermandad. Winston lee el libro -una amalgama de varias formas de teoría social basada en la
clase del siglo XX- para Julia en la habitación de arriba de la tienda. De repente, los soldados
irrumpen y se apoderan de ellos. El Sr. Charrington, el propietario de la tienda, se revela como
miembro de la Policía del Pensamiento desde el principio.

Arrancado de Julia y llevado a un lugar llamado el Ministerio de Amor, Winston descubre que
O'Brien también es un espía del Partido que simplemente simuló ser un miembro de la
Hermandad para atrapar a Winston en la comisión de un acto abierto de rebelión. contra la fiesta.
O'Brien pasa meses torturando y lavando el cerebro a Winston, quien lucha para resistir.
Finalmente, O'Brien lo envía a la temida habitación 101, el destino final para cualquiera que se
oponga a la fiesta. Aquí, O'Brien le dice a Winston que se verá obligado a enfrentar su peor miedo.
A lo largo de la novela, Winston ha tenido pesadillas recurrentes sobre las ratas; O'Brien ahora ata
una jaula llena de ratas a la cabeza de Winston y se prepara para permitir que las ratas se coman
la cara. Winston grita, suplicando a O'Brien que se lo haga a Julia, no a él.

Renunciar a Julia es lo que O'Brien quería de Winston desde el principio. Su espíritu roto, Winston
es lanzado al mundo exterior. Conoce a Julia, pero ya no siente nada por ella. Ha aceptado la fiesta
por completo y ha aprendido a amar al Gran Hermano

is a low-ranking member of the ruling Party in London, in the nation of Oceania. Everywhere
Winston goes, even his own home, the Party watches him through telescreens; everywhere he
looks he sees the face of the Party’s seemingly omniscient leader, a figure known only as Big
Brother. The Party controls everything in Oceania, even the people’s history and language.
Currently, the Party is forcing the implementation of an invented language called Newspeak,
which attempts to prevent political rebellion by eliminating all words related to it. Even thinking
rebellious thoughts is illegal. Such thoughtcrime is, in fact, the worst of all crimes.
As the novel opens, Winston feels frustrated by the oppression and rigid control of the Party,
which prohibits free thought, sex, and any expression of individuality. Winston dislikes the party
and has illegally purchased a diary in which to write his criminal thoughts. He has also become
fixated on a powerful Party member named O’Brien, whom Winston believes is a secret member
of the Brotherhood—the mysterious, legendary group that works to overthrow the Party.

Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, where he alters historical records to fit the needs of the
Party. He notices a coworker, a beautiful dark-haired girl, staring at him, and worries that she is an
informant who will turn him in for his thoughtcrime. He is troubled by the Party’s control of
history: the Party claims that Oceania has always been allied with Eastasia in a war against Eurasia,
but Winston seems to recall a time when this was not true. The Party also claims that Emmanuel
Goldstein, the alleged leader of the Brotherhood, is the most dangerous man alive, but this does
not seem plausible to Winston. Winston spends his evenings wandering through the poorest
neighborhoods in London, where the proletarians, or proles, live squalid lives, relatively free of
Party monitoring.

One day, Winston receives a note from the dark-haired girl that reads “I love you.” She tells him
her name, Julia, and they begin a covert affair, always on the lookout for signs of Party monitoring.
Eventually they rent a room above the secondhand store in the prole district where Winston
bought the diary. This relationship lasts for some time. Winston is sure that they will be caught
and punished sooner or later (the fatalistic Winston knows that he has been doomed since he
wrote his first diary entry), while Julia is more pragmatic and optimistic. As Winston’s affair with
Julia progresses, his hatred for the Party grows more and more intense. At last, he receives the
message that he has been waiting for: O’Brien wants to see him.

Winston and Julia travel to O’Brien’s luxurious apartment. As a member of the powerful Inner
Party (Winston belongs to the Outer Party), O’Brien leads a life of luxury that Winston can only
imagine. O’Brien confirms to Winston and Julia that, like them, he hates the Party, and says that
he works against it as a member of the Brotherhood. He indoctrinates Winston and Julia into the
Brotherhood, and gives Winston a copy of Emmanuel Goldstein’s book, the manifesto of the
Brotherhood. Winston reads the book—an amalgam of several forms of class-based twentieth-
century social theory—to Julia in the room above the store. Suddenly, soldiers barge in and seize
them. Mr. Charrington, the proprietor of the store, is revealed as having been a member of the
Thought Police all along.
Torn away from Julia and taken to a place called the Ministry of Love, Winston finds that O’Brien,
too, is a Party spy who simply pretended to be a member of the Brotherhood in order to trap
Winston into committing an open act of rebellion against the Party. O’Brien spends months
torturing and brainwashing Winston, who struggles to resist. At last, O’Brien sends him to the
dreaded Room 101, the final destination for anyone who opposes the Party. Here, O’Brien tells
Winston that he will be forced to confront his worst fear. Throughout the novel, Winston has had
recurring nightmares about rats; O’Brien now straps a cage full of rats onto Winston’s head and
prepares to allow the rats to eat his face. Winston snaps, pleading with O’Brien to do it to Julia,
not to him.

Giving up Julia is what O’Brien wanted from Winston all along. His spirit broken, Winston is
released to the outside world. He meets Julia but no longer feels anything for her. He has accepted
the Party entirely and has learned to love Big Brother.

Winston Smith

Winston Smith, a citizen of Oceania. He is an intelligent man of thirty-nine, a member of the Outer
Ring of the Party who has a responsible job in the Ministry of Truth, where he changes the records
to accord with the aims and wishes of the Party. He is not entirely loyal, however, for he keeps a
secret journal, takes a mistress, and hates Big Brother. Caught in his infidelities to the Party, he is
tortured until he is a broken man; he finally accepts his lot, even to the point of loving Big Brother.

Mrs. Smith

Mrs. Smith, Winston’s wife, a devoted follower of the Party and active member of the Anti-Sex
League. Because she believes procreation a party duty, she leaves her husband when the union
proves childless.

Julia

Julia, a bold, good-looking girl who, though she wears the Party’s red chastity belt, falls in love
with Winston and becomes his mistress. She, like her lover, rebels against Big Brother and the
Party. Like Winston, too, she is tortured and brainwashed and led to repent her political sins.

O’Brien
O’Brien, a member of the Inner Party. He leads Winston and Julia to conspire against the Party and
discovers their rebellious acts and thoughts. He is Winston’s personal torturer and educator who
explains to Winston why he must accept his lot in the world of Big Brother.

Mr. Charrington

Mr. Charrington, a member of the thought police who disguises himself as an old man running an
antique shop in order to catch such rebels as Winston and Julia. He is really a keen, determined
man of thirty-five.

984 Themes

1984 warns readers about the dangers of totalitarianism. Orwell wrote the novel in part to
illustrate how socialist revolutions could degenerate into totalitarian regimes.

Oppression works hand in hand with the theme of totalitarianism. Big Brother is the visual
representation of that oppression, monitoring his citizens even as they sleep. This constant
surveillance makes it impossible for the people of Oceania to express themselves without fear of
the Thought Police.

In the dystopian world of 1984, love is discouraged. Instead, the Party demands the utmost loyalty
from its citizens to the point where many are driven insane by their fanaticism.

Mil novecientos ochenta y cuatro es la inquebrantable y lúgubre visión de George Orwell de un

futuro distópico. El autor siempre quiso que fuera más una advertencia que una profecía, por lo
que, aunque la fecha de su título haya pasado, sus lecciones sobre los peligros de la conformidad,
la coacción mental y el engaño verbal conservan su validez y relevancia. El uso cuidadoso deOrwell
de un lenguaje claro y comprensible hace que el mundo desconocido de Mil novecientos ochenta y
cuatro sea comprensible para cada nivel de lector, y su tema de individualidad personal y emoción
humana, particularmente amor, tratando de establecerse a pesar de la presión implacable de los
modernos estado industrial tiene un atractivo perenne para el público adulto joven.

La novela representa un mundo dividido en tres superpotencias totalitarias que están

constantemente en guerra unas con otras: Oceanía, dominada por los Estados Unidos; Eurasia,
dominado por Europa occidental; y Eastasia, dominado por China y Japón. Dado que la novela
pertenece al género de la distopía, una utopía negativa, gran parte de su contenido está
necesariamente involucrado en la descripción de la sociedad de Oceanía, no solo en las
características de su vida cotidiana, gran parte de la cual refleja la vida británica en 1948 (un año
invertido los números pueden haber sugerido el título de la novela), pero también en
explicaciones detalladas de los orígenes históricos de Ingsoc y Oceanía, así como en su idioma
oficial, Newspeak. Orwell, bastante torpe en la opinión de algunos críticos, da mucha de esta
información en la forma de un libro dentro de un libro, el supuesto manual de los revolucionarios,

No es hasta que la segunda parte principal de la novela comienza realmente la historia. Winston
Smith es un escritor del irónicamente llamado Ministerio de la Verdad, cuyo trabajo principal es
ayudar en la constante reescritura de la historia para que se ajuste a las predicciones y
pronunciamientos de Gran Hermano, el gobernante posiblemente mítico de Oceanía, cuyos
secuaces en el interior El partido es, sin embargo, omnipotente y omnisciente. Winston, nacido en
1945 y nombrado así en honor al líder británico en tiempos de guerra Winston Churchill, recuerda
vagamente la vida antes de la revolución y el establecimiento de Ingsoc, y poco a poco llega a
creer que la vida no siempre era tan lúgubre, mecánica y aburrida como ahora está en Oceanía,
aunque no tiene medios para probarlo. Otra trabajadora en el Ministerio de la Verdad, Julia, una
joven a quien Winston sospecha que lo espiaba,

O'Brien, un miembro del Partido Interior al que Winston ha dibujado vagamente, proporciona un
rayo de esperanza cuando los amantes se convencen de que es un miembro secreto de la
Hermandad, el grupo revolucionario comprometido con el derrocamiento de Ingsoc y Gran
Hermano. O'Brien, naturalmente, uno está casi tentado de decirlo, resulta ser un agente doble, y
la última parte de la novela representa en detalle gráfico la tortura y conversión de Winston por
O'Brien en una aceptación incondicional del poder de la fiesta y Gran Hermano. Para lograr esta
aceptación, Winston debe dominar la habilidad mental del "doble pensamiento", una forma de
control de la realidad que involucra "el poder de mantener dos creencias contradictorias en la
mente de manera simultánea, y aceptarlas a ambas". Para algunos críticos, las descripciones y
explicaciones en esta sección de la novela están las partes más débiles del libro. Esta terrible
experiencia culmina con la traición de Winston a su amor por Julia. Un hombre quebrado, Winston
es puesto "libre" para pasar sus últimos días en un estupor semi-alcohólico, aclamando sin pensar
en grandes victorias míticas por las fuerzas de Oceanía mientras espera la inevitable bala en la
parte posterior de la cabeza.Mil novecientos ochenta y cuatro termina con la frase escalofriante e
inevitable: "Amaba al Gran Hermano".