Should Great Expectations be considered a part of the canon of great literature based on its portal of social class issues in Victorian England? This is a question that has been pondered by many, but has a justifiable answer. This book should not be considered a part of the canon of great literature for several reasons, such as the rise in social class, marriage between classes, and the depiction of women. One reasoning as to why Great Expectations should not be considered a part of the canon of great literature is the constant rise of social class. For example, a convict, a member of the under class, is making money to send to a blacksmith’s apprentice, a member of the working class, for him to become better educated and to rise over night into the upper class. Another thing about rise in social class is how people changed their overall opinion and easily accept the change. For example, in the beginning of the book, Pumblechook, who is Joe's uncle, and a particularly submissive man is mean to Pip, and then grovels and fawns over him when he becomes rich, and even encourages a rumor that he is Pip's benefactor. Another justifiable reason as to why Great Expectations should not be considered a part of the canon of great literature is all of the marriages between social classes. For instance, Herbert’s engagement to Clara is being kept concealed because they are waiting for Clara’s dad to die. They have to wait because Clara is taking care of him and they do not believe that he would approve of their marriage because Herbert is in a lower class that Clara. Another example of marriage between classes is Wemmick and Miss Skiffins. Great Expectations is full of marriages between social classes. A third example would be the Pockets, where Belinda married below her original social class, and never adjusted to the class alteration. The third and final reason as to why Great Expectations should not be considered part of the canon of great literature is the depiction of women. There are several good examples of how women are not properly depicted. “So successful a watch and ward had been established over the young lady by this judicious parent that she had grown up highly ornamental, but perfectly helpless and useless” (187). This quote about Mrs. Pocket shows how she was almost oblivious to her surrounding but the truth is that in Victorian England women were brought up to manage a house hold.
Strained Relationships, Resentment and Indignation Between the Classes in Great Expectations Great expectations is a profound story. It contains the theme of love,
It is man 's tendency to be mortal and defective, he contends in this story – that is exactly being a human. What does it mean, then, that Aylmer needs to expel the pigmentation from his better half 's face? On a strict level, he needs to take off what he considers to be unattractive birthmark. Be that as it may, on a typical level, he needs to free Georgiana of her imperfections. He needs to make her ideal. For the present, how about we hit this birthmark, and investigate its physical appearance on Georgiana: “To explain this conversation it must be mentioned that in the centre of Georgiana 's left cheek there was a singular mark, … defined its shape amid the surrounding rosiness. When she blushed it gradually became more indistinct, and … upon the snow, in what Aylmer sometimes deemed an almost fearful distinctness. Its shape bore not a little similarity to the human hand.” (pg. 164-2, paragraph
While Harding himself may not have come into the presidency planning to abuse the office, his cabinet did. In the Teapot Dome Scandal, the Harding administration caught flak for both giving out free handouts to political allies and for guaranteeing government contracts to businesses and corporations that supported Harding’s candidacy. Of all the illegal handouts however, the most notorious was that of Tea Pot Dome, a government-owned oil reserve that was leased to donors by Harding’s Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall (Foner781) . This scandal, combined with Harding’s apathetic approach to social issues, left many Americans distrustful of the government and shameful of the true end to progressivism. This also caused many people to start to feel that the government was too friendly with big businesses, especially after these groups had grown back to power due to the industrial need during World War I. While there is no direct correlation, this may also have been the origin of the distrust people had with big businesses in the late 1900s, particularly that of the hippie movement. In total, while returning to normalcy, may have meant calmer times separate from war and progressivism, it also ended up meaning a return to the corruption of government from the gilded
Van Brunt, Alexa. "Subversion of Gender Identity in Great Expectations." The Victorian Web: An Overview. 16 Feb. 2004. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. .
Since the 13 colonies were first established in America, the death penalty has been the main form of capital punishment as a firmly deep-rooted institution in the United States. Today, one of the most debated issues in the criminal justice system is the issue of capital punishment. While receiving disapproving viewpoints as those who oppose the death penalty find moral fault in capital punishment, the death penalty has taken a very different course in America while continuing to further advancements in the justice system since the start of the new millennium. While eliminating overcrowding in state jails, the death penalty has managed to save tax payers dollars as well as deteriorate crime and apprehend criminals.
The settings of Great Expectations are Pip’s homes, one home that he lives in during his childhood in Kent, England, and the other that he lives in when he is grown in London, England. Social status was a big deal in the mid-nineteenth century. The rich were highly respected and liked by all, and the poor were treated unkindly and were sometimes made fun of. The rich could have any job that they liked, but the poor would almost always take over the job that their father had. The narrator of Great Expectations is Pip. If the novel were narrated from any other point of view, it would not have the same effect as it does now.
The novel, Great Expectations, deals with the concepts of a ‘true gentleman’; where the Victorian idea, which is based upon birth, wealth, social status and apparel, contrasts to Dickens’ portrayal of a gentleman who is a person of kindness, humility and generosity. Dickens upbringing and early life allows him to understand the position of the poor due to their humble upbringing, which keeps them in the lower social class. His didactic message, what it is to be a true gentleman, is reinforced by the bildungsroman style of the novel.
I first time I read Great Expectations was during the summer before tenth grade. I had become a fan of Charles Dickens’s writing style from other novels I previously read such as Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, and David Copperfield. When I first read Great Expectations, I was more interested in the plot than looking for a deeper thematic meaning and less noticeable literary devices. However, in reading Great Expectations for the second time this past winter break, I took a different approach. Since I already knew how the plot resolved, I read the story more critically and paid attention to individual details and their purpose in the text. From this careful reading I noticed the symbolism of the Satis House as well as a motif of doubles. These
Families of people are torn asunder because not only do they now know that their beloved relative is now put for execution but now that their time with that person is put to a death clock that continuously ticks down resulting in just countless hours of grief. Occasionally, in some cases, people are wrongly accused of horrible crimes and are charged with the crime in which they had no involvement yet when they are to be judged to be put on the death row while being completely innocent. This means that not only are they losing their life for something they did not commit but that because this law exists it, therefore, makes matters exponentially worse for the individual and family causing them stress. With that in mind and with the millions of cases that have been put on trial, the chances of a few of those cases sentencing an honest person to death are not as slim as some may believe it to be. There have been multiple reported cases in which there have been people released days and if not hours away from their soon to be execution. Not only do they get released but they are also given compensation for being wrongly convicted and the trauma they have been put through for being incarcerated and put on death row for a horrible act they did not commit. Not only is the capital punishment of the death penalty a complete utter waste of people’s tax dollars as well as government funds, but it is completely an illiterate way of handling punishments for other human beings which corrupts the morality of people and in some cases causes much more damage than it does
Moore, Andrew. "Studying Relationships in Great Expectations." . N.p., 2000. Web. 15 Mar 2012. .
In the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Pip's struggle and ultimate failure to become a gentleman was due to social pressure. Dickens comments the stratums of the Victorian social class system. The novel shows that money cannot buy love or guarantee happiness. Pip's perspective is used to expose the confusing personality of someone transcending social barriers. Dickens also shows a contrast between both class and characters.
In a lot of ways, the nineteenth Century depicted in Great Expectations is epitomic of the particular period. A lot of societal aspects correlate with the events in the book and especially the dynamical structure of the society. And even though the picture most people have of a Victorian society is set up in different compartments and highly contrasted one, the actualities of the time speak of an England adapting to industry and the ideals of the Enlightenment period. Dickens’ treatment of England at the time “is based on the post-Industrial Revolution model of Victorian England” (Google Scholar). He ignores the aristocratic air associated with it and instead pursues a standpoint focused on commerce. Still and all, we get the sense of how pivotal, or rather, central, this notion of compartments is to the plot of the story, especially with regard to social class. And this leads to the point; the class system of the nineteenth century. Unlike modern England and the modern world, generally, the earlier 19th century version had more defined social classes because values and beliefs about what made people who they were had, just like the physical structures, been morphing in comparison.
I think the best, most logical, and most realistic explanation of abnormal behavior is the multicultural model, which according to the textbook is “the view that each culture within a larger society has a particular set of values and beliefs, as well as special external pressures, that help account for the behavior of its members” (62). This particular model attributes environmental and social factors as causing abnormal and dysfunctional psychological functions, because of their prominent and powerful influence on individuals’ conscious and subconscious, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This models also acknowledges and respects cultural diversity, while catering to these differences in ways that specifically emphasizes and celebrates these
Thousands of people have sentenced to death since the year 1977 till the present. The deaths of inmates have been a range of all ages, but the most common one has been from the age of 30 to 39.
Ayres, Brenda. Dissenting Women in Dickens' Novels: the Subversion of Domestic Ideology. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. 86-88. Print.