Social Class Within Great Expectations, The Doll's House, and Society
Society has evolved over the years in many ways. Including advances in technology, and enriched education . Within the novel Great Expectations, there is a strong contrast between the rich and the poor. Similarly, in the short story, The Doll's House, the 'lower class' or poor children were displaced amongst the rest and were avoided. Although society has progressed in other ways, social class injustice is still present today. In the following essay, I will compare the existing social class injustice that is portrayed throughout the two stories set in historical periods, to those seen today by exploring the relationship between wealth and class, interaction between upper and lower class, and the social class structure.
In Great Expectations, Pip was one of lower class. Although he did not have the fortunes, Pip was happy. Once he was introduced to the rich Miss Havisham and her daughter Estella, he fell in love. Estella became the object of his affection, yet because she was considered high class, there wou...
As a young child living in England’s marshes, Pip was a humble, kind, and gentle character. He lived an impoverished life with his sister, Mrs. Joe, and her husband, Joe Gargery, the neighborhood blacksmith. Pip was grateful for everything he had, including his few possessions and his family’s care. When he was offered the chance to play at The Satis House, the home of the wealthy Miss Havisham, Pip went in order to make his family happy.
Strained Relationships, Resentment and Indignation Between the Classes in Great Expectations Great expectations is a profound story. It contains the theme of love,
Unbeknown to Pip, he is the perfect victim for Mrs. Havisham’s revenge trap. Calloused from a deceitful lover; Miss Havisham raises Estella as a puppet in her attempt at revenge of the entire male population. Upon first meeting Pip, Estella abruptly insults Pip. Calling him course and making him feel obsolete. Entranced by the beauty of Estella Pip begins to become self conscience after these comments. Once he deemed himself inadequate Pip began to aspire to live up to Estella’s expectations, but he is unable to do so because Estella was raised to torment not to love.
Now, just because Pip is a gentleman, he realizes that his materialistic hope of being a gentleman does not make him happy. In this quote, Victorian era values become evident, as money, which is desired and thought to make happiness, changes Pip’s feeling from happy to dissatisfied. Now, the reader realizes that Dickens believes that money has nothing to do with being happy, but, what a society values. Finally, Pip realizes Estella’s adversity when she declares “suffering has been stronger than all other teaching[s]" (515). Through this quote, Pip finally realizes that, even though Estella was brought up with money, it does not help her any more than being raised without money.
Living in a world where much about a person’s character is measured by wealth, it has become increasingly important to maintain a separation between material characteristics and intangible moral values. Pip, in Dickens’ Great Expectations, must learn from his series of disappointments and realize the importance of self-reliance over acceptance to social norms. Through his unwavering faith in wealthy “ideals,” such as Miss Havisham and Estella, Pip develops both emotionally and morally, learning that surface appearances never reveal the truth in a person’s heart.
Later on in the story, and later in his life, Pip meets a young girl named Estella. He secretly has a crush on her. Estella does not care much for Pip. She thinks he is not very gentlemen like. She also thinks that he is coarse and common. Estella and Pip do talk though. She is like a mother to Pip, she kind of disciplines him. Pip is in love with her, but she would have nothing to do with him. She thinks that his is nothing spectacular.
In the novel, Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens the principal character, Pip, undergoes a tremendous change in character. I would like to explore with you the major incidents in Pip’s childhood that contribute to his change from an innocent child to someone consumed by false values and snobbery.
Charles Dickens and Mulk Raj Anand both base their novels, Great Expectations and Untouchable, around the central theme of social class. The characters, Pip and Pundit, personalities go through some transformations as they are influenced by a range of characters they meet throughout the text. The authors use a range of literary techniques to convey the character’s values, beliefs and ideas throughout their novels. These literary techniques reveal to the readers that the characters’ attitudes towards high social class and wealth is what ultimately leads them to compromise their family for their own selfish values. This is suggested through the characters, various literary techniques and the use of narration/ dialogue.
utterly lower class that would be to Estella. "I thought how Joe and my sister were then sitting in the kitchen and how Miss Havisham and Estella never sat in a kitchen, but were far above the level of such common things (Dickens 55)." This shows how the minimal differences between the two classes contribute to a greater variance in the attitudes of the two. Through his exposure to Estella and Miss Havisham, Pip discovers the realit...
Charles Dickens’ aptly titled novel Great Expectations focuses on the journey of the stories chief protagonist, Pip, to fulfill the expectations of his life that have been set for him by external forces. The fusing of the seemingly unattainable aspects of high society and upper class, coupled with Pip’s insatiable desire to reach such status, drives him to realize these expectations that have been prescribed for him. The encompassing desire that he feels stems from his experiences with Mrs. Havisham and the unbridled passion that he feels for Estella. Pip realizes that due to the society-imposed caste system that he is trapped in, he will never be able to acquire Estella’s love working as a lowly blacksmith at the forge. The gloomy realizations that Pip is undergoing cause him to categorically despise everything about himself, feeling ashamed for the life he is living when illuminated by the throngs of the upper class.
Social class played a major role in the society depicted in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. Social class determined the manner in which a person was treated and their access to education. Yet, social class did not define the character of the individual.
Appropriately, the characters who bring about Pip's "expectations" play an integral part in his life; they influence him and shape his development throughout the novel. Firstly, Miss Havisham's was a significant impact on Pip's life. It is at Satis house, her strange, decaying mansion, that he initially comes into contact with the upper class life for which he later aspires. As his first contact with a wealthy person, Miss Havisham prompts Pip to try and better himself financially. She also, indirectly, pressures Pip into changing through her influence over Estella. Estella's cruel behaviour towards Pip is the direct result of Miss Havisham's teachings. Embittered by her own broken engagement, Miss Havisham taught the girl to be cruel to men, so she learned to "break their hearts and have no mercy!" (Dickens, 108). Thus, the beautiful Estella's cold reaction to Pip and the way she patronizes him are major reasons why he felt the need to change. It was she who convinced him that he was "in a low-lived bad way" (75) and needed to heighten his social status in order to be worthy of her notice. The impact of Miss Havisham's financial splendor and indirect cruelty make her a crucial instigator of change in Pip.
Throughout Dickens’ novel Great Expectations, the character, personality, and social beliefs of Pip undergo complete transformations as he interacts with an ever-changing pool of characters presented in the book. Pip’s moral values remain more or less constant at the beginning and the end; however, it is evident that in the time between, the years of his maturation and coming of adulthood, he is fledgling to find his place in society. Although Pip is influenced by many characters throughout the novel, his two most influential role models are: Estella, the object of Miss Havisham’s revenge against men, and Magwitch, the benevolent convict. Exposing himself to such diverse characters Pip has to learn to discern right from wrong and chose role models who are worthy of the title.
In Great Expectations, the main character of the story was Pip. Some of the negative influences that Pip faces include poverty, low self-esteem, abuse, fear, and lack of love. The poverty that Pip endured may have been the cause of his low self-esteem, as well as the influence of Estella. Estella influenced Pip by calling him a “common boy,” with “rough hands.”
Expectations for Pip are fortune and the desire to become a gentleman as he discusses with Biddy, his private tutor: “I want to be a gentleman on her account” (Dickens, 117). Estella, albeit her bitter attitude towards Pip, changes his view that results in him longing to become a gentleman. His approach in becoming a gentleman is becoming apprenticed to his brother-in-law, the blacksmith. His initial stage of expectations is from Mr. Jaggers, Miss Havisham’s lawyer. The lawyer’s deliberately informs Pip “that he will come into a handsome property…be brought up as a young gentleman” (Dickens, 125). On hearing Mr. Jaggers, Pip was both astonished and excited because he yearned for such status. When Mr. Jaggers explained of Pip’s great amount fortune and significance, he automatically assumed his benefactor to be Miss Havisham. In his first expectation, Pip is to be professionally educated by Mr. Pocket,...