Essay Homework

Essay Homework
Great Expectations
In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens slams the harsh class structure of

the Victorian Era by showing how it shaped and altered the lives of Estella,
Magwitch, and Pip. It shows how each character is formed through their
relationship to their respective class, illuminating its deep effect on a
person's identity and moral value.
Pip’s journey throughout the story is ignited by a burning desire to raise his
value in society. His encounter with Estella and Miss Havisham (who are
from the upper class), makes Pip feel shame and embarrassment in his
background and status. This shame and embarrassment drive him to seek
status and wealth because he sees it as a ladder that will help him reach
upper-class status and respect. This very sense of mediocrity is awakened
when he visits Satis's house, where upon meeting Estella for the first time is
mocked by Estella who is clearly representing the elite class, mocks Pip for
his coarse hands and dirty boots, Pip admits the fact, “I had never thought
of being ashamed of my hands before, but I began to consider them a very
indifferent pair”. This is the scene that begins Pip being ashamed about his
background and his desire to raise himself in status.
As Pip's visits continue, his dissatisfaction with his position in life as a
blacksmith’s assistant deepens. He starts to feel embarrassed by Joe’s
lack of elegance, confessing, “I wished Joe had been rather more gently
brought up, then I should have been so too”. His growing desire to achieve
a higher status alters his conception, making him believe that wealth and
education are important for his moral values and happiness. Dickens uses
Pip’s internal and external conflicts to show how society is obsessed with
status, so much so that it discriminates against individuals with low status
in society and corrodes their sense of relationships and their self-worth.
Estella, who was raised by Miss Havisham, exhibits upper-class pride. She
constantly reminds Pip of his low status, calling him names such as,
“common laboring boy”. She often mocks Pip, especially his manners and
appearance. Her disrespectful and pride-filled behavior reflects the values
of the upper class, which pays more attention to wealth and graciousness
over a person's character/personality.
Despite Estella’s beauty and her high status in society, her cold and
heartless attitude reveals the effect of being raised to view herself more
than others, or in other words to make other people feel inferior to her.
Miss Havisham has raised her to break men’s hearts, even though she is a
very privileged person in her society, she is unable to love or make
connections with others due to her behavior. The way she treats Pip
highlights the brutal effects of class systems. This class system teaches her
to treat people like Pip beneath her. Dickens can critique/comment on the
emptiness of values and lightheartedness of the upper class through
Estella’s character.
Magwitch is a convict whose status highlights the harsh and sometimes

cruel reality that lower classes face, especially those who are pushed into
lives of crime, and desperation due to being neglected by society.
Magwitch and Pip’s first encounter shows Magwitch as a desperate and
threatening character. But, Pip puts his fear aside and feels pity, noting
that “something in the man’s suffering, and in the whole touch of a better
nature towards me… melted my heart”. This scene in the story shows
Magwitch as a complex character, who is a convict and a lower class
peasant, can show humanity towards another person compared to Estella,
who is a higher class and fails to show love or any form of affection
towards anyone.
Magwitch later on becomes Pip’s secret helper in the story, but his criminal
background becomes the reason why he remains and is treated like an
outsider in society. This scene shows how harsh the society of the class
system is. Dickens once again slams the Victorian mindset to treat
someone according to moral value, suggesting that the ones at the bottom
of society are condemned and hated regardless of their character or
personality.
Through Estella’s cold and egoistic supremacy, Magwitch’s oppression, and

Pip’s embarrassment/shame, Dickens points out a society that relates a
person's social status with their moral value. He states that the true values
of a person do not depend on their class but on their personality and
character. This statement exposes the moral chasm of Victorian society
and its class system.

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Essay Homework

In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens slams the harsh class structure of

Magwitch is a convict whose status highlights the harsh and sometimes

Through Estella’s cold and egoistic supremacy, Magwitch’s oppression, and

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