How Is Miss Havisham Presented In Great Expectations

Great Expectations tells the ultimate rags to riches story of the Orphan Pip. Dickens takes his readers through life changing events that ultimately mold the identity of the main character. Dividing these events into sections will provide the basis for interpreting which events had the most profound effect on Pip’s identity towards the end of the novel. These life-changing events provide the catalyst for the development of Pip’s character from childhood, his adolescence, maturing into a social gentleman, and finally becoming a self-aware man of society.

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

Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations chronicles Pip’s struggle to improve his status in English society. He is originally taught that his happiness directly correlates to the amount of wealth he accumulates. Two characters he encounters—Joe Gargery and Miss Havisham—help him realize that this notion is an unfortunate misconception, and their experiences show Pip that he not live his life by such norms.

The difference in class structures of Victorian England was dependent on the lifestyles and jobs of individuals. The Victorian era of England lasted from 1837 to 1901. The Victorian England hierarchy was divided into three different classes; the upper, middle, and lower class and was reliant of occupational differences. The hierarchy was very rigid and there was little social mobility, because of the fact that normally a person was born into their class and even their future career. In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens displays the model of class structure through the character Pip Pirrup. Pip struggles to find his place within the hierarchy. Throughout the novel, Dickens writes about the different classes in England. Pip belongs the working class due to his family and is set to be a blacksmith, but finds himself in the societal shift that occurred in England in the nineteenth century. Pip wants to achieve his great expectations and change the path that his life was going on. He wants create a better life for himself than what he would have had if he followed in the footsteps of his family. Dickens also creates various characters in the different classes to expose the relationship between each class. An individual’s class was a dominant factor in creating an identity. People of the upper classes thought very little of the people “below” them. Throughout his journey, Pip reveals information about how the different social classes lived and how members of each

To begin with, Pip shows the danger of only pursuing class, as he realizes that money does not make him happy. To illustrate, Charles Dickens begins Pip’s awareness of social class in his novel, Great

Charles Dickens uses his own opinions to develop the larger-than-life characters in Great Expectations. The novel is written from the point of view of the protagonist, Pip. Pip guides the reader through his life, describing the different stages from childhood to manhood. Many judgments are made regarding the other characters, and Pip's views of them are constantly changing according to his place in the social hierarchy. For instance, Pip feels total admiration that, later, turns to total shame for the man who raised him, Joe Gargery. The primary theme in this novel questions whether being in a higher social and economic class helps a person to achieve true happiness. This idea is shown through Pip's innocence at the forge, visits

In Great Expectations, throughout Pip’s childhood and adulthood, he develops expectations and conceptions of others around him. In addition to Mrs. Joe Gargery, there is another character who influences Pip’s decision to pursue a lavish lifestyle in London. Mrs. Havisham is a wealthy, unmarried woman who requests to see Pip several times throughout the novel. Estella, Miss Havisham’s adopted daughter who Pip falls in love with early on, degrades Pip for being part of a common family. She represents this degradation through several rude commands and statements. “ ‘With this boy! Why, he is a common labouring-boy’ ” (Dickens 61). After being devastated by Estella’s comments, Pip begins to question the way Joe, his brother-in-law and father

Charles Dickens, author of Great Expectations, provides a perfect example of the hope of class mobility. The novel portrays very diverse and varied social classes which spread from a diligent, hardworking peasant (Joe) to a good-natured middle class man (Mr. Wemmick) to a rich, beautiful young girl (Estella). Pip, in particular, elevates in the social pyramid from a common boy to a gentleman with great expectations. With his rise in society, he also alters his attitude, from being a caring child to an apathetic gentleman. During this process, Pip learns how he should act and how to become a real gentleman. Social mobility and wealth, furthermore, carves a disposition and how a character is looked upon.

In Great Expectations, they deal with many social issues. One of which is what it means to be a gentleman. Throughout the story, told through the narration of Pip, the meaning of what it means to be a gentleman takes on several different forms. Charles Dickens masterfully manipulates our view of what a gentleman of the Victorian Era truly is. Pip learns what a gentleman of the time really is through his experiences.

In Great Expectations, the novel primarily revolves around the life of Philip Pirrip who is better known as Pip. Pip who is also the narrator reflects on his past as he changes throughout the novel which defines him as a dynamic character. Early in the novel Pip was quite oblivious to his “commonness” until several events such as working for Miss Havisham changed his perspective entirely. In the process of becoming a gentleman, Pip’s attitude and perspective on life were changed. Through Pip’s narration, he describes some of his unfavorable qualities as he changes throughout his life. Charles Dickens allows the readers to see Pip’s development and change of values as he shifts from social classes which reflects the negative consequences of pursuing wealth and social status.

The reader gets a true glimpse of Miss Havisham’s lifestyle when Pip pays a visit. “I entered, therefore, and found myself in a pretty large room, well lighted with wax candles. No glimpse of daylight was to be seen in it. It was a dressing-room, as I supposed from the furniture, though much of it was of forms and uses then quite unknown to me. But prominent in it was a draped table with a gilded looking-glass, and that I made out at first sight to be a fine lady's dressing-table…. But, I saw that everything within my view which ought to be white, had been white long ago, and had lost its lustre, and was faded and yellow. I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes…” (Great expectations, pg 55-56). After the man she was suppose to be wed left her at the altar and took her money with him, she descended into madness. Her own wealth led to her corruption. She never overcame this obstacle and vowed the rest of her life to getting revenge. This tragic event changed her and soon resulted in the corruption of her and her daughter. There seems to be a silent debate on the meaning of a gentleman. The society views it as someone who is wealthy and well- mannered while the poor view it as a person who acts as they are. "It is considered that you

Social class played a major role in the society depicted in Charles Dickens 's novel “Great Expectations”. Many characters were treated differently because of their social class in the story. Seeing the contrast between how the poor and the rich were treated will give a clearer understanding of how much social class mattered. During the nineteenth century, British society was dominated and ruled by a tightly woven system of class distinctions. Social relations and acceptance were based upon position. Charles Dickens utilizes “Great Expectations” as a commentary on the system of class and each person 's place within it. In the character of Pip, Dickens demonstrates the working class ' obsession to overthrow their limitations and re-invent

Social class filters the rich from the poor… However it does much more than that. Social standings often affects self image and worth. In the Victorian era one 's position in this pre-defined social hierarchy affected their whole life. Observations from Charles Dickens’ classic book, Great Expectations, conceives a link between social class - particularly that of England - and superficiality. Generally, the lower a character was financially was often met with the corresponding level of how they are seen by others. These connections can be ascertained through Pip’s actions as a member of the lower class, his change in loyalty and feelings towards others ensuing his gain in fortune - specifically joe - as well as the style of narration in which the story is recalled.

Pip’s mindset regarding classes and success in life is drastically altered after his initial visit to the aristocratic Miss Havisham. “She said I was common” (69) spurs the realization in Pip that he is indeed innocent but unfortunately much oppressed. Pip is very distraught with his birth place into society, to the point that he “was discontented” (130) -- he increasingly desires to be a gentleman. He primarily desires this as a means of impressing Estella and winning her over. At this point in the novel, Pip is willing to give away what he loves (Joe – family setting) to obtain a superficial and insulting girl. One day Pip receives word that he now has the ability to grow up to be his ultimate dream, to be a gentleman. Pip awakens to a new world and those he once loved are no longer good enough for Pip. Moving to London, he becomes far more sophisticated, but at the same time loses his natural goodness. (Chesterton 142). Pip is leaving happiness and his real family to attain a life he thinks will make him more content. Before departing, he dreams of “Fantastic failures of journeys occupied me until the day dawned and the birds were singing” (148). This relates the dream that Pip has just before he sets out to London for the first time, with all of his "great expectations" before him. Pip’s dream is permeated with the sadness and guilt caused by his imminent departure from Joe and Biddy and his aspirations for a new social station.

A significant part in which readers see the effect of Pip’s first encounter with wealth; his time at Satis House; is towards the end of Chapter Nine. Pip is lying in his little room at night and he claims his mind is in a ‘disturbed and unthankful state’, this evokes sympathy from readers as they see the juxtaposition of a little impressionable boy in his little room who can not stop thinking about the harsh treatment he received earlier that day from a snobbish girl in a big house. He was content with his life and completely ignorant towards his social standing before he met Estella, who mocked the little details about him that made him inferior to her - how he calls knaves ‘Jacks’, his ‘coarse hands’ and ‘thick boots’. The exact words are repeated in the ending of chapter nine, where he thinks about ‘how common Estella would consider Joe...how thick his boots and how coarse his hands’. This repetition - which is very common in Dickens’ work - conveys the lasting impact Estella has had on him