Social Status in Great Expectations

The main storyline has to do with Pip’s expectations of becoming a gentleman. To do this he received help from a secret benefactor. For the first half of the novel Pip is convinced that Miss Havisham is the one doing this so one day he and Estella can be together. Dickens creates a story around Pip’s assumption to make this a very logical explanation. Coincidentally right after Pip realizes and confirms he was wrong about his benefactor, an unexpected character reappears. “You acted nobly, my boy,” said he. “Noble Pip! And I have never forgot it!” (Dickens 248) These words ring out of his benefactor’s name. Who appears to be the escaped convict from the beginning who threatened him, known by the name of Magwitch. Magwitch reveals that ever since that day in the graveyard when Pip returned to give him what he requested he has found a job to help Pip out for what he did for him. By doing this secretly for all this

Pip’s loss of ignorance drives his dreams to become a gentleman in the hopes of one day marrying Estella. In addition, Pip becomes so self-conscious of his humble upbringings that he is embarrassed of the home that he lives in. He reflects, “It is a most miserable thing to feel ashamed of home..., and I would not have had Miss Havisham and Estella see it

She implores Pip to forgive her for making him suffer heartbreak to satisfy her own “wild resentment, spurned affection, and wounded pride” (710). It is only after Miss Havisham’s death that Pip realizes that wealth—whether referring to his own wealth or Miss Havisham’s—often brings out the worst of a person’s character, including his own. He realizes that his dreams to become wealthy and “bestow…a gallon of condescension upon everybody in the village” are petty, and that he is slated to lose everyone he loves to his own greed

Coining the term ‘Jazz Age’, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, a modern American writer, has skillfully portrayed the social status, and class of the Post World War I Americans, their illusive pursuit of ‘American Dream’, their luxurious and careless life style in the mode of high class society etc. in his brilliant masterpiece, The Great Gatsby. The novel is the underlying commentary regarding the ascending of the social ladder, the causes behind this, the pursuit of material wealth, how it is associated with racism and sexuality, and the reaction of the consequences. It is found in the novel that the narrator is merely a witness in a character-oriented story, and the characters do not portray the real people, but rather present the cultural and economic state in a class-based materialistic, extravagant, disillusioned, and racist American society. Fitzgerald, in characterization, divides society into various groups defined by wealth and social status and makes a queer relationship between money, love, and sex through the thematic lens of social stratification and ethnic approach.

One day Pip is taken to play at a large house, the house belongs to the character Miss Havisham who is portrayed as an extremely eccentric person. It is during these visits that the young Pip meets Miss Havisham’s daughter Estella, who never displays any form of affection for Pip and treats him contemptuously. Nevertheless, Pip falls in love and it his dream to become a gentleman and marry Estella.

Miss Havisham was the woman who decided to enact her revenge on mankind by raising Estella to be cold, thus in turn, driving Pip to want to to become a gentleman to become “good enough” for Estella. Even though Estella was actually the daughter of a murderer and a convict, Miss Havisham raised her to be haughty and superficial, so she steps all around the people she deems below her. Pip is one of the unlucky few who get trapped under her footsteps. Mrs. Joe's and Biddy's had significantly less influence than Estella and Miss Havisham, but they still had an effect on Pip’s life. Neither character is particularly developed, as “Biddy... is the novel's one truly virtuous, patient, domestic woman, but as a character she is by contrast bland, like most "good" women in Dickens.”

The class system becomes a focal point in young Pip's life. Pip first began to think about his place in society when he was sent to visit the wealthy, old lady, Miss Havisham at her mansion. Through these visits Pip becomes socially conscious and begins to dislike his commonality. Almost instantly he wants to become uncommon. The adopted daughter of Miss Havisham, Estella, becomes a focal point and goal for Pip to obtain. Any morality Pip used to have slips away with each visit. Pip walks in circles in a barely lit room with Miss Havisam holding onto his shoulder and in doing so, Pip is somehow leaving behind all the values he was raised with. Miss Havisham and Estella end up corrupting Pip with the rich life. Greed, beauty and hubris are Pips downward spiral into an immoral life. Pip finds Estella very attractive, but Estella calls him common and this does not sit well with Pip. All of Pip's expectations of becoming a rich gentleman are due to this love of Estella.

Throughout time society as a whole has greatly changed and developed to what it is now. One major part of the society is the social class structure. In Charles Dickens’ novel, Great Expectations, Dickens expresses his beliefs on that structure in many ways. Since Dickens wrote the novel during the Victorian Era it reflects and evaluates the beliefs and values of the time. For the most part ones place in the social order was based on wealth and the reputation of ones relations. In general, the member of the higher class were unhappy and those in the lower class were joyful. He does this to show that wealth isn’t everything. He continues to display that idea throughout the book and he displays its

The essence of The American Dream has always surrounded the definition of greater social status. Whatever else Americans value at a certain time, it has always been because of wanting a higher social status. Throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, a mysterious man of newly found wealth, strives for this dream of greater social status through love and societal image in numerous efforts during the novel. Another character with the same dream exists in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Walter, a man who tries to achieve greater social status by first trying to be successful economically but then shifting to trying to have good stance in his family. Gatsby doesn’t achieve his dream of a higher social status as he dies without the love of Daisy and without a legacy after his death while on the other hand, Walter somewhat achieves this same dream because although his liquor store never becomes reality, he does what is best for his family by making decisions that demonstrate his care for them.

Furthermore, this means that Miss Havishams planned to manipulate Estella to make Pip Fall in love with her and break his heart. Alternatively, Miss Havisham wants to taunt Estella on how to break mens heart and chooses Pip as foundation to break his heart.

A social class is a social construct set out to divide us and limit us. However “limiting” has such a negative connotation that it gives social classes so much power over us as a society. A person is born to a social class that will affect their ability to achieve their aspirations in life. For example, If a person is born with a vast amount of wealth their ability to reach their goals will be much easier. However if person is born poor or does not have access to the resources that comes with wealth then that individual’s ambitions will be nearly impossible to make true or sustain forever. In the American novel, The Great Gatsby, the main character Jay Gatsby is the son of two poor farmers.Gatsby being born in a moneyless environment has created

in the novel the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens one of the many main characters played a huge role in the novel alongside Estella and Pip. She lives in a rotting mansion which seems to be as if she is rotting with it. The old house begins to catch fire, leaving readers questioning whether it is symbolic, or has any purpose to it. The breaking up of her and man and her ex husband Compeyson , left her heart broken an unforgiving. Since then she sworn to herself that'd she never move beyond the heart break thus tuning her into a bitter, vicious and mean old woman , who lived a miserable hate filled life.

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

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.

With her plan of revenge in mind, Miss Havisham deliberately raises Estella to avoid emotional attachment and treat those who love her with cruelty. A specific quote in the book, where Miss Havisham tells Pip that he must love Estella at all costs, sheds light on Miss Havisham's vengeful character. One can draw parallels from the life of Miss Havisham to the life that she