Victorian Era Research Paper

When Bleak House, by Charles Dickens, was published in 1853, it did not go unnoticed by critics. The reviews of the period where anything but tepid in tone or opinion in regard to Dickens’ newest novel. Most notably, the critics were concerned with the structure of the novel, characterization, and, in particular, Esther as a plausible character. By singling out reviewers from different publications of the time, it is possible to see what the public in 1853 was reading about Bleak House in regard to these issues.

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

"Miss Havisham's intentions towards me, all a mere dream; Estella not designed for me; I only suffered in Satis House as a convenience, a sting for the greedy relations, a model with a mechanical heart to practise on when no other practice was at hand; those were the first smarts I had. But, sharpest and deepest pain of all -- it was for the convict, guilty of I knew not what crimes, and liable to be taken out of those rooms where I sat thinking, and hanged at the Old Bailey door, that I had deserted Joe" (Dickens

7) In criminological theories, we saw how police activity is largely geared towards minor visible crimes committed by individuals from the lower stratums of society as oppose to “white collar crimes” committed by those of higher stratums (Dubé, CRM 3701, 2011). Abolitionists argue that by severely punishing some of the poor in order to deter society from committing crimes; we are only further contributing to the inequalities in today’s society.

“Finally, I 've come to believe that the true measure of our commitment to justice, the character of our society, our commitment to the rule of law, fairness, and equality cannot be measured by how we treat the rich, the powerful, the privileged, and the respected among us. The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned. We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated,” (Stevenson 18). Within Bryan Stevenson’s novel, Just Mercy, the truths of social inequalities in our criminal justice system are confronted and assessed. Discoveries are made on how the social status of a person impacts the way society perceives them. Despite actions made towards others in the majority, an individual’s character will be measured by how they behave towards people in the minority. Through Harper Lee’s portrayal of hostility that various characters possess towards minorities in her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Stevenson’s unforgettable descriptions of social inequalities that the incarcerated face, a similar theme is exhibited. The social status of an individual will influence society’s behavior in a negative or positive way and provoke inequality within a community.

Crime and punishment in the 1800s affected gender and social classes in a variety of ways. During this time period, a rapid increase in crime rates occurred due to poverty and poorly educated citizens. In particular, the shortage of housing, crowded rural areas, and the lack of education created an environment familiar with crime(Wong, 325). Many individuals were grouped together by their surroundings and crimes they were committing.

The transition from the Medieval period to the Early Modern period is marked by a few significant factors. These new discoveries were just the beginning of the potential of what the world would eventually become today. These events are the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450, the discovery of the New World in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, and the use and importance of gun powder. These new findings changed the way people lived and how they communicated with others.

The actions of Victorians upon a death is a intricate web of rituals and etiquette. In Vanity Fair, William Thackeray gives modern readers a brief glimpse into deep mourning through Amelia Sedley-Osborne.

Social class and crime and punishment has always been an issue in the UK if not globally. For the elite, the criminal justice system serves a purpose to deter and prevent crime, but the reality is that the poor are punished for crimes they commit more so than those of a upper class who commit the same crime. The question is who is to blame for this image of the poor being criminals and the working class crime phenomenon, is it the moral Panic created by the media to distract from the reality of the white collar corporate crime being carried out by the most powerful of society or is it down to Poverty, Labelling, economic and social positioning which all contribute to deviant behaviour. The aim of this essay is to provide a critical criminological view of the punishment of the poor with a wide range of theories and ideas to contribute to the understanding of the poor being punished from the 18th century to today 's contemporary society. It will aim to develop an understanding how criminals and deviant behaviour were defined and perceived from historical periods to now.

“In a word, I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong” (31). Charles Dickens, the author of many marvelous novels, uses this quote in his book Great Expectations to suggest that people in the 1800s would behave however society thought was proper in order to not stand out. Also, a lot of people assumed that acting supercilious was easier than to be conscientious of their actions during this time period. The majority of the people only wanted to be looked upon as gentlemen with great expectations, however, nobody wanted to be considered a common fellow. And in spite of the fact that people were clearly conscious of how they obtained this high-ranking role as a gentleman,

An individual’s exterior and outward demeanor often hides his or her true being. The classic novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens reflects this theme several times as the protagonist, Pip, an ambitious but lowborn boy, receives money from an unknown benefactor and travels to London to become a gentleman. He goes through many trials on his journey for success, and it is while on this odyssey that he meets many people who tend to hide their true selves, sometimes to escape trouble. The world is full of sneaky persons and it is hard to know who to trust when there are so many pretending to be someone they are not. One of the disguised people in this novel is Mr. Jaggers’ housekeeper, Molly.

    One may infer that Dickens may have been attempting to acknowledge the birth of female freedom, due to the industrial revolution, by way of the female characters' actions within Great Expectations. Considering that he creates such verbal execution performed by many of the female characters within the novel suggests that women were usually treated as equals, this not being the case. By allowing these women to be verbally and physically abusive, Dickens may have been presenting the distorted idea toward female criminals and violent women.

The Victorian Age's morality also condemned any kind of sexual reference in literature. Victorian critics demanded from "serious" literature a didactic content and respect to the Victorian conventions which established that sex

great prosperity in Great Britain's literature. The Victorian Age produced a variety of changes. Political and social reform produced a variety of reading among all classes. The lower-class became more self-conscious, the middle class more powerful and the rich became more vulnerable. The novels of Charles Dickens, the poems of Alfred,

Victorian England was notorious for, along with top hats, its outdated “justice” system. Fraught with corruption, expired methods, and disorganization, the Victorian judiciary system was a severe flaw in the royal kingdom that was partially fed by the crime-fearing public and indifferent servants of the law. Growing up in an oppressive environment reminiscent of Victorian England’s own corrupt justice system, Pip’s journey from childhood to adulthood illustrates a gradual realization of the willful blindness of his fellow man to the injustice served to the convicted criminal, and indicates the cyclical nature of how poverty and fear feed the public consensus on crime. As explored by John H. Hagan Jr.’s article entitled “The Poor Labyrinth: The Theme of Social Injustice in Dickens's “Great Expectations”", in which Pip’s own life, as well as the lives of those around him illustrate how socioeconomic differences played a significant role in how individuals perceived the law and one another.