What Role Does Criminality And Justice Play In The Victorian Era

Looking back into the 1800s, those accused of a crime did not receive the treatment they would nowadays due to the lack of freedoms they had. In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, the characters Victor Frankenstein and Justine Moritz were both unjustly accused, tried, and Justine was executed; similarly, a significant amount of people experienced the same unfair treatment in the 1800s (Shelly).

The novel, like many other classics, paints the society and time period in which the author lives through. Victorian England, which is the basis of Dickens setting, was a time where social principles were focused on the hierarchy and human nature. The

    The increase in poverty in the 1800s and the rise of the industrial revolution had a direct correlation to the escalation of crime throughout the world. The Victorian Era was harsh on the poor and on those who pushed the boundaries of the law, meaning that living as a criminal was particularly risky. Many had “no other choice” because they had no occupation or job that gave decent pay. However, there were a good number of rich people who were involved in a recent surge in new ideas and manufacturing. The culmination of these different classes resulted in acts of misconduct that included theft and riots and murder in other cases. To make matters worse the system of justice in place across the world was not yet refined, especially the Wild West days of America and the United Kingdom.

During the 1800s, crime and punishment began to rise. You were punished for major offences and minor offences. The minor offences normally were given the death sentence, usually given out for stealing. The crimes were most likely committed by the people in need, because most families in the 1800s lived in poverty. As time passed some communities believed that some of the punishments for crime were too harsh, so changes began to be made. The amount of punishments received for minor crimes reduced. Some of the crime they saw in the 1800s we still see today along with a few of the punishments.

Crime and punishment in the 1800’s was very unlike today. Punishments were much more violent and severe back then with crime rates being high. However, a lot of the crime was unaccounted for due to how easy it was to get away with crimes back then. Compared to today, where as crime rates are increasing daily. As such, crime rates today surpass the rates in the 1800s. However, punishments are not as fatal today compared to the past. Almost all criminals in the 1800s were penalized with death in some way, typically by hanging. According to Gooii, some crimes, such as treason or murder, were considered serious crimes, but other ‘minor’ offences, such as picking pockets or stealing food, could also be punished with the death sentence.

Crime and punishment in victorian times was divergent than it is today. In victorian times , the sentencing and punishment was very stricted. The petty crimes were mostly likely sentenced to death and hung. For example, John Walker was convicted of stealing onions and was sentenced seven years for it. If anyone stole food from the grocery store in this era and got caught the store would most likely call law enforcement and give them a warning and let them go. That is very different than how they treated it in victorian times. Criminals in victorian times were treated different than they are treated today.

Punishments for crimes has changed tremendously from the 1800s. Crime rates began to rise because of an increase in population and wealth. Punishment has been around for thousands of years. The law originally stated that only slaves were allowed to be punished, and was later changed allowing free men to be tortured for committing crimes as well. The harsh punishments include, people getting their dominant hand cut of for stealing, and people were also burned alive. Women who committed adultery were drowned. Even the Catholic Church used torture to show they had power regardless of whether the people were guilty. Crime and punishment in the 1800s is similar and different from today because the crimes that are being committed have stayed the same where as the punishments have changed drastically.

The topic of crime has been booming in modern day news. Stories of “corrupt policemen” and sexual misconduct allegations have flooded social media and everyday conversation, but crime has always been a large aspect of society. However, modern day laws have been overall consistent for a long period of time. During the Elizabethan era, many new crimes and punishments were created by a growing development and knowledge. Accordingly, the evolution of law grew dramatically during the Elizabethan age.

Great Expectations was a novel written by Charles Dickens. It was first published in serial form from 1st December 1860 and then further on was released in book form in August 1861, although was previously issued by David Copperfield in 1849. This novel reworks his own childhood as a first-person narrative; Dickens was fortunate and had an advantage of writing Great Expectations due to him living in the Victorian times, and he related his life experiences with the main character of the play, ‘Pip’. Charles opened the play with the character Pip; his name was short for his Christian name Philip. In the Victorian times there were 3 different classes, these were known as the upper class, middle class and lower class. Pip belonged to the

Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens that thoroughly captures the adventures of growing up. The book details the life of a boy through his many stages of life, until he is finally a grown man, wizened by his previous encounters. Dickens’ emotions in this book are very sincere, because he had a similar experience when his family went to debtor’s prison. Pip starts as a young boy, unaware of social class, who then becomes a snob, overcome by the power of money, and finally grows into a mature, hardworking man, knowing that there is much more to life than money.

    The renowned poet, Richard Lovelace, once wrote that "Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage." Although many think of a prison as a physical building or a jailhouse, it can also be a state of mind. A great number of people are imprisoned mentally and emotionally. Charles Dickens expresses this message in his eminent novel, Great Expectations. This book is about a simple laboring boy who grew into a gentleman, and slowly realized that no matter what happened in his life it couldn't change who he was on the inside. On the road to this revelation, Pip meets many incarcerated people. Through these people, Dickens delivers the message that people can be

Charles Dickens strived for social advancement for the lower classes; his writings gave hope to thousands of people in Great Britain that one day, they may become equals to the wealthy. Not only did Charles Dickens help define the Victorian Era; his novel, Great Expectations, pulls a reader's imagination into the important Era. Great Expectations was written to express Dickens' dissatisfaction with the economic status of the lower classes and the injustices that were done upon these people

Dickens used these experiences, in addition to his writing abilities, to showcase the realities of this lifestyle. In his book Great Expectations, Dickens provides a window into the Victorian period by exposing the era as an atmosphere of disdain. A normalization of child abuse is shown throughout the novel, thus emphasizing

Mickey Spillane once said, “The most important part of a story is the ending. No one reads a book to get to the middle.” Despite the fact that the beginning and middle of story play an important role, the resolution is what tends to stick with the reader the most. From the instant the audience meets Pip to the final chapter where Pip and Estella bump into each other after such a long time, Great Expectations is, all the way through, a complete classic. Yet, there is some debate on the most important part of the story - the ending. The ending that Dickens published in his book was actually different from the one he had first written. After hearing some advice from his friend Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Dickens decided to change the final part of his novel. A huge debate has been created as a result of the fixes Dickens made: which of the two endings that Dickens wrote was better - the original or the published one? After examining both Dickens’ original ending and published ending, it’s clear that Dickens’ original ending is the conclusion that overall fits Great Expectations better because of its good thematic expression and plausibility.

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.