Comparing the Victorian Times of Great Expectations with Today

650 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Social classes of victorian england

Comparing the Victorian Times of Great Expectations with Today

There are many things about the Victorian Age that are different from our way of life today. Evidence of this can be found in such elements of the 1800's as courting manners, child- rearing, transportation, housing and careers. The novel and film Great Expectations give many examples of the contrast of the present and the past. Victorians were a very class-conscious society. These days, just about anyone can manage to have fairly nice clothes, a decent car, a place to live, and reasonable job security. Not so in Victorian times.

Great Expectations clearly illustrates the rich and poor extremes of the society. As a boy, Pip was seen as obviously poor by Estella, due to his calling knaves jacks, and having coarse hands and thick boots. She was disgusted even to be around him simply due to this fact. Pip simply couldn't afford many nice clothes because he was a blacksmith's son. The other end of the dress spectrum is shown by Pip's trip to the tailor later in the book. His money has all of a sudden made him an important man and he can have only the finest clothes. He spends much of the book walking around London decked out in suits and a top hat like he's better than everyone. While dress prejudices still exist in today's times, they are not as drastic as they seemed to be in the Victorian period. If you're looking to go to a bar and pick up a one-night stand, the 1800's are not the spot for you. Many marriages w...

Show More
Related

  • A Comparison of Two Film Versions of the Beginning of Great Expectations

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    I think this applies to both of the openings of the films as in the

    Read More

  • Society Pressure in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    1997 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Victorian era is considered an era of rapid change and development in almost every field of science and politics. However, it is also known for being an era of contradictions. The era is known for its growth and prosperity, one of great political change and economic wealth. Major advancements were being made across all of the fields of science, technology, and medicine. As all of these were changing for the better, society and moral codes remained strict and outdated. Women were not allowed to wear revealing cloth...

    Read More

  • Bram Stoker: A Brief Introduction To The Victorian Era

    473 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Victorian Era started when Queen Victorian inherited the throne in 1837 and lasted till 1901. Over those years, England underwent “technological, commercial, and social developments that fundamentally changed English life, replacing the world into which Victoria was born with one that looks much more familiar to the twenty-first-century eye.” (Nelson 1). According to Houghton “never before had men thought of their own time as an era of change from the past to the future.”(1). England was in the period of transition, the change from the Middle Ages to the modern period. The old doctrines and institutions were attacked and modified and a new order was proposed. The Victorians had to live between two words,

    Read More

  • Crime was Rampant During the Victorian Age in England

    754 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Victorian Age in England was a time when crime was rampant, people were starving, and life was generally difficult. In these times, there were really only two social classes, the upper class, and the lower class. Everyone in the lower class had troubles, but children had it the hardest. While most everyone had a difficult life, it was worst for children; forcing them towards crime and leading them into the arms of prison.

    Read More

  • Essay On Great Expectations

    534 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the start of the novel, Pip is very low educated and unaware of his social class , or even that he belongs to a social class. Because he does not know of any "better" lifestyle, Pip is content with what he has and who he knows. As life goes on, he meets new people from both higher and lower social classes and his content turns to greed and shame, as he immediately longs to be better educated. He is suddenly ashamed of his family and origins. Pip learns as he grows older, however, that having mone...

    Read More

  • The Role of Setting in Great Expectations

    406 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Great Expectations, the three main settings: the Forge, Satis House and London affect the atmosphere of the novel, as well as Pip’s emotions. The three main locations make Pip who he is, and it represents the aspects of himself – his hopes, fear, pride, and shame. Each of these three locations has symbolic characters which represents the aspects of Pip and also the mood.

    Read More

  • Mistreatment Of Women In The Victorian Era Essay

    2196 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Victorian era was an extremely difficult time for women in Great Britain. They were subject to gross inequalities such as, not being able to; control their own earnings, education, and marriage. As well as having a lack of equality within marriage, women had poor working conditions, and an immense unemployment rate as well. Not only was the fact that women were viewed as second-class citizens and had limited rights compared to men during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries a major problem, but women were also held to a much different standard, and expected to carry out many

    Read More

  • Social Class Within Great Expectations, The Doll's House, and Society

    716 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Great Expectations, Pip was one of lower class. Although he did not have the fortunes, Pip was happy. Once he was introduced to the rich Miss Havisham and her daughter Estella, he fell in love. Estella became the object of his affection, yet because she was considered high class, there wou...

    Read More

  • Patriarcal Society During The Victorian Era

    1903 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Victorian Era started when Queen Victoria took the throne in 1837 and ended roughly the day she died in 1901. Victorian England “was a strictly patriarchal society” (Yildirim 2). It is common knowledge that during the Victorian era men and women had their own specific roles. It is also common knowledge to know that men had complete legal and economical control over the women (Mitchell 1, 142). Women were expected to stay at home to keep house and take care of the children.

    Read More

  • Great Expectations: Analyzed Through A Marxist Criticism

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ntation of the distinctions between the social classes. Dickens uses Pip’s relationships with Estella, Joe, and Magwitch to show how the lower class is judged by social status or appearances, instead of morals and values. The lower class is looked down upon and taken advantage of the upper class, and this is prevalent in the novel Great Expectations.

    Read More

  • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    The wealthy people had a great advantage over the poor in the industrial revolution. Even though the poor families did most of the work they still had the short end of the stick. Having their young children work in factories coal mines and mill. Having their wives take care of the wealthy children and clean their houses, the men themselves did labor work for the wealthy. Without the natural human instinct to fight for survival the industrial revolution would have ever happened. Money was the soul point in the separation of classes. The wealthier you were the less work you had to do and I their eyes even a better life style even though when they had boring childhood. Pip has lived in both life styles the rich and the poor. The wealthy people of the Victorian era were at a huge advantage, leaving the poor in the worst living conditions.

    Read More

  • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    Charles Dickens utilizes his life for inspiration for the protagonist Pip in his novel Great Expectations. They both struggle with their social standing. Dickens loved plays and theatre and therefore incorporated them into Pip’s life. Dickens died happy in the middle class and Pip died happy in the middle class. The connection Dickens makes with his life to Pip’s life is undeniable. If readers understand Dickens and his upbringing then readers can understand how and why he created Pip’s upbringing. Charles Dickens’ life, full of highs and lows, mirrors that of Pip’s life. Their lives began the same and ended the same. To understand the difficulty of Dickens’ childhood is to understand why his writing focuses on the English social structure. Dickens’ life revolved around social standing. He was born in the lower class but wasn’t miserable. After his father fell into tremendous debt he was forced into work at a young age. He had to work his way to a higher social standing. Because of Dicken’s constant fighting of class the English social structure is buried beneath the surface in nearly all of his writings. In Great Expectations Pip’s life mirrors Dickens’ in the start of low class and the rise to a comfortable life. Fortunately for Dickens, he does not fall again as Pip does. However, Pip and Dickens both end up in a stable social standing.

    Read More

  • The Life of Charles Dickens Reflected in Great Expectations

    2656 Words  | 6 Pages

    "I must entreat you to pause for an instant, and go back to what you know of my childish days, and to ask yourself whether it is natural that something of the character formed in me then" - Charles Dickens

    Read More

  • Great Expectations: Self-Analysis

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    After using half of a class period on Wednesday, April 11 to teach about Chapter 37 of Great Expectations, the depth to which one must go to pass on knowledge accurately, efficiently, and creatively was revealed to me. Through this exercise the many aspects of the teaching process such as having to keep the class in check, the amount of preparation that the lesson took, and the difficulty in gauging their attentiveness while still trying to keep your own agenda. As expected, the real challenge in all of this was not necessary in each specific aspect but in maintaining all of them simultaneously. Though this project was difficult, having a partner made the process significantly easier as well as, in my opinion, adding another mind to add or

    Read More

  • Pip's Great Expectations

    880 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pip comes from a lower class family of the Victorian era. The reader first meets Pip around the age of 6, when he explains that his parents, as well as 5 of his brothers, have all passed and he has been raised by his sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, and her husband Joe Gargery. His sister continuously reminds Pip about her having brought him up “by hand” (Dickens 7) and even details her regrets about having taken him in as her own child saying “I’d never do it again!” (Dickens 8). Despite the rough upbringing, or perhaps because of the rough upbringing, Pip has high hopes of one day becoming a gentleman and continuously dreams of what his life will be like once he is part of the upper class. These aspirations indicate that Pip has great expectations for himself. He expects to become a perfect gentleman and climb the social status ladder. Soon after explaining his home situation, Pip describes to the reader of his encounter with Ms. Havisham, who he describes as “an immensely rich and grim lady who lived in a large and dismal hous...

    Read More

More about Comparing the Victorian Times of Great Expectations with Today

Open Document