Portrayal of the Victorian Era in Great Expectations

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Written during the Victorian Era (1850-1900) Charles Dickens's Great Expectations has echoes of Victorian Morality all throughout the novel. When looked up in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, morality is defined as "the evaluation of or means of evaluating human conduct as a set of ideas of right and wrong and as a set of customs of a given society, class, or social groups which regulate relationships and prescribes modes of behavior to enhance the groups survival." Although the Victorian Era occurred over one hundred years ago, the given definition is clearly portrayed through the use of several morally different characters. These characters are shown over a lengthy period of time and at many different stages in their life, both developmentally and morally.

Virtue, strength, thrift, manners, cleanliness, honesty and chastity are only a few of the morals Victorians held in high esteem. Through each of the characters created by Dickens these morals can be seen either in good working or not at all. The dynamic, main character, Pip, goes through several changes and deals with various moral issues. Joe and Biddy are static characters throughout the entire novel and appear to be the embodiment of what ideal Victorians should be. Estella, the woman whom Pip believes he loves, is an example of a woman with the potential to be morally good turned morally bad. Miss Havisham, a morally corrupt woman seems to be the center for all bad morality.

Pip begins as a young boy, innocent without any moral corrupt. Pip steals food and a file from his sister and uncle to carry out the orders of a convict he stumbles across in the marshes. Knowing that it is disrespectful to disregard the orders of an elder, whether the...

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...t exhibited a likeness of those who lived in that time period. Once Pip obtained a social consciousness, he started to become someone he wasn't. Ms. Joe was known for her cleanliness, but that is the only characteristic she showed. She was not very motherly toward Pip. Joe and Biddy, on the other hand, were the ideal Victorians. Joe was Pip's father figure and was a very hardworking man. He wouldn't even take money Pip had offered before he left for London. Joe's strength of character and virtue made him one of the ideal Victorians. Biddy was very nurturing toward Pip. She was always there to console Pip when he needed someone. Because like begets like, it is only natural Joe and Biddy become a union of one in marriage. Their virtue and morality have brought them together and strengthened their love, helping them to obtain great expectations of the Victorian Era.

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