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Social classes with great expectations
Social classes with great expectations
Social classes with great expectations
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Social class is the dividing line between the working class and the wealthy. It’s there to divide people based on their amount of money, education, and land they have. In the novel Great Expectation by Charles Dickens, the effects social class has on people is explored with the character of Estella. Estella is a character that was born to someone in the lower class, however was raised in the upper class. This unique situation takes a negative turn for her life based on her emotions and actions. Estella is a part of Pip’s first encounter with the upper class. When the two meet, she brushes him off as a “.. common labouring-boy”(Dickens 58) and wants nothing to do with someone so below her. Her reaction to Pip shows how social class is negative …show more content…
She notices herself as an awful person that will break Pip 's heart and is scared to get close to him because of that reason. Estella and Pip both have feelings for one another, but instead of marrying him Estella marries an upper class doctor, Drummle. She lets Drummle treat her horribly all the years they’re married because he’s an upper class gentleman, she wouldn’t leave someone who was worshiped by people in Victorian England. He was seen as the perfect man, and she was encouraged to be the perfect wife. Her life in the upper class left her with nothing but emotional abuse from people who were truly a part of that class. When Estella and Pip meet back up again, she warns Pip, “...when we sat apart at a darkening window of the house in Richmond; ‘will you never take warning?’ ‘Of what?’ ‘Of me.’”(Dickens 292). Estella is terrified to love Pip because of how she was raised, partly by Miss Havisham 's influence and partly due to the social class separation between the two. She feels drawn to Pip, but she could never act upon her feelings will Miss Havisham still lived. Her blaming of Miss Havisham is clear to Pip. He saw this when, “...Estella was set to wreak Miss Havisham’s revenge on men, and that she was not to be given to me until she had gratified it for a term.”(Dickens 293). Miss Havisham’s personal inner turmoil with men was passed down to Estella for no other reason than …show more content…
Although Pip may have lived in poverty a majority of his childhood with little money, he still had family like Joe that cared for and loved him. Estella was raised in isolation with just Miss Havisham, who emotionally abused her into becoming a cold, heartless person. Estella confronts Miss Havisham about this in part two after her Pip meetup. The two argue until Estella responds with, “I am what you have made me. Take all the praise, take all the blame; take all the success, talk all the failure; in short, take me”(Dickens 295). Miss Havisham raised Estella this way, identifying that her own past had trouble with men. She was left the altar, and never let a man in her life again. She took in Estella to become someone that breaks men’s hearts, so that her feelings live on within another person after she passes. Estella never wanted that, though. But with her past ruining her future, she couldn 't find her joyful ending like Pip wanted to. Estella brings up the fact that Miss Havisham “brought up [her] adopted daughter wholly in the dark confinements of these rooms, and had never let her know that there was such a thing as the daylight…” (Dickens 296). Estella never knew what love was; not between family and not between friends. Pip did, though. Pip had people who cared about him and didn’t want to see him fail. Nevertheless since Pip grew up in the lower class and Estella grew up in
Now, just because Pip is a gentleman, he realizes that his materialistic hope of being a gentleman does not make him happy. In this quote, Victorian era values become evident, as money, which is desired and thought to make happiness, changes Pip’s feeling from happy to dissatisfied. Now, the reader realizes that Dickens believes that money has nothing to do with being happy, but, what a society values. Finally, Pip realizes Estella’s adversity when she declares “suffering has been stronger than all other teaching[s]" (515). Through this quote, Pip finally realizes that, even though Estella was brought up with money, it does not help her any more than being raised without money.
Strained Relationships, Resentment and Indignation Between the Classes in Great Expectations Great expectations is a profound story. It contains the theme of love,
After Estella defies Miss Havisham and breaks Pip’s heart by announcing her marriage to Drummle, “the spectral figure of Miss Havisham, her hand still covering her heart, seemed all resolved into a ghastly stare of pity and remorse” (Dickens, ). In this moment, several significant changes happen to Miss Havisham. For one, she sees the heartbreak and agony she experienced when she was left at the altar mirrored in Pip. Instead of feeling satisfied and healed, Miss Havisham’s pain is only deepened by her guilt. Many other things also backfire. Miss Havisham realizes the monster she created from Estella by filling her with only pride, not love, is her ultimate downfall. From this, her delusion is vanished as she sees the world for what it truly is with Pip as a mirror for seeing the wrong in her actions. Trying to redeem herself, Miss Havisham begs for forgiveness, helps Herbert Pocket, and leaves a fortune to Herbert’s father. These actions display maturity because she sacrifices her pride by begging for Pip’s forgiveness and giving away the weapon she used to enthrall people- money. Additionally, after Pip shows her grace even after experiencing Miss Havisham’s pain, it is possible that she could realize that she should forgive herself and everyone else too. By being able to overcome her pride and her unforgivingness, we can infer that Miss Havisham is able to move on from the
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...
Social class is an underlying factor to which all characters run their lives. It is always a priority and influenced most, if not every part of their lives. Most of the characters in the novel respect the rules of class and are always trying to climb the social ladder. Or if they are atop this ladder, they make it a mission that they remain there. Mrs. Bennet tried very hard to have her daughters marry the most socially advanced men and in the end the daughters chose socially respectable men. Elizabeth at first preached against marriage for money, but strangely mocked herself by marrying the richest of them all.
Later on in the story, and later in his life, Pip meets a young girl named Estella. He secretly has a crush on her. Estella does not care much for Pip. She thinks he is not very gentlemen like. She also thinks that he is coarse and common. Estella and Pip do talk though. She is like a mother to Pip, she kind of disciplines him. Pip is in love with her, but she would have nothing to do with him. She thinks that his is nothing spectacular.
Appropriately, the characters who bring about Pip's "expectations" play an integral part in his life; they influence him and shape his development throughout the novel. Firstly, Miss Havisham's was a significant impact on Pip's life. It is at Satis house, her strange, decaying mansion, that he initially comes into contact with the upper class life for which he later aspires. As his first contact with a wealthy person, Miss Havisham prompts Pip to try and better himself financially. She also, indirectly, pressures Pip into changing through her influence over Estella. Estella's cruel behaviour towards Pip is the direct result of Miss Havisham's teachings. Embittered by her own broken engagement, Miss Havisham taught the girl to be cruel to men, so she learned to "break their hearts and have no mercy!" (Dickens, 108). Thus, the beautiful Estella's cold reaction to Pip and the way she patronizes him are major reasons why he felt the need to change. It was she who convinced him that he was "in a low-lived bad way" (75) and needed to heighten his social status in order to be worthy of her notice. The impact of Miss Havisham's financial splendor and indirect cruelty make her a crucial instigator of change in Pip.
In the beginning of the story Pip was not wealthy, he was living in poverty. His manners were not as great as a rich person's, he did not own much of anything, and he was treated poorly because of that. Joe was not wealthy, and nor was Mrs. Joe. They treated Pip like they would anyone else, as an equal. When he went to Estella’s house, she treated him like he was a laboring boy. Just by looking at him, she concluded that she was better than him because he looked poor, and she looked rich. That was the first time Pip didn’t look at everyone as an equal. He looked at Estella as being rich, and him being poor.
Pip didn’t know his parents, thus there love and comfort, he never felt. In the absence of parents there are plenty of people who tell Pip what to do, to bully him, in a self-satisfied, self-enhancing way, but there is no one to shield him or guide him, or give him the special kind of love that he seeks. Dickens’ child characters were impeded emotionally in some way: Most of his child heroes and heroines are born sound in their physical form, but a loving home is what they most obviously lack and need. Pip had his wicked sister as a mother figure, thus the warmth and love a stereotypical modern-day mother would give was absent. However, Pip didn’t feel pain for having this hole in his life, because he had never felt the power of unconditional love before. Pip was an orphan. Orphans were one of Dickens' favourite subjects; what could be more crippling emotionally, than not experiencing the support of a mother and father? Pip’s sister, Mrs. Joe, didn’t make this loss much easier. Although they had both lost their parents, Mrs. Joe, never openly displayed any grief for losing her parents and five brothers. Consequently, she complained about having to bring Pip “by hand” and dealt with him physically (with the Tickler) and emotionally. Mrs. Joe talked about him openly as if he had no thoughts or feelings of his own. But, Pip still had some bright...
Social class played a major role in the society depicted in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. Social class determined the manner in which a person was treated and their access to education. Yet, social class did not define the character of the individual.
Essay Title- Examine how either text represents EITHER class OR gender. Are these representations problematic or contradictory? How do they relate to the plot and structure of the novel?
Estella is raised in a prosperous household and is judgmental of Pip because he is from the working class. She insults his appearance when she says, "But he is a common laboring boy. And look at his boots! (Dickens 45)" because he is not of the upper class. She also criticizes the way he speaks when he calls one of the playing cards Jacks instead of Knaves (Dickens 46). Dickens uses her negative comments about Pip’s appearance and use of slang to highlight the differences between the two classes. She also insults Pip with a comment calling him a “stupid, clumsy laboring boy (Dickens46)." Because of the differences between their classes, she instantly labels him as unintelligent because of the way she has been raised with uncommon people. Pip thinks about what Estella would think of his family and what Joe does to earn a living. Pip also contemplates how his sister and Joe eat dinner at the kitchen table and how
Pip’s first and only love is Estella. Estella is very mean and nasty to Pip. Although he receives verbal abuse from Estella, he continues to like her and will not stop liking her, he sees the good inside of her and will not stop until the good comes out. In contrast to her treatment of Pip as a child when she had called him a common laboratory boy with coarse hands and thick boots, she tries to explain to him that emotion is something that she is incapable of feeling. The fact of that is evidence of his illusion, not her cruelty.
Adopted by Miss Havisham as a baby, Estella rises to a high social standing. Raised to be protected from Miss Havisham’s mistakes in love, she is trained to repress notions of romantic love. By “[stealing] her heart away and [putting] ice in its place,” Miss Havisham thus prevents Estella from gaining the ability to achieve true happiness in life. The true meaning and feeling of love is unknown to Estella. Condescension and insensibility to others is sowed into her being early on, and she only can become more incapable of loving as she matures. When Pip is hired to become her playmate, she revels in the opportunity to exercise her prowess. Encouraged by Miss Havisham, Estella hones her ability to break hearts with Pip, but he is only the first of the many destined to befall that fate.
Expectations for Pip are fortune and the desire to become a gentleman as he discusses with Biddy, his private tutor: “I want to be a gentleman on her account” (Dickens, 117). Estella, albeit her bitter attitude towards Pip, changes his view that results in him longing to become a gentleman. His approach in becoming a gentleman is becoming apprenticed to his brother-in-law, the blacksmith. His initial stage of expectations is from Mr. Jaggers, Miss Havisham’s lawyer. The lawyer’s deliberately informs Pip “that he will come into a handsome property…be brought up as a young gentleman” (Dickens, 125). On hearing Mr. Jaggers, Pip was both astonished and excited because he yearned for such status. When Mr. Jaggers explained of Pip’s great amount fortune and significance, he automatically assumed his benefactor to be Miss Havisham. In his first expectation, Pip is to be professionally educated by Mr. Pocket,...