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Victorian era social class relationship
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Great expectations summary and analysis
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The Forge and the Satis House in Great Expectations
During the Victorian Age in England, individuals revealed their class and prestige by flaunting their money, yet they were only disguising their inner character with the riches. Strong relationships are a key to a fulfilled life; in Dicken's Great Expectations, the contrast of the Forge and the Satis house uncover that happiness is born through relationships with others and not through money.
The Forge's simplicity contributes to a simple existance of those who live in it. To begin Pip's journey through life, he resided in a plain wooden house that was like many of the houses around it. THe house did not contain many posessions, yet the space was filled with the love and bond between Pip and Joe. The family did not need more than the basic necessities of life to get by. Pip's imagination was forced to develop as a result of this simplicity, and he expanded his ideas in the process.
Unlike the Forge, the Satis house was frozen in time and the emotions within the walls were frozen as well. ...
“Is your glass haft empty or haft full?” This saying perfectly describes what optimism opposed to pessimism is. Some people always see their glass haft empty, others haft full. The majority of people see their glass haft full some days and on other days haft empty. Our outlook on life is intimately related to the situation we are in and whether or not we believe we can get through the hard times. In the play A raison in the sun certain characters are more optimistic than others. Some of them are always optimistic whereas others have their ups and downs. Sometimes they are optimistic and on other days they are not.
In ‘The Great Gatsby’ Fitzgerald criticises the increase of consumerism in the 1920s and the abandonment of the original American Dream , highlighting that the increased focus on wealth and the social class associated with it has negative effects on relationships and the poorest sections of society. The concept of wealth being used as a measure of success and worth is also explored by Plath in ‘The Bell Jar’. Similarly, she draws attention to the superficial nature of this material American Dream which has extended into the 1960s, but highlights that gender determines people’s worth in society as well as class. Fitzgerald uses setting to criticise society’s loss of morality and the growth of consumerism after the Great War. The rise of the stock market in the 1920s enabled business to prosper in America.
The initial downward spiral of Heathcliff’s life was predominantly caused by harsh influences in the environment in which he was raised. Heathcliff, an adopted child, grew up in Wuthering Heights, a desolate and dystopian estate when compared to the beauty of the neighboring Thrushcross Grange. In childhood, Heathcliff displayed evidence of a sympathetic personality through his emotional attachment to Catherine and kind attitude towards Nelly. At the time of Mr. Earnshaw’s death, Nelly describes a scene where, “Miss Cathy had been sick, and that made her still; she
Catherine and Heathcliff reveal their fervent devotion and affection for each other when the former is lying on her deathbed, and in those tender, moribund moments earnest and ardent confessions are made that signify their mutual adoration and are harbingers of Heathcliff’s adumbrative vengeance. Heathcliff suffers to see Catherine in such a ghostly state, and weeps at the idea of being without her, crying, ““Would you (Catherine) like to live with your soul in the grave?”” (151) In saying this he demonstrates not only his own pain at her imminent fate, but also their metaphorically entwined lives. He does so by connecting the departure of her soul to his own, claiming that when she dies, so too will he. Additionally, by mere fact that the normally stoic Heathcliff was found in a state of grievance over the unfortunate circumstances is indicative of the gravity and desperation that with her passing he regards. Nelly points out as much by her matter-of-fact remark, “...it seemed Heathcliff could weep on a great occasion like this.” (151) Therefore, Heathcliff’s anguish befo...
Over a long period of time, an individual’s social status has always had a great impact on relationships between others. Relationships such as friendship, romance and even family relationships are greatly influenced by one’s social status. When people value social status to the utmost importance, it often acts as a barrier to further solidify relations with others. “Wuthering Heights” is a classic novel written by Emily Bronte which illustrates how social status gets in the way of relationships. This story (set in eighteen hundreds) displays the true nature of the people at that time because they excessive had pride. Since they had excessive pride, they often judged people based on their social class; hence changing their relationship between each other. In this novel social class was measured by observing an individual’s wealth, appearance and manners. Heathcliff happens to be the male lead character of this story that lacks social class due to his rebellious relationship with Hindley. Afterwards, Hindley degrades Heathcliff’s status this affects his connections with Catherine and Nelly. Since Heathcliff’s status diminishes, Catherine becomes reluctant to continue her affair with Heathcliff. Nelly also becomes wary of Heathcliff because his personality changes after restoring his own status. Thus, it is clearly seen that social class has an impact on the story by altering Heathcliff’s relationship between Hindley, Catherine and Nelly.
The distance between the wealthy class and the rest has grown, but so has the idea of noblesse oblige. The Great Gatsby clearly shows all of these issues as they were in the ‘20s, and all of them can be paralleled to show the same issues in today’s times. Works Cited Auchincloss, Louis. A. “The American Dream: All Gush and Twinkle.” Reading on the Great Gatsby.
From being isolated in the moors of England, with only the two houses-Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. And those are placed 4 miles apart from each other. Having grown up at Wuthering Heights, Catherine, Hindley, and Heathcliff all suffer from a lack of love and structure. Wuthering Heights is a very bleak and dark place, that isn’t too happy. None of them found happiness until they fled from that dreary place that they call home. Heathcliff is grumpy and mean, and wants to inflict that on everyone else around him. Hurt people, hurt people. As opposed to Thrushcross Grange, which is more structured. Edgar and Isabella are more compassionate people, because of the love that they received from their parents. It also leaves them vulnerable to Catherine and Heathcliff’s aggressive nature, as well as a ploy in Heathcliff’s plan. Knowing this, Catherine is only stuck with two options-marry Heathcliff or Edgar. Based on the decision she made (good or bad, depending on the person) it started a spiral of events that currently effects Linton, Hareton, and Cathy. The same thing is to be said about Cathy. Cathy is still in the same environment. Though she is growing up at Thrushcross Grange, and be raised by her father and Nelly. Hareton is growing up at Wuthering Heights, under the wrath of Heathcliff, which is not pleasant. He is becoming mean and malicious, something Heathcliff wants. Then you have Linton who grew up
The Forge was a place of harmony and safety, and had the loving mood for Pip. However, as he became a gentleman, he made the decision of abandoning Biddy and Joe. This transformed the Forge into a place with a heavy atmosphere that represents guilt and shame for Pip and reminds him of his selfish decisions. When he goes there, he feels guilt, and Biddy’s attitude towards him changed, in that he calls him Mr. Pip and is less personal with him. Pip’s mentality also changed with London’s mood and influence as he now thinks money is the solution to most problems.
From dreams deferred to identity affirmed Lorraine Hansberry’s, “A Raisin in the Sun,” presents readers with many differing themes. The most prevalent and reoccurring theme is the effect money plays on society’s views of manhood and happiness. Readers are shown multiple characters with a diverse view on manhood. From Walter Lee with his matching societal views that a man should be able to provide whatever his family needs or wants to Lena whose views are a biased compilation of her late husband’s behavior and her own ideals, that a man should maintain his honor and protect his children’s dreams.
The novel, Great Expectations, deals with the concepts of a ‘true gentleman’; where the Victorian idea, which is based upon birth, wealth, social status and apparel, contrasts to Dickens’ portrayal of a gentleman who is a person of kindness, humility and generosity. Dickens upbringing and early life allows him to understand the position of the poor due to their humble upbringing, which keeps them in the lower social class. His didactic message, what it is to be a true gentleman, is reinforced by the bildungsroman style of the novel.
In many novels, the society created by the author is surrounded by wealth and corruption. Numerous amount of times these settings are produced based on the life in which the author lives. Charles Dickens is no different. In the midst of most of his novels, Dickens exposes the deception of Victorian England and the strict society that holds everything together. In Dickens' novel Our Mutual Friend, a satire is created where the basis of the novel is the mockery against money and morals. Throughout this novel, multiple symbols and depictions of the characters display the corruption of the mind that surrounds social classes in Victorian England.
The novel begins with a few short introduction chapters which Bronte had most likely used to illustrate how incompetent the character of Lockwood was, and to foreshadow what was to come in later chapters. After these, it begins to immediately demonstrate to the reader the plight of Heathcliff’s childhood and how hard a time he had had of it. The very first time that Heathcliff is mentioned, he is described as “A dirty, ragged, black-haired child, big enough both to walk and talk…” [Wuthering Heights, Chapter 4] and is referred to as “It.” Mr. Earnshaw claimed to have found him starving, homeless, and abandoned on his trip to Liverpool. This sounds incredulous to say the least, considering that Mr. Earnshaw had made the trip on several other occasions without bringing back any ‘surprises’, and that the cities of London at the time were practically crawling with Orphans. While it never outright states so within the novel, it appears as if Heathcliff is in fact Mr. Earnshaw’s illegitimate child. If this was the case, it would also p...
Catherine is the daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Earnshaw, and they live at Wuthering Heights. Catherine has an older brother – Hindley, and an adopted brother – Heathcliff. Mr. Earnshaw loves Heathcliff and favors him over his own son. Catherine and Hindley despise their new brother at first, but Catherine slowly begins to love him. Hindley becomes more and more jealous of Heathcliff, so his father sends Hindley away to college. While his son is gone, Mr. Earnshaw dies. Hindley returns to the funeral married to a woman named Frances. He takes over Wuthering Heights, and forces Heathcliff to work as a common laborer. However, this does not deter Catherine and Heathcliff’s friendship, which begins to evolve into love as the two mature.
Isolation is being separated from others. When trying to become a leader many times isolation occurs. It can start out by creating classes which can lead to defining people in those classes. For example making some classes better than others, this then leads to segregation. The different classes are therefore treated better and have more privileges. Know with Arafat's death there is no leadership in Palestine, which is causing isolation and disorder. In the novel, 1984, by George Orwell there is a separation of class. They have the Inner Party, the Outer Party, and the Proles. All of the parties were treated differently. As a result this led to an unhappy and boring life for everyone. But at the same time this could have been avoided if leadership was shown. Sure Big Brother or the Inner Party was the leader in Oceania, but they showed no leadership qualities. Even in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee there are many events of isolation. Examples of isolation in the town of Maycomb are the different class systems. For instance Aunt Alexandra shows the separation of class by explaining her harsh feelings about the Cunninghams and others families who are disparate. The whole town shows their feelings during the trial of Tom Robinson and how they felt about blacks. Thus the isolation in class also results in the separation of race. Because of the segregation shown by some people in the town it leads to the death of Tom Robinson.
When Hindley is drunk, Heathcliff “cheat[s] Mr. Hindley”(63) at cards. This is part of Heathcliff’s revenge on Hindley. Eventually, Hindley has to mortgage Wuthering Heights in order to pay his debts, and Heathcliff is able to gain possession of Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff tells Cathy, Catherine and Edgar’s daughter, that Linton, his son, “is on his deathbed”(255) and that she should come visit him. Cathy feels obligated to go help Linton, so she and Nelly go to Wuthering Heights. Once they arrive, Heathcliff locks them in and tells them “you shall not quit this place till it is fulfilled”(261); implying that they will not be able to leave until Cathy marries Linton. Heathcliff wants them to marry so that he can get the inheritance. While Heathcliff gains money from his connections, d Cathy and Hindley loses their inheritance, money, and