Great Expectations is set in early Victorian England, a time when great social changes were happening in England. Charles Dickens wrote the novel as a mirror to his own childhood. The book is written in a first-person narrative. In Great Expectations
In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens tells the story in the perspective of a young boy growing up in England during the Victorian Era. Philip “Pip” Pirrip is the protagonist, where we discover his life experiences and expectations through his narration. Pip’s sister, Mrs. Joe, and her husband, Mr. Joe, greatly influence his childhood. He meets many people later on who teaches him that not everyone will be happy and what it really means to have “great expectations”. Through Pip’s journey, Dickens suggests that happiness becomes achievable if one learns to accept and fix their flaws.
In response to the Industrial Revolution of Victorian England during the 18th century, British society found itself at a crossroad regarding what was deemed significant in human life. The Victorian life was grimy, tough and cruel, and it is made prevalent throughout Charles Dickens’ novella, ‘A Christmas Carol’, that a clear distinction is illustrated between that of the wealthy, aristocrats of England, which was paralleled with those who don’t have wealth, but may have happiness. Dickens integrates the use of satire with the intention to evoke change within his audience, which would result in a more equal England in the future. Moreover, the use of multiple literary techniques as well as the further development of characters, of whom reflect stereotypical members of Victorian England society, Dickens is able to exemplify the need for humanity to transform for the good of all. Dickens establishes greed as a major flaw in society, furthermore, Dickens exposes the greater requirement for generosity to be prevalent within humanity.
Throughout the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, we see how money the effects the attitudes of characters such as Pip, Estella, Miss. Havisham and Joe Gargery. Pip, the main character of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations goes through the most evident change in behavior as a result of money. First, toward the beginning of the novel we see the main character Pip’s desire to become a gentleman. He starts out relatively content with his life as a common boy and his friendship with Joe, but after going to Miss Havisham’s house he is given a glimpse of the lives on the opposite end of the social spectrum.
In Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, it can be seen that wealth does not equal genuine happiness and satisfaction. Throughout Great Expectations, the main character Pip goes through numerous ups and downs in his life because he struggles with recognizing that more wealth does not mean more happiness. Once he starts to be ashamed of his family’s
His saw that as an opportunity not only as a financial gain but to woo his love interest. He changed himself, to conform to her (Estella’s) standards. These standards cramped him. This meaning forced him to change who he was, as f he was being made uncomfortable. When Pip acquired wealth it turned him into a bad person.
Although Magwitch and Miss Havisham move on from their injustices by influencing other people 's lives, Pip simply forgives. In the last stage of Great Expectations, Pip forgives Miss Havisham for using his heart as practice for Estella and his position to envy her relatives. He had forgiven Miss Havisham in order to have Joe and Biddy forgive him for treating them poorly when he thought he was better because of his change in fortune and position. With all these lessons about moving on, one can see that the novel portrays the notion of learning through suffering. The lessons of compassion, relationships, and moving on convey the idea of
During the Victorian era, there were time of troubles such as unemployment, poverty, rioting, slums in large cities and working conditions for women and children were terrible. Victorian novels seek to represent a novel with a variety of classes because they were used to novels about elite and rich main characters. That’s why, he wrote several novels relating to working class and poor working conditions. He fought for children’s rights and opposed cruelty and physical punishment of children. He was known as the greatest England’s writers in the Victorian period and a sympathiser to the poor.
In the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Pip, an orphan raised by his cruel sister, Mrs. Joe, and her kindly husband Joe Gargery, a blacksmith, becomes very ashamed of his background after a sudden chain of events which drives him to a different social class. Pip's motive to change begins when he meets a beautiful girl named Estella who is in the upper class. As the novel progresses, Pip attempts to achieve the greater things for himself. Overtime, Pip realizes the dangers of being driven by a desire of wealth and social status. The novel follows Pip's process from childhood innocence to experience.
Great Expectations, one of the representative works of the classical British realism in 19th century, not only vividly portrays hardship to pursue great expectations by the people at the bottom of the country, represented by Pip, the main character in Great Expectations, but also objectively reflects the historical background of the colonial expansion and social isolation. Based on the narrative perspective and the imperial thinking in the text of Dickens’s novel, Peter