Social Class in Charles Dickens Great Expectations Essay -- Great Exp

Social Class in Charles Dickens Great ExpectationsDuring the 19th century, Britain was first appearance a new era. The reign ofQueen Victoria had brought about many exciting propositions, withindustry leading the way at the forefront. Due to the industrial variation and the fact that Britain was being ruled by a woman, theaction of Great Expectations was occurring against the backdrop ofmajor social and cultural changes. Although Britain, as a whole, wasbecoming exceedingly richer, the Industrial Revolution that was takingplace also spawned great poverty. The working conditions in thefactories were deplorable. Child labour was prevalent and the slums oflarge cities, such as London, bred transgression, crime and disease. further men of property had the right to vote, so the proletariats wereexcluded from the political system, impeding the aristocrats to takeany action on the matters of lower classed citizens. Women had fewrights and little choice notwithstanding to marry and upon do ing so e actuallythingthey owned, inherited and earned automatically belonged to theirhusband. It was in this underside of society and the injustices oflife in Victorian Britain that Charles Dickens found the material forhis novels. These injustices are scarce what link Mrs. Joe Gargery, adowntrodden and poor blacksmiths wife, to Miss Havisham, animmensely rich and grim lady who lived in a large and dismal house.Mrs. Joe Gargery and Miss Havisham may be of alone divergentclasses, but they both suffer the detriments of life in VictorianBritain. Although Mrs. Joe Gargery and Miss Havisham are quiteidiosyncratic and eccentric characters, they are both examples of veryinexorable and domineering women.The eccentricitie... ...dumbfounded and destroyed,beyond the point of repair, and her quirky and peculiar idiosyncrasiesfade away.Dickens chose two very different female characters, which both helpedand hindered Pips journey to becoming a gentlemen. In my opinion, Ithink Dickens created these characters to show that in both ends ofthe social spectrum, there are still people who are not happy.Dickens intended inwardness about women that he tried to portray in thisbook is mixed. In Mrs Joe Gargery, he shows strength and dominanceover men, where as in Miss Havisham, he shows total dependence on men,and we see her world fall to pieces without one. I think he decided touse such extreme characters to help readers visualise and realisethat not all women are the same. They can vary from being confidentand domineering, to being dependant on others and very impressionable.