Great Expectations
Charles Dickens
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Quote Bank: Social Class
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Quote |
Character |
Chapter |
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“A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared, and growled.” |
Pip |
1 |
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“In his working clothes, Joe was a well-knit characteristic-looking blacksmith; in his holiday clothes, he was more like a scarecrow in good circumstances, than anything else. Nothing that he wore then, fitted him or seemed to belong to him; and everything that he wore then grazed him.” |
Pip |
4 |
|
“I had heard of Miss Havisham up town – everybody for miles round, had heard of Miss Havisham up town – as an immensely rich and grim lady who lived in a large and dismal house barricaded against robbers, and who led a life of seclusion.” |
Pip |
7 |
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“I wished Joe had been rather more genteelly brought up, and then I should have been so too.” |
Pip |
8 |
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“I was a common labouring-boy; that my hands were coarse; that my boots were thick; that I had fallen into a despicable habit of calling knaves Jacks; that I was much more ignorant than I had considered myself last night, and generally that I was in a low-lived bad way.” |
Pip |
8 |
|
“I had never thought of being ashamed of my hands before; but I began to consider them a very indifferent pair. Her contempt for me was so strong, that it became infectious, and I caught it.” |
Pip |
8 |
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“I took the opportunity of being alone in the courtyard, to look at my coarse hands and my common boots.” |
Pip |
8 |
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“I thought how Joe and my sister were then sitting in a kitchen, and how Miss Havisham and Estella never sat in a kitchen, but were far above the level of such common doings.” |
Pip |
9 |
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“Whatever I acquired, I tried to impart to Joe. This statement sounds so well, that I can’t in my conscience let it pass unexplained. I wanted to make Joe less ignorant and common, that he might be worthier of my society and less open to Estella’s reproach.” |
Pip |
15 |
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“‘Biddy,’ said I, after binding her to secrecy, ‘I want to be a gentleman.’” |
Pip |
17 |
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“And now, because my mind was not confused enough before, I complicated its confusion fifty thousand-fold, by having states and seasons when I was clear that Biddy was immeasurably better than Estella, and that the plain honest working life to which I was born, had nothing in it to be ashamed of, but offered me sufficient means of self-respect and happiness.” |
Pip |
17 |
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“It is considered that you must be better educated, in accordance with your altered position, and that you will be alive to the importance and necessity of at once entering on that advantage.” |
Mr Jaggers |
18 |
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“Her father was a country gentleman down in your part of the world, and was a brewer. I don’t know why it should be a crack thing to be a brewer; but it is indisputable that while you can’t possibly be genteel and bake, you may be as genteel as never was and brew. You see it every day.” |
Herbert Pocket |
22 |
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Great Expectations
Sample Essay
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is an epic novel that trenchantly explores themes of identity, social class, ambition, and morality. Set in 19th century England, the narrative follows the life of an impoverished orphan named Pip, who comes into a “handsome” fortune at the hands of an anonymous benefactor.
The novel begins with a young Pip living with his stern sister and her kind- hearted, blacksmith husband Mr Joe Gargery. Whilst visiting the graves of his parents, Pip encounters a frightening escaped convict, later discovered to be Able Magwitch, who terrifies Pip into helping him. This primary encounter instigates a chain of events that subsequently shape Pip’s future.
Pip is then invited by Miss Havisham to visit her estate, Satis House, to play. Miss Havisham is an immensely wealthy, grim lady who lives a peculiar life of seclusion as she is transfixed by the tragic moment of her wedding day, in which she was betrayed by her fiancé.
Here Pip is introduced to Estella, a young, beautiful girl who was adopted by Miss Havisham and raised to be cold and heartless in Miss Havisham’s vicarious desire to wreak revenge on the male sex. Nonetheless, Pip begins to fall in love with Estella despite her capricious and insulting nature.
After visiting Miss Havisham at Satis House over an extensive period of time, Pip receives news that he has come into a “handsome” fortune at the hands of an anonymous benefactor and must depart his proletarian upbringing on the marshes to be educated as a gentleman in London.
Driven by his rapacious desire to earn Estella’s affection and ascend in the 19th century social hierarchy, Pip abandons his honest home life. He becomes ashamed of his origins and instead endeavours to become an affluent and reputable gentleman. However, his insatiable ambition and burgeoning arrogance eventually lead to his downfall.
Contrary to his beliefs throughout the entirety of the narrative, Pip discovers that his anonymous “liberal benefactor” had not been Miss Havisham but rather Magwitch, the convict who he had helped at the beginning of the novel. The revelation of his benefactor’s identity provokes Pip to confront his own prejudices and biases, realising the power of empathy and forgiveness, as well as understanding that genuine value lies in the integrity of one’s character rather than their social status or affluence. As such, Pip comes to possess a newfound appreciation for Joe’s unwavering affection and friendship.
When Pip’s great expectations eventually send him into debt and perpetual dissatisfaction, he finally realises the genuine value of camaraderie, loyalty, and kindness. Pip learns of Estella’s suffering under the authority of Miss Havisham and it is revealed that Estella had also learned formative lessons about compassion and love. When reunited, Pip and Estella seek consolation in each other’s company.
The novel concludes with a bittersweet yet optimistic inference, as the older version of Pip narrates the story of his life with a newly acquired maturity and wisdom having experienced the tumultuous journey of the expectations and damaging ideals associated with social class
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