By comparing the portrayal of two characters in Great Expectations show how the novel can be read as a comment on Victorian society and values.

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H/W                 Great Expectations                                                5/7/07

By comparing the portrayal of two characters in Great Expectations show how the novel can be read as a comment on Victorian society and values.

        In ‘Great Expectations,’ Dickens wants the reader to realise what life was really like living in Victorian times. The title Great Expectations shows us how most people in those times wanted to strive harder no matter of their social status, whether they were already high up or not. The story line also shows this - a young boy living with a simple-minded blacksmith and his wife (the boy’s sister) and how we follow his story. The boy, named Pip grows up and we see how he has changed because he tries to become what he thinks he should become as a result of influence from many other people.

        Dickens is criticising this social structure, especially he had personal troubles when he was a boy in the 19 Century. He was lucky enough to be sent to school at the age of 9 but after a short while, he was sent to work in a blacking factory, because his dad was imprisoned for debt. At the factory he had to go through “appalling conditions” as well as “loneliness and despair” (quotes from BBC History page). After 3 years in the factory, he was sent back to school. He could never forget the factory life though and based Great Expectations on his time there. He had truly been through the ups and downs of Victorian life and had reason to criticise when he wrote the book.

        There is a particularly criticising section on Pages 320-321. It is when the story is led into a courtroom and Compeyson is let off of a possible prison spell because he spoke well and looked the part, whilst the other person in the courtroom was not let off but talked and dressed differently to Compeyson. The way the scene is described and ended suggests Magwitch is angry at this treatment, he is but in fact it is Charles Dickens talking through Magwitch.  

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We start to understand Pip and his background when Dickens first introduces Joe. This guides us into the later chapters of the book when we follow his older, more mature years. Pip went into his house in Chapter Two, whilst there Joe is described as being “a fair man and “good natured, sweet-tempered.” This immediately gives an image of kindness and nothing but a good man. We see this again when Pip says he is used as a “connubial missile” and on the next line Pip shows how Joe protects him – “glad to get hold of me.” This further ...

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