Examine the way women are portrayed in this story. Explain the differences in our perception of them now from the ways they would have been viewed at the time of writing.

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Chris Scrimgour                                      - Page  -                           Prose Study Assignment

Prose Study Assignment         Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Examine the way women are portrayed in this story. Explain the differences in our perception of them now from the ways they would have been viewed at the time of writing.

The women in the story and in the 19th century were perceived in a totally different way from the way they are perceived nowadays. There are several women in this 19th century book, Miss Havisham, Estella, Mrs. Joe Gargery and Biddy to name but a few. These are the four main females in the story with the most significance, there are also less important woman included within the story such as, Molly, Miss Skiffins and Clara. Most of these women are perceived and portrayed in slightly different ways, Miss Havisham, Estella, and Mrs. Joe Gargery are all cold, bitter and spiteful in some way or another. Their attitude toward people of a lower class, Miss Havisham’s especially, would be taken very differently today from how it was taken in the 19th century. In the 19th century her attitude was accepted and takes as normal due to her wealth. There was some contrast between the main female’s characters, as biddy was a warm hearted, kind and loving woman.

        In the time of Charles Dickens the expected behaviour and actions of the women were much different to the independent “new woman” we have in the 21st century today. They were given less independence and had no real significance in the working lives of their husbands. They were however treated with the most respect by the gentlemen, as it was their job to care for the women. They had no jobs, little credit and they were mainly just wives to their husbands. Not all of the women were warm hearted family wives who cared dearly for their besotted husbands, for example Mrs. Joe Gargery was far from this. The women in the 19th century could also be rather toffee-nosed,  snobby and pompous. They would look down on people of a lower class to them, and they did not treat them with the respect they deserved. A perfect example of this looking down on people would be Miss Havisham. She is rude and offensive to most people of a lower class than herself. Miss Havisham also teaches Estella, her fostered daughter, to be this way too.

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        Miss Havisham is one of the main characters in this story. She is portrayed as one of the rude and snobby women in the story. She in particular looked down on the other people of a lower class that did not have the riches she had. If she were around nowadays she would be seen much differently from how she was seen then. In the world we live in today, social classes and conceited behaviour is virtually non-existent. She is seen as a particularly cold character in this story and is shown to be heart broken. I feel her astringent, ...

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