Great Expectations.

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Great Expectations

The Victorian era was very different compared to modern society. The Victorians were a lot more concerned with class and also the attitudes between adults and children. The children were punished a lot more frequently and severely. The Victorians believed that when they beat children they were teaching them a lesson and it was part of growing up. The phrase “Bringing a child up by hand”, such as Mrs Joe to Pip, refers to what the parents or guardians of Victorian children would say when they brought a child up with beatings. If you were known to bring someone up by hand, you gained a great reputation with the neighbours and community such as Mrs Joe has done. Children were often given the dirty dangerous jobs, such as chimney sweeping, in which thousands of children died due to dust inhalation or just forgot about and burned to death when the fires were lit.

In the book, Mrs Joe is Pip’s “loco parentis”, which means “Instead of parent”. This is because Pip’s parents are dead and his sister, Mrs Joe, is his guardian. Throughout the book we see Mrs Joe’s affection towards Pip deteriorate, from its already low state, more and more as the book progresses. Pip always refers to his sister as Mrs Joe instead of her real name, which is never actually mentioned anywhere in the book. This shows Pip’s respect for her which he feels he has to show, even if he doesn’t feel it, but he has to show it otherwise he knows he will be beaten. Pip still views her as a higher being and still has the view that the adults are superior.

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In chapter seven Mrs Joe says about Pip “It’s only hoped that he wont be pompeyed…” meaning that, because he is still only a child, he should not be treated to all the good stuff that adults can receive and that until he gets his apprenticeship with Joe, she intends to keep it that why. This is another example of how Victorians had the attitude that children did not need the same comforts and delights as adults.

     The way in which she treats Pip is very violent and aggressive with no respect for his feelings, and ...

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