Great Expectations as a Critic Novel

Authors Avatar

Great Expectations

Charles dickens, one of the famous authors in his times, wrote the novel, ‘Great expectations’ which mirrored the Victorian era. At the time this novel was written, the conditions for the poor in the Victorian era were bad. Gap between rich and poor was large not only in wealth, but also in rights. In Victorian times working conditions for the poor people was bad, but the rich, who lived and enjoyed their life in luxury, had nothing to do with these problems. Furthermore women were seen as almost inferior to men. They had less powers and rights and were expected to ‘serve and obey’ in front of their husbands. They were separated from the professional and public life.

Dickens didn’t agree with the social divide among rich and poor, but he believed that women were incapable in owning and managing property and this is seen in his descriptions of satis house. He also explains that Miss Havisham takes the right decision by giving some of her wealth to a male member of her family. Although dickens was sympathetic to many people in society, his attitude towards women resembles to society beliefs at his times.

 Dickens experienced the poor side of life when he was young, so he used his talent in writing novels to express his arguments and views on the unfair and unjust society in which he lived. Dickens was experienced in being alone, as his whole family was sent to jail, except him, so he was left alone in the working life of Victorian era. This harsh upbringing obviously affected him a great deal, so writing a novel about it was his way of expressing what he went through.

 Dickens in his novel, ‘Great expectations’ explains that the environment can affect one state of mind, as in novel, Miss Havisham creates her own environment but the environment she creates soon turns into her prison and has a negative effect on her. He therefore criticizes the upper class that was isolated from Poor’s problems telling us that their environment made them proud and selfish. This novel explores Dickens use of characters to express his feelings towards isolation. 

Join now!

Chapter eight is an essential part of the book because it conveys a clear image of the characters personality and is a key part for the rest of the story. In chapter eight Dickens shows Miss Havisham isolation by describing the surroundings in which she lives. He describes her surroundings as recluse and isolated from society and because of her isolation she creates a prison like environment.

We can justify this through Pip’s description, when he first enters satis house; he describes her house as ‘old and dismal, and having halter chains around it’ which tells us that her house resembles to a prison. ...

This is a preview of the whole essay