Through her character Dickens expresses that the upper class are ruthless, self-serving, entranced in the past and used to getting what ever they want. Miss.Havisham is shown as being ruthless when she whispers to Estella “you can break his heart” this quote shows that Miss.Havisham wants Pip to feel pain and agony and that the only reason she brought him to her house is for the sole pleasure and purpose of seeing him wither in agony. Miss.Havisham is shown as being entranced in the past as she is wearing her wedding dress. When Pip first sees Miss.Havisham he notices “that a clock in the room has stopped at twenty minutes to nine”.
This tells us that Miss.Havisham is living in the past because all the clocks have been stopped at the time which she had been left at the alter by her fiancé after this her life stood still and she has been obsessed with revenge. Dickens uses Miss.Havisham’s character to display his views on aristocracy by showing the aristocrats as lazy, ruthless people who enjoy ordering the lower class around and live in the past. The rich had the luxury of this whereas the poor could not be so self serving.
Miss.Havisham represents the social conditions of the higher class in Victorian society. Miss.Havisham’s appearance and her deteriorating house represent the higher class as no longer being as powerful as they were and that there is the apparent rising of a middle class in Victorian society.
Estella is the adopted daughter of Miss.Havisham. When Pip meets her, he refers to her as “my conductress” he says this as a reference of her being his leader because she allows him into Satis house. By leading him into Satis house it is as though she is leading him into the higher class. Estella acts like someone important and she talks to Mr.Pumblechook as though he is beneath her, “she said it so finally and in such an undiscussible way” Estella showed no respect to someone in a lower social class then herself. Estella insults Pip by saying to him when they play cards “what coarse hands he’s got and what thick boots” Estella believes herself to be better then Pip. Estella is insulting to both Mr.Pumblechook and Pip; only the higher class could have gotten away with that. Pip does not respond to Estella; he doesn’t insult her back. He only tells Miss.Havisham what he thinks of Estella “I think she’s very proud” I think She’s very pretty”, “I think she’s very insulting”. Estella is described by Pip as very beautiful and it is because of her that he wants to better himself and become a gentlemen.
Estella is the way to which Pip finally realises his social status. Estella seems to be a weapon that Miss.Havisham is going to use to wreck her revenge on men; Pip seems to be her first subject for Estella. “Well you can break his heart” this quote shows that Miss.Havisham is using Estella as a weapon to wreck her revenge on men. Dickens uses imagery to describe how Estella leads Pip down a path of destruction, “but she answered at last and her light came along the dark passage like a star”.
Pip thought of Estella as a star. The name Estella means star which could symbol for Pip to reach for. Estella is shown as a light and Pip as a moth that wants to follow it. Estella calls Pip “boy” which shows that even though they are about the same age, she is superior in social standing to Pip. Pip addresses Estella as “miss” showing his politeness and a clear class divide. “She was as scornful to me as if she had been one and twenty and a queen” this quote shows that Estella believes herself to be older and more important than Pip because she is of a higher class.
In the novel, after visiting Satis house, Pip grows aware of his social class, and desires to climb the social ladder and better himself so that he can win Estella’s heart. After visiting Satis house Pip becomes disappointed and ashamed of himself. “As I cried I kicked the wall and took a hard twist at my hair” this shows Pip’s physical reactions to being insulted by Estella.
“I was so humiliated, hurt, spurned, offended, angry, sorry” these adjectives reveal Pip’s feelings. Pip reflected how Estella treated him. “As if I were a dog in disgrace” Pip becomes aware of his social class and where he stands compared to Estella.
Before visiting Satis house Pip was happy to be working class and to become a blacksmith but after his visit to Satis house Pip begins to feel resentful towards Joe, “I wish Joe had rather been more genteelly brought up and then I should have been so to” this revels that Pip is starting to feel ungrateful towards Joe for being brought up the way he was. “Joe and I being fellow suffers” this quote shows that Pip had once liked Joe and that he used to confide in Joe. After visiting Pips feelings towards Joe begin to change, “I determined to ask Joe why he had taught me to call those picture cards jacks when they aught to be called knaves” Pip know begins his journey down a road which will lead him to a divide between Joe and himself. “I know I was ashamed of him” when Joe meets Miss.Havisham Pip’s two worlds collide and Pip felt ashamed to be associated with Joe, as Joe insists on talking through Pip because he was too shy to talk to Miss.Havisham. Joe also represents the divide between Pip’s working class origins and his desire to become a gentleman and win Estella’s heart and affection. In chapter 13 Pip takes Joe to meet Miss.Havisham this signifies the meeting of Pip’s roots (Joe) and Pip’s desires (Miss.Havisham). “Give it to you’re master Pip” When Miss.Havisham say’s this Pip is surprised that Joe is appointed his master as he see’s himself superior to Joe because of the little knowledge he posses. Joe symbolises all that Pip is and all that Pip wants to escape while Miss.Havisham symbolises all that Pip isn’t and craves to become. In chapter 17 Pip compares Estella and Biddy. While Biddy is sweet tempered, Pip still thinks that Estella is more beautiful and elegant and he acknowledges that he is in love with her. Estella and Biddy represents the two worlds that Pip is torn between.
Estella represents the rich, higher class that Pip so desperately wants to join. Biddy represents the lowly, poor, working class which Pip so desperately wants to escape. “Small bundle of shivers” this signifies Pip’s young naivety making him change into the ungrateful person that he becomes after visiting Satis house.
The narrative style of the novel is dual narration, as Pip is telling his story at 2 different times in his life. The narrator is both the older Pip and the younger Pip in the story. The reason for this is to show the child & adult perspective. The novel is semi-autobiographical; as the narrator Pip is narrating his own life story. In the novel there are 3 perspectives of Pip. The first Pip is before his visit to Satis house, “I believed in the forge as the glowing road to manhood and independence” this reveals Pips hopes of what he’ll become. “Home had never been a very pleasant place for me… but Joe had sanctified it…” Pip acknowledges how close Joe and him were. It also reveals that Joe was very kind to Pip, “once it had seemed to that when I should at last roll up my shirt sleeves and go into the forge, Joe’s prentice, I should be distinguished and happy” Pip had been happy to be a blacksmith before he visited Satis house.
“Now it was all coarse and common and I would not have Miss.Havisham and Estella see it on my account” after his visit to Satis house Pip becomes ashamed of his class and his background. Pip feelings after visiting satis house change. “Now the reality was in my hold, I only felt that I was dusty with the dust of small coal”. Pip fells that the working class were dusty and not very smart.
The third perspective of Pip is the mature, older Pip who regrets his attitude towards Joe, his home and his apprenticeship. The older Pip is the narrator of the novel, “mow much of my ungracious condition of mind may have been my own fault, how much Miss.Havisham’s, how much my sisters is now of no moment to me or to anyone”. The mature Pip feels sorry for being ungracious and is not sure who to blame. “After that… I would feel more ashamed of home then ever in my own ungracious breast” the older Pip feels ashamed of how he treated Joe.
“I know right well that any good that intermixed itself with my apprenticeship came of plain content Joe and not of restlessly aspiring and discontent me”. The older Pip is finally admitting that the reason he was so happy in his apprenticeship was only because Joe made him happy and not because he felt Joe was unworthy of an apprentice like him. Only through maturity and self-development can Pip acknowledge this thus classifying the novel as a bildungsroman.
Dickens uses his novel as a way to display his views on the class system. The Satis house episodes reveals to the reader Dickens views of the upper class and the relationship between the rich and the poor in Victorian society. A gate “there was a court-yard in front and that was barred” or Satis house separates the working class from the upper class. The house is shown as old and crumbling representing the upper class and an emerging middle class which Dickens approved of. The Satis house episode revealed that the upper class tried to keep the working class out of their society.
Dickens own experiences have informed this viewpoint because he has experienced both the working and higher classes. In Victorian times the working class were rarely given a good enough education for them to excel in society this is because the government didn’t want them to revolt. “All the brewery stood open, away to the high closing wall and all was empty and disused” this signifies that the brewery is redundant just like the higher class.
Dickens promotes the particular view of equality between the classes. Dickens believed that everyone, no matter what class they belonged to, deserved and education; a chance to better themselves.
One chapter that presents this value is Pip who starts off by being destined to become a working class blacksmith but later in the story is given the chance to better himself. I think dickens based the character Pip on himself as Dickens started off in the working class and later became rich and powerful. Dickens had sympathy for the poor working class because they had to struggle to survive whereas the higher class had everything they needed and more.
Great Expectations is a novel about Pips self-development. The theme of class is developed through Pip’s visit to Satis house. This is theme that runs throughout the story. The novels genre is bildungsroman which deals with themes such as autobiography, ancestry, education, desire, social conditions and love. Dickens disapproved of the upper class and uses the novel to protest against inequality in Victorian society.
