The strained relationships, resentment and indignation between the classes in Great Expectations

        while the upper class that Dickens portrays is of garish, childish and lazy individuals, the middle class at that time wished to emanate the qualities of the upper class. Those of the middle class were always envious of the power and wealth of aristocrats, and tried to be accepted into this elite class by flattering those of upper class. The Pocket family is an example of those who flatter the upper class. Dickens the Pockets are seen mockingly when they make their yearly visits to Miss Havisham, falsely flattering her compliments of how well she looks. When the Pockets visit Miss Havisham, they feign affection so that they may be included in her will. The small middle class comprised of intellectuals and professionals, of whom Mr. Pocket was one as he had "been educated at Harrow and at Cambridge, where he had distinguished himself; but that when he had had the happiness of marrying Mrs Pocket very early in life, he had impaired his prospects and taken up the calling of a Grinder."(p190-191)  The Pockets were a moderately well off family, but they would never be part of the aristocracy solely because they do not have a title to their name. But I think that Dickens think titles have less meaning,

Mrs. Joe and Pumblechook were not as close to the upper class as the Pockets, nonetheless, their behaviour was indicative of their adulation of the upper class. For example, Mrs. Joe does not question the wishes of Miss Havisham when Miss Havisham calls Pip to come visit her; "she wants this boy to go play there. And of course he's going. And he had better play there."(p51)  Mrs. Joe sends Pip into the strange place where he is treated terribly, but she sends him without questioning since Miss Havisham is the upper class.  Similarly, I believe, Pumblechook pretends to be Pip's benefactor, but only in order to be associated with a man who is of higher social standing. It is only when Pip comes across fortune that  Pumblechook respect him as Pip is seen as the link to the upper class. Pumblechook's transparent gestures are even evident to Pip as he believes that everyone has seen Pumblechook's prominent, but false advertisement. " I entertain a conviction, based upon large experience, that if in the days of my prosperity I had gone to the North Pole, I should have met somebody there, wandering Eskimo or civilized man, who would have told me that Pumblechook was my earliest patron and the founder of my fortunes."(p231)  In my opinion,  these obvious actions are representative of Pumblechook's sycophantic behavior towards those of the upper class. I think   Dickens uses Mrs. Joe and Pumblechook to be examples of those of the middle class who were constantly attempting to be associated with the upper classes.

The lower class only held an awed contempt for the upper class as they knew that this status was out of their reach. The mass of England's population comprised on the lower class, to whom the upper and middle classes were indifferent.  Magwitch exemplifies many of the qualities Dickens sees as being characteristics of the lower class. I think   Dickens believed that the lower classes comprised of decent, hardworking people who, due to their lack of education and oppurtunity settled into the only life that was known and expected of them.

Magwitch was never given a chance in life, even as an child, his first memory of "a-thieving turnips" is the commencement of a life of crime. Magwitch's eventual happy only come where he is given the opportunity to succeed while living in a penal colony. It is really ironic that Magwitch was in fact the benefactor of Pip.  When Magwitch goes to visit Pip, Pip is ashamed of the convict as he does not wish to be associated with a member of the lower class.  Pip referred to Magwitch as his "dreaded visitor" and was embarrassed of his uncouth manners and appearance. I think that Magwitch's success is Dickens's commentary against the socio-economical limitations of those in the lower class. In me opinion, through Magwitch's success Dickens claims that it was not the supposed inherent inferiority that inhibited his success, rather the unjust class system. The class system was unfair and restrictive to most of the people of England during Dickens's time.  I’d like to tell that few members of the upper class were morally bankrupt despite their great material wealth.

The middle classes adored the aristocrats of the upper class and sacrificed much self-dignity in order to be accepted by the upper class. The lower class were laveled from birth as being of lesser value than those of the upper and middle classes. The strained relationships, resentment and indignation between the classes is evident through the interactions of the characters in Great Expectations. These characters represent each social class in England, and the defining characteristics of the classes. Despite the ill feelings between classes, at the conclusion of the book we learn that happiness can be achieved on different levels, regardless of social stature and class. Dickens's brave message is one of hope for a future of  greater social equality.