Great Expectations LIterary Analysis Essay Example

A young boy with soot on his face looks hesitantly at his scowling, rich boss. His name is Charles Dickens, and he will grow up to be one of the most well-known critics of cruelty towards the lower class. Great Expectations, one of Dickens’s works, is the story of a young child, Pip, who has seen both the lavish and the low sides of life in Victorian society. Dickensian characters can be divided into two distinct classes: the upper and the lower. The wealthy have a definite advantage, which they make obvious by their immoral behaviour towards the poor, as it is highly impossible to transition from one class to another. Dickens, using characterization, condemns the superiority of the upper class through his villainous representation of the wealthy and evoking pity for the poor. 

Characters who belong to the lower class, regardless of their toil and effort, constantly face hardship at the hands of the wealthy. Pip goes to Miss Havisham’s house in high hopes, but his hopes are immediately dashed to the ground when Estella insults his impoverished appearance. She degrades Pip and makes him feel “ so humiliated, hurt, spurned, offended, angry, sorry […] that tears started to [his] eyes. The moment they [spring up] there, [Estella looks] at [him] with a quick delight at having been the cause of them” (62). “Spurned” is defined as rejected. Estella, by her snide comments, makes Pip feel rejected from society due to his class. The list of emotions Pip feels is listed in this manner to show the rush of feelings that are hurled through Pip’s mind at this moment. He goes from being ashamed of his class to pitying himself for the inferior position that he is in. Pip’s lack of self-confidence causes him to accept Estella’s words as being the truth. In reality, based on the conditions of the Satis House, it seems that the rich are living more troubled lives than the poor. Pip fails to realize this. This event at the Satis House is precisely the reason Pip agrees to advance to the upper class later on, when he gets the opportunity to do so. There is dramatic irony which causes pity for Pip, as it is evident that he is taking the wrong step by choosing to move from his content, easy-going life to a life with numerous burdens and responsibilities. Estella’s delight in emotionally scarring Pip only serves to cause additional sympathy for Pip. Magwitch is another person who faces the cruelty of the upper class. As he sorrowfully recalls, “‘And when we’re sentenced, ain’t it [Compeyson] as gets seven year, and me fourteen, and ain’t it him as the Judge is sorry for, because he might a done so well, and ain’t it me as the Judge perceives to be a old offender of wiolent passion, likely to come to worse'” (351). Dickens, through Magwitch’s experience, criticizes the corrupt manner of the Victorian Judicial System. The court is always biased towards the rich. The Judge makes the incorrect assumption of the well-educated being less guilty than the illiterate. The court fails to find the root of the problem and often, many lower-class citizens are arrested through no or minimal fault of theirs. This comparison of Compeyson and Magwitch’s experiences at their sentencing analyzes how the upper class fared with crime compared to the lower class. They most often got the lesser of the punishment due to the partiality of the Victorian Judicial System. The unfairness that Magwitch has faced adds to his piteous character. 

Despite the fact that Dickensian characters are highly exaggerated, there is the idea that rich members of society lack affection and morality. When Magwitch turns to Compeyson for work, Compeyson misuses his authority. As Magwitch weeps,“‘...[Compeyson] got me into such nets as made me his black slave’” (350). “Black slave” signifies that Compeyson has complete ownership over Magwitch. Owning a slave in today’s society would be considered an inhumane crime. On the contrary, this was a usual habit in the Victorian era due to the large gap between the upper and the lower classes. “Black” creates an image of impending doom or criminality. It indicates that Compeyson will use Magwitch to commit corrupt crimes that will put Magwitch and his life in danger multiple times. A “net” is a trap that is extremely difficult for the captured prey to get out of. Compeyson puts his slave into a tangled mess with law enforcement. He assures the fact that Magwitch will only get out of this fraudulent life that he is leading with great strain. Miss Havisham is also someone who lacks affection. When she notices that Pip is attracted by Estella’s alluring beauty, she realizes that it is her chance to take vengeance on the male species through Pip as she shrieks, “‘Love her, love her, love her!  If [Estella] favours you, love her.  If she wounds you, love her.  If she tears your heart to pieces–and as it gets older and stronger it will tear deeper–love her, love her, love her!’” (230-31).  The repetition of “love her” makes it a command that Miss Havisham is ordering Pip to obey. Miss Havisham’s purpose in encouraging Pip to love Estella under all circumstances is to cause him heart-break as she herself had once suffered. Miss Havisham fails to recognize the true meaning of love as she has never experienced it herself. In her command, she relates her own story to Pip, substituting his name for her own. Despite the fact that Pip does not belong to the upper class, it is still ethically incorrect on Miss Havisham’s part to intentionally wound an innocent child. 

By contrasting the vile traits of the wealthy with the pitiful character of the poor, Dickens criticizes the supremacy of the upper class during the Victorian era. Through the victimization of Pip and Magwitch, Dickens causes commiseration for them. He creates reprehensible images of Compeyson and Miss Havisham, resulting in detestment for the rich. Dickens successfully uses his novel to criticize and fight against one of the major issues of the Victorian era; the Superiority of the Upper Class. A young boy with soot on his face looks hesitantly at his scowling, rich boss. His name is Charles Dickens, and he will grow up to be one of the most well-known critics of cruelty towards the lower class.