Helwan University

Faculty of Arts,

English Department, Literature Section

Social Class in Charles Dickens’s “Great Expectations”

A Proposal

Submitted to the English Department, Faculty of Arts

By / Nourhan Mohamed Abdelrahman

Under the Supervision of

Professor Amany Elnahhas

Professor of literature,

English Department,

Faculty of Arts – Helwan University.

May, 2022

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 Abstract

In the nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolution led to many changes in the economic,

social and political system; one of these changes was the replacement of proletariat with

machines and technology. As a result, the working-class suffered from the oppression and

tyranny of the capitalists. Over time, the consciousness of the working class increased in spite of

the progress of capitalism and its complete control; this class fought bitter and bloody struggles

in order to regain many of its political, economic and social rights. Historically, democracy was

not a gift from capitalism, nor did it relate to it; democracy was the outcome of the struggles of

the marginalized and exploited class in society. Many authors addressed in their works the

despotism from which the poor people suffered at that time. At that time, Charles Dickens’

writings were the most notable literary works that reflected the suffering of the lower class. This

research presents an analysis of “Great Expectations” using Marxist approach.

Key words:
Industrial Revolution, Capitalism, Charles Dickens, Marxist, and Great Expectations

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 Table of Contents

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………..……1

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………3

Research Objective……………………………………………………………………………5

Literature Review……………………………………………………………………………6

Method of Research…………………………………………………………………………7

Tentative Chapterization…..…………………………………………………..………………8

Sample Analysis………………………………………………………..…………………….10

Conclusion………………………………………………………………..………………...19

Works Cited…………………………………………………………………..……………...20

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 Introduction

Nineteenth century was the period in which England was ruled by Queen Victoria. Thus,

many people called nineteenth century as Victorian era. Because of the industrial revolution,

England became one of the developed countries at that time. British society was dominated by a

system of class distinction. Social class differentiation was grounded on several factors such as

authority, wealth, power, style of life, social situation, status of employment, education, religion,

and culture. The life in England was unfair at that time because that era was full of social class;

the classification was based on one’s financial status. People who had a lot of money were those

who lived in luxury, while other people who had no wealth could not afford. In addition, if lower

class people want to get educations, they have to work hard to get it. That was the reason for the

social gap between the rich and the poor in terms of education and economic aspect. At that time,

Charles Dickens was one of the most famous writers who shaded the light on the suffering of the

poor people and the lower class.

Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic. During his lifetime, his works

enjoyed unprecedented popularity. Because he created some of the world's best-known fictional

characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era, he is now considered a

literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity. Great Expectations is one of

Charles Dickens' masterpieces which deals with many prominent and important themes. One of

those themes is class oppression. Through this novel, Dickens indirectly criticizes the political

and social system of England at that time.

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 Because the social class issue in Charles Dickens’ novel Great Expectation is intriguing,

the content of the research will be as follows: While the first part will discuss how Dickens’

personal life influenced his writing, the second part will present the way with which the upper

class people used to deal the lower class people at that time, and how the new social position of

the main character affected his attitude towards lower class people negatively.

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 Research Objectives

This proposal will attempt to answer the following question:

1. What is the relation between Dickens' personal life and his literary works?

2. How do upper-class people deal with lower-class people?

3. What is Pip's first and last impression of the upper-class people?

4. What is the attitude of Pip towards Joe after he became a gentleman?

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 Literature Review

In the mid-nineteenth century, Marxism originated by the German radical philosopher and

economist Karl Marx with the assistance of Friedrich Engels; this term defined as “a political

and economic movement that aims to regulate the relations between the working-class and

ruling-class” (Marx, Das Kapital 50). Marx stated that “societies pass through five major stages”

(70). The first one was primitive communism; people were sharing everything together at that

time. The second stage was slave system, and the means of production were controlled by the

elite. The third period was feudal system. At that time, the means of production were dominated

by the noble people. The fourth one was capitalism. During this stage, the bourgeoisie had means

of production and power over proletariat. The last stage was communism at which everything

was shared for benefit of all. The aim of Marxism was to examine the effect of capitalism on

labor, productivity, and economic development. On one hand, Adam Smith tried to prove that the

optimal economic system is capitalism. On the other hand, Marx sought to confirm the opposite.

Marx assumed that capitalism led to greed and inequality (The communist 55).According to

Marx, social life was based on a conflict of interests between the capitalists and proletariat (The

communist 5). In addition, John Derry said that the upper class people look upon the working

class as little as animal as like the ox without horns because they are scarcely touched by any

denomination (qtd. in Utami 41). It is believed that “the history of all hitherto existing society is

the history of class struggles” (Marx and Engels 60). Despite the ongoing studies between

Marxism and Dickens’s writings, researches have not addressed the impact of industrial

capitalism and Marxist theory on Dickens’s works.

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 Method of Research

The study focuses on the social class problem in nineteenth-century era. This research

applies Marxist theory by Marx on “Great Expectations “by Dickens in order to manifest the

conflict between social classes. The proposal examines the class discrimination that caused by

capitalism in England in nineteenth century. This study traces the suffering of the working class

at that time which dickens portrayed in the majority of his writings, especially “Great

Expectations”. First part of this study reveals Dickens’s outlook on life. Then it gives an

overview of the novel. Finally, it analyses “Great Expectations” using Marxist approach.

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 Tentative Chapterization

Introduction

First, this chapter presents the main events that shaped Dickens’ personal life and how his

suffering was reflected in his writings. Then, it moves to summarize the main action of “great

Expectations”. Eventually, this chapter is concluded with main characters analysis.

Chapter One: The Impact of Dickens’ personal life on His Writing

This chapter gives an overview of England's political, economic, and social situation in

the eighteenth century. Also it demonstrates how Dickens lived in a terrible social condition and

how his life evolved from just a poor working-class youngster to one of the finest writers who

has exposed the flaws in England's social structure and the suffering of the poor.

Chapter Two: Summary of “Great Expectations”

This chapter presents the main events that take place in the story, which revolve around

a few characters and places. Pip’s radical transformation from a poor working-class boy to a

gentleman with the assistance of Magwitch is the most prominent action in the story.

Chapter Three: Analysis of “Great Expectations”

This chapter aims to analyse the main characters and the events that revolve around

them. It shows the social status of each main character and sheds light on upper-class people

attitudes towards the working class.

Conclusion

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 To sum up, the research seeks to analyse the novel from a Marxist perspective and

highlight the conflict between social classes in England at that era. This study tries to show

Dickens’ attempts to manifest poor people’s suffering. Also it presents how Dickens’s thoughts

opposed the political and social systems of England at that time.

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 Sample Analysis

Chapter 1: The Impact of Dickens’ personal life on His Writing

Dickens' family as many other families, who belonged to the lower class people at that

time, suffered from poverty, injustice, exploitation, and oppression because of industrial

capitalism system. As a result, Charles Dickens portrayed and indirectly criticized the industrial

capitalism system in his novels.

Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth. This city is located in Hampshire,

England. His father, John Dickens, was a naval clerk who aspired to be wealthy, and his mother,

Elizabeth Barrow, was a teacher and school director. The family's financial situation, however,

had deteriorated since John Dickens had a habit of spending money recklessly. As a result, when

Charles was just 12 years old, John was sentenced to prison for debt. Charles Dickens left school

to work in a factory after his father's imprisonment. Despite of his lack of formal education, he

edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and

non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and

campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms. Dickens began

his literary career as a journalist, as did many others. He began his career as a reporter with the

periodicals 'The Mirror of Parliament' and 'The True Sun'. Then, in 1833, he joined The Morning

Chronicle as a parliamentary journalist. Thanks to new relationships in the press, he was able to

publish a series of sketches under the nickname 'Boz'. He married Catherine Hogarth in April

1836, the daughter of George Hogarth, the editor of Sketches by 'Boz'. The enormously

successful 'Pickwick Papers' was published the following month, and Dickens never looked

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back. In addition to a massive list of novels, he published his autobiography, edited weekly

periodicals including 'House Words' and 'All Year', wrote books on travel and ran charitable

organizations. He was also a fan of the theatre, wrote plays and performed before Queen

Victoria in 1851. His energy was inexhaustible and he spent a lot of time outside. After the birth

of their ten children, he divorced his wife in 1858, but maintained a relationship with his

mistress, who was an actress known as Nelly Wharton-Robinson. In 1870, he died after a stroke.

He was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey (Biography Editors).

According to Karl Marx, Charles Dickens was an example of revolutionary English

authors whose works reflected to the world more political and social truths than all the

professional politicians, publicists, and moralists... According to Dickens, the most effective way

to create and spread class consciousness and social awareness is literature. Therefore, most of

Dickens' works reflected the most important events and prominent problems in England at that

era. This research deals with the class struggle problem which presented in "Great Expectation”

by Charles Dickens.

Chapter 2: Summary of “Great Expectations”

Great Expectations is a novel written by Charles Dickens and published in1861. It is set in

England, mostly in London and the surrounding marshlands where main character grows up,

during nineteenth century. This chapter presents a plot summary of “Great Expectations”.

The story is opened through Pip who is a young orphan lives with his sister, Mrs Joe, and

her husband Joe, who works as a blacksmith. For Pip, Joe is a father figure and his loyal friend.

While visiting his family’s graveyard, Pip is approached by an escaped convict who asked Pip to

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bring him food and a metal file; he does so promptly, but the convict is quickly recaptured. After

a while, Pip is hired by Miss. Havisham, wealthy eccentric women, to be her adopted daughter’s

playmate in her mansion, Satis House. Estella is her daughter’s name. She is a beautiful,

haughty, and wealthy young lady who treats Pip coldly and contemptuously. Pip, however, falls

in love with her and wishes to become a wealthy gentleman in order to be worthy of her. One

day a lawyer called Jaggers informed Pip that there is a mysterious donor has given Pip a big

fortune, and Pip must move to London immediately to begin his education as a gentleman. Pip

assumes that Miss Havisham is his hidden sponsor, and the elderly women plans for him to

marry Estella. In London, Pip meets Herbert Pocket, the son of his tutor, Mathew Pocket, as well

as Wemmick, Jagger's clerk. Herbert instructs Pip on how to be a gentleman. For a while, Pip

despised the common life and began to love Miss Havisham's and other upper-class people's

lifestyles. He was becoming a snob; he begins to look down on others. In addition to, he becomes

ashamed of his origins. Under the agreement made, Pip was not supposed to know who his

benefactor was even though he thought it was Miss. Havisham. On a dark and stormy night, Pip

answers the door to a ragged figure who turns out to be Magwitch, the ex-convict who Pip used

to assist out with as a child. Magwitch has been in Australia for a long time, having been

transferred from England under threat of death if he returned. He has, however, amassed a

substantial fortune and has risked everything to return to Pip and reveal that he is the mysterious

benefactor who gave Pip his whole fortune. Pip is terrified, believing the money is tainted, and

much more so when he discovers that his beliefs about Miss Havisham's desire for him and

Estella to be together were completely incorrect all along. Pip feels obligated to assist Magwitch

in his escape from London, as the convicted criminal is being chased by both the police and

Compeyson, his former crime partner. Pip and Hebert attempt to row Magwitch down the river,

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but they are detected. Magwitch is facing the death penalty. Pip becomes unwell after the

convict's death and is nursed back to health by his true friend, Joe. The money he is given affects

his mentality and causes him to overlook individuals he has known all his life, but he eventually

realizes that true goodness comes from people, not their socioeconomic classes. In the end, Pip

decides to join Herbert in the mercantile trade and travel overseas. Many years later pip meets

Estella in the wrecked garden at Satis House. Drummle, her husband, mistreated her, but he is no

longer alive. Estella's malice and coldness have been replaced by a melancholy kindness; Pip and

Estella leave the garden hand in hand; they believe that they will never part again (SparkNotes

Editors).

Pip’s journey to become a gentleman completely results in a lot of differences; He gains a

lot of lifestyle experience as a result of this. It helps Pip comprehend what "gentlemen" means.

According to Pip, becoming a Gentleman is a dream that must be come true. He gets more

ambitious to be a Gentleman because of Estella, as he wishes to marry her. It's partly because of

Estella's previous stereotype of him. He believes that becoming a Gentleman is the solution; he

can be more refined and not be judged solely on his appearance. He felt different after he lives

among the Gentlemen. These gentlemen are not as his first impression about them. It is true that

Gentlemen are rich, live luxurious, by well dressed, can everything because they have much

money. They, however, have no courtesy, impolite, and bad manner.

Chapter 3: Analysis of “Great Expectations”

A. The Main Characters Analysis in the novel

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 The characters in the story are categorized into three social classes. These are upper

middle class, middle class, and working class.

1. Upper middle class

According to Victorian social structure, this class is primarily made up of the most

successful business families from banking, industry, and large-scale commerce. Miss Havisham

and her adoptive daughter, Estella, are members of this class. Miss Havisham is a wealthy

elderly lady who lives in Satis House, a large mansion. Her belongings indicate that she is from

the upper middle class. Her father was a wealthy businessman in the town; he worked in the

brewing industry. Miss Havisham inherited a vast, gloomy, and filthy mansion from him. Miss

Havisham's adopted daughter, Estella, is a beautiful young lady. She is simply an adoptive

daughter; however, she lives in an upper-class environment. It is so since she is adopted by a

wealthy lady. She is a well-educated, arrogant, and well-mannered young lady, which is a clear

indicator of upper-class status. Parents from the higher classes prefer to send their children

abroad to receive a better education. Miss Havisham sends her to France to have a proper

education in order to become a lady (Utami 29).

2. Middle class

This class includes somewhat successful industrialists and merchants, as well as

professionals in law, medicine, architecture, engineering, chemistry, and other fields. This group

includes Mr. Jagger, Herbert Pocket, and Matthew Pocket. In London, the majority of Pip's

friends are from the middle class. His guardian, Mr. Jagger, is a well-known and successful

criminal lower in London. He is from the upper-middle class. He is well respected because of his

power and reputations in defending his clients the court. Everyone in London knows and respects

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him. The Pockets are another character who belong to the Middle class. Pip's best friend in

London is Herbert Pocket. He is well-educated and courteous. He is the one who assists Pip in

behaving and acting in a gentlemanly manner. Mr. Matthew Pocket is Herbert's father. He

teaches young guys such as Pip. He has a good education. As previously said, the expense of

attending college is prohibitively high, and only wealthy families can afford it, implying that he

is from an upper middle-class household(Utami 31).

3. The working class

The characters who represent this class are pip, Joe and his wife, and Magwitch. Pip, the

major character, rises into a working-class family as an orphan country boy. Mr. and Mrs. Joe

Gargery, a blacksmith family, are his sister and brother-in-law. They live in a small village, a

marsh country. Magwitch, Pip’s secret benefactor, is another figure from this category. Mr.

Jagger visits Pip one day and informs him that a mysterious donor has given him a big quantity

of money. Pip is need to relocate to London, where he will be trained as a gentleman. A

gentleman is a man who is usually from the middle class, has a good manner, a good education,

and is financially secure. Magwitch, an escaped convict who was once assisted by Pip as a child,

is this mysterious donor. Magwitch is a member of the working class. He can, however, afford to

send Pip to London for years because he has worked hard for it (Utami 34).

B. Upper class attitude towards the lower class

At that time, the lower class people suffered from the oppression and exploitation of the

upper class; Feni Utami argued:

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 British society is dominated and ruled by a tightly woven system of class distinction.

Social relations and acceptance are based upon position. As a result, there is a great

gap between the social classes. A person will feel higher than the others when he

comes from the higher classes. Middle class persons who are touched the church feel

higher than the working class persons. …. The middle classes also believe that man

and woman who fall into crime or poverty are generally assumed to be responsible

for their own circumstances. Therefore, they do not have mercy for people in the

lower classes. It influences their ways of thinking when it deals with the social

issues. (41).

Middle-class people fail to see working-class people as human beings with feelings and

thoughts of their own because they regard them people as animals they are unconcerned that the

people are also human beings with feelings, because of their social status. In comparison to the

lower classes, they feel superior. Their higher social position makes them feel more noble and

superior to others from lower social levels. As a result, they frequently resent the lower classes.

They arbitrarily treat the inferior classes (Utami 41-42).

1. Estella Attitude Towards Pip

Estella’s first speech reveals how much she despises Pip because he belongs to the

working class; the quotations below show that.

“…Let me see you play cards with this boy.”

“with this boy! Why, he is a common laboring-boy!”

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 I thought I overheard Miss Havisham answer,--only it seemed to unlikely—

“Well? You can break his heart.” (Dickens 47).

She came back, with some bread and meat and a little mug of beer. She put the mug

down on the stones of the yard, and gave me the bread and meat without looking at

me, as if I were a dog in disgrace. I was so humiliated, hurt, spurned, offended, angry

sorry… (Dickens 49).

The first quotation shows Estella’s disdain from Pip; she sees that Pip does not deserve to play

with her because he is just a common laboring-boy. The second one reveals how Estella

marginalizes Pip because she feels superior comparing to him.

2. Pip’s attitude towards Joe

After Pip became a gentleman, he began to shed his past and attempted to end his relationships

with working-class people such as his sister and her husband. As a result, when Joe visited him

in London, he treated him badly, despised him, and disliked his primitive style. Pip treated Joe as

upper-class people treated working-class people. The quotation below shows that.

I received this letter by the post on Monday morning, and therefore its appointment

was for next day. Let me confess exactly with what feelings I looked forward to Joe's

coming. Not with pleasure, though I was bound to him by so many ties; no; with

considerable disturbance, some mortification, and a keen sense of incongruity. If I

could have kept him away by paying money, I certainly would have paid money.

(Dickens 10)

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Conclusion

To sum up, Dickens managed to criticize and condemn England's social and political

system through "Great Expectations", particularly the capitalism system, which resulted in

working-class oppression, marginalization, and exploitation. Dickens portrayed a significant

portion of the poor people's suffering. Also he shed the light on lower-class' efforts to improve

their social and economic statuses in many ways, as well as to regain their lost and restricted

rights. Marx's thoughts and Dickens's writings contributed to increasing working-class'

awareness and encouraged them to demand their rights and reject injustice.

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 Work Cited

Biography Editors. “Charles Dickens’s Personal Life”. Biography.com, 2017,

www.biography.com/writer/charles-dickens.

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectation. Wordsworth Edition, 1992.

Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. Oxford UP,1848.

Marx, Karl. Das Kapital. Regnery Publishing,1867.

SparkNotes Editors. “Great Expectation Summary”. SparkNotes.com, 2005,

www.sparknotes.com/lit/greatex/#summary.

Utami, Feni. “VICTORIAN MIDDLE CLASS ATTITUDES TOWARDS LOWER CLASSES IN CHARLES

DICKENS’ GREAT EXPECTATION”. Santa Dharam University Press, 2005.

repository.usd.ac.id/27836/2/984214121_Full%5B1%5D.pdf. PDF file.

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