Charles Dickens’ renowned novel “Great Expectations” provides an intimate look into our own surroundings through the lens of the young Pip, and his lifelong quest for betterment and fulfilment through ambition, social class, and self-discovery. These thematic milestones throughout Pip’s life in the novel are exemplar of Dickens’ own life, and further, of a general human experience, thus making the novel relatable to readers from its publication to now and well into the future. Through revealing constant aspects of the human condition, the relevance of the novel is continued through the lessons learned by Pip as he advances across status.
Within Great Expectations, Dickens’ exploration of the Victorian class system showcases the entire spectrum of Victorian English society. Representing the most wretched of criminals in Magwitch and the middle class in Pumblechook, Miss Havisham and Joe serve as bookends to the hierarchy of wealth. This theme of social class proves central to the plot of the novel, and further to the ultimate morality of Pip as he comes to realise that wealth and class are less important than genuine loyalty, affection, and individual depth of character. This understanding comes from those around him who prove that social status does not correlate with one’s character, seen in Drummle, the upper-class lout and Magwitch, the persecuted convict with a heart of gold. Pips ascension of social class, is used by Dickens to upend the age-old stereotype of high class resulting in nobility. This is achieved through the purposeful portrayal of key villains as that of high social class such as Drummle and those of lower social class such as Joe or Biddy portrayed as hero’s. The theme of social class is made unique through Dickens portrayal of Pip’s experience of spatial displacement and class dislocation, an experience that is the integral aspect of Great Expectations capacity to hold influence over such large quantities of society over vastly different time periods. Through attributing no full name, yet only a single syllable nickname ‘Pip’ to the homodiegetic narrator, Dickens symbolically represents said experiences, and strips him of his ability to form his personal rooted identity. Something viscerally relatable by those living within post-colonial periods, consequently the commentary on society made Dickens is able to perturb social norms and enlighten communities on surrounding social issues. One such example of this is, Dickens revelation of the prejudice faced by those of a lower social class, through the commentary on the Victorian era justice system. This is seen within chapter 42, where the difference in physical appearances between the “common sort of wretch” (Pg.636) Magwitch and “gentleman” (Pg.636) Compeyson is made evident. After which the audience is positioned to notice “how heavy the legal system bore on Magwitch, and how light on Compeyson.” (P. 636). This is similarly seen within modern society with modern representatives of the Aristocracy such as celebrities or other public figures, having much more leeway when it comes to consequences for breaking laws imposed by surrounding society.
The novel ‘Great Expectations’ is a bildungsroman, meaning a work that follows the journey of self-discovery for the main character. The main characters name employed by Dickens being Pip, is used as symbolism to cement this in the minds of readers, with the audience watching Pip like a seed, mature and grow. As a part of his idealist nature, Pip desires to obtain anything that is better than what he has already achieved. When he first sees Satis House, he wishes to be a gentleman, when he realizes that he cannot read, he wishes to learn, when he realises his moral shortcomings, he longs to be good. Because the grass is always greener on the other side, isn’t it? The theme of ambition is introduced to readers as a double-edged sword, a force intermingled with both positive and negative consequences. With ambitions as the thematic focus of novel, Dickens uses Pips social progression and eventual downfall to comment on self-righteousness misunderstanding nature of many youth. As well provide as visual representation on why such destructive behaviour must be reassessed by anyone engaging remotely close, something the is universally relevant. The theme of ambitions is also used by Dickens to ambiguously provides commentary on the effects of the deeply ingrained habits, skills, and dispositions that we possess due to our life experiences have on cultural capital. Dickens achieves this by through the comparison of cultural capital between the different social standing Pip and Estella, in which Pip himself believes for superficial reasons, that I was much more ignorant than I had considered myself last night, and generally that I was in a low-lived bad way. This is significant, as it allows Dickens to show the universal truth that is inordinately relevant, that it matters not what you achieve throughout life or your class, but what kind of person you are. A novel example of this is Joe spending his life savings to pay off Pips debt, to prevent him from entering debtors prison. Although Pip “had never dreamed of Joe’s having paid the money” (Pg.484), his compassion encourages Pip to realise that social standing is irrelevant to one’s real worth and that conscience and affection are to be valued above erudition and social standing.
Ultimately, it can be seen through the exploitation of universal themes of ambition, self-discovery, and the divergence in social classes, that Dickens’ classic “Great Expectations” has maintained a great relevance to readers throughout history and across cultures. The use of themes central to the nature of humanity in striving for “more” are ones which hold an intrinsic truth about the capitalist and consumerist nature of our modern society, with the underlying concepts of betterment and the journey of a life revealing a constant aspect of the human condition. Through reading the novel, not only can we gain an insight into the society of the past, we are afforded the chance to evaluate and analyse our own surroundings through the lens of the young Pip, a character representative of each group of society as they search for the next best thing.