Social Status in "Great Expectations"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines Charles Dickens's novel, "Great Expectations", and in particular, looks at how, throughout the novel, the relationships between the various characters is often based on the appearance of status and class. It explores how class is associated with positive values of moral and societal elevation and how an analysis of relationships in the novel reveals that class structures are appearances and not opaque realities; the true moral worth or the sense of what it means to be a ?gentleman? is dependent on actions rather than on assumptions about status. It also show how, in the final analysis, the novel attempts to show the interconnected quality of human society and that superficial social values are never a good judge of character.

From the Paper:

"Another factor that is significant for this discussion is that the affect of class distinctions, enforced by pecuniary differences, also relates to much of the author's personal history and to his father's failures that haunted him and influenced his novels. The associations of his personal life to Great Expectations are well known: "Great Expectations is an obviously, but not often directly, autobiographical novel" (Carlisle 5). However, probably the most relevant aspect of the autobiographical background of the novel is the central theme of status and class and the search to become a "gentleman". This can be seen in the figure of Dickens's father."

More papers on Social Status in "Great Expectations":

• Book Review # 2905 : "Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations"
• Analytical Essay # 120382 : "Money and Status in Victorian England"
• Analytical Essay # 111165 : "Diversity within Society"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: