Magwitchs Manipulations of Pip in Great Expectations Essay

Magwitchs Manipulations of Pip in Great Expectations In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens criticizes the motivation of the lower classes to rise to the level of wealth and education held by the upper classes by showing the extent to which Pip is exploited by Magwitch to meet these goals. To meet the expectations of the gentleman, Pip must leave his family and any possibility of earning his living in order to satisfy the educational and societal demands of this standard. Magwitch, a social deviant, hopes to prove his viability by using his unfortunate circumstances to produce a gentleman entirely by his own effort. Magwitch exhibits Pip to the world as a gentleman who is not hardened by labor, but he does so by his†¦show more content†¦The title of gentleman therefore denotes one who passes his time idly without and obligation or responsibility besides remaining socially amiable. The emergence of the middle class in the nineteenth century allowed people not of noble birth to enter the ranks of gentility. Becoming an educated and morally noble gentleman had come within the reach of those who had previously been excluded. Industry made it possible for someone of the working class to elevate his social position through his own efforts. This new definition of the gentleman had a great appeal among the emerging middle class because high birth, the traditional passport to recognition as a gentleman, could be side-stepped-at least in theory (Platz 152). This new opportunity created a split between the traditional upper classes and the newly established English bourgeoisie. Dickens recognized the paradoxical aspiration toward the position of an idle gentleman through labor. Obtaining the appearance of a gentleman became more important than the means by which the facade is constructed. Platz writes, Dickens Great Expectations can be interpreted as an attempt to dismantle both the legitimacy and symbolic authority of the gentleman (162). Pip deceives himself by accepting the oldShow MoreR elatedThe Poor Labyrinth: The Theme of Social Injustice in Dickens Great Expectations by John H. Hagan Jr.1304 Words   |  5 Pagesserved to the convicted criminal, and indicates the cyclical nature of how poverty and fear feed the public consensus on crime. As explored by John H. Hagan Jr.’s article entitled â€Å"The Poor Labyrinth: The Theme of Social Injustice in Dickenss â€Å"Great Expectations†, in which Pip’s own life, as well as the lives of those around him illustrate how socioeconomic differences played a significant role in how individuals perceived the law and one another. Harshly administered punishment and conformity toRead MoreGreat Expectations: Analyzed Through A Marxist Criticism1113 Words   |  5 Pageswhich class struggle is a central element in the analysis of social change in Western societies. Marxism applies to the novel Great Expectations in many ways. Dickens uses Pip’s complex and altering relationships with Estella, Joe, and Magwitch to show the subjugation of the working-class from the privileged. Estella is raised in a prosperous household and is judgmental of Pip because he is from the working class. She insults his appearance when she says, But he is a common laboring boy. And lookRead MoreEssay Analysis of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens5944 Words   |  24 PagesAnalysis of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Charles Dickens, the revolutionary 19th century novelist, wrote a bildungsroman of Phillip Pirrip (Pip) and the reality of his own â€Å"Great Expectations† in his pursuit to become a gentleman. In Chapter 8, the reader is introduced to Miss Havisham and Estella and this is where Pip first becomes dissatisfied with the life at the forge. There were many writers in Dickens’ day whose works are no longer read; this is possibly because Dickens