Great Expectations: Wealth and Poverty

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GREAT EXPECTATIONS WEALTH AND POVERTY Victorian class was mainly made up of two classes- the rich (upper class) and the poor (working class). There were poor working class families who lived in extreme poverty as illustrated in the book as Joe Gargery, and there were wealthy families who enjoyed lives of luxury like Miss Havisham. Pip tries his hardest to be seen above the line of poverty and finds it hard to be accepted and to make his past forgotten. Wealth and poverty is dealt with and targeted throughout the book and plays a massive part in moulding the characters personality and behaviour towards others. Firstly, wealth divides people a lot throughout the book. An example of this is in chapter eighteen when Jaggers says: ‘First, you should have some new clothes to come in, and they should not be working clothes. Say this day week. You'll want some money. Shall I leave you twenty guineas?’ This seems to be the first time that Pip and Joe are distinguished from one another publicly. When telling Pip to get rid of the working clothes look, Jaggers indirectly insults Joe and suggests that Joe will not be good enough for the upper class. This shows that wealth divides people and their social groups depending on how wealthy they are. Secondly, we see how great privilege is closely linked to loneliness. An example is when Pip says: ‘I had heard of Miss Havisham up town – everybody for miles round, had heard of Miss Havisham up town – as an immensely rich and grim lady who lived alone in a large and dismal house barricaded against robbers, and who led a life of seclusion.’ This shows the link between wealth and poverty when it says that he lives in the ‘village,’ and Miss Havisham lives ‘up town,’ indicating that Miss Havisham lives in a posh and sophisticated place than Pip does. This quote also shows that having a lot of money makes you lonely. It shows this
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