Pip goes through many changes throughout Great Expectations due to the changes in his social class. Dickens explores the class system of Victorian England, ranging from the most despicable criminals (Magwitch) to the poor peasants (Joe and Biddy) to the middle class (Pumblechook) to the very rich (Miss Havisham). P ip originally believed that the higher your class the better you were treated and the more love and amenities were given to you, this is why he was frustrated at Joe for raising him the way he did. “I wished Joe had been rather more genteelly brought up, and then I should have been so too.” (1.8.92) Pip is irritated that Joe was raised in the lower class and as a result so was he. Joe was Pip’s father figure and because of that Pip was never taught well manners or how to behave gentleman like around other people.
Muckrakers have had a substantial impact on American his due to their wrings concerning corruption and significant social issues. President Theodore Roosevelt made the term "muck-raker" popular when referring to a character in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, he stated, ''The man with the muck-rake, the man who could look no way but downward with the muck-rake in his hands; who was offered a celestial crown for his muckrake, but who would neither look up nor regard the crown he was offered, but continued to rake himself the filth of the floor.'' Though President Roosevelt saw the methods of muckrakers such as somewhat reckless, many others found these methods appropriate for fighting against the American hierarchy. Muckraking actually began long before the years of 1900-1902, when the muckraking movement is credited to have begun. Martin Luther exposed the corruption of the Catholic Church.
This is effective as you can feel what he is and understand what he was going through. When Heaney writes about his father crying and how that is an unusual scene, he is bringing you with him. This helps you picture an unusual scene as his father does not usually cry at funerals. Heaney also writes about the baby cooing and laughing which shows that the baby is unaffected and does not know what is going around them. Heaney also shows an effective choice of imagery in the phrase; “Snowdrops/And candles” This is effective as it helps you picture a calm and peaceful atmosphere.
‘A Christmas Carol is more than a story of one man’s redemption.’ Discuss Charles Dickens constructed his Victorian novella, A Christmas Carol, as a critical blast against the very rationale of utilitarianism. He detested this Victorian Weltanschauung that valued a person based on their ability to contribute to society’s productivity, and A Christmas Carol was born from his observations of selfishness and avarice as being the dominant features of British society. In an acquisitive society, the form that selfishness predominantly takes is monetary greed, and this sole focus on financial gain can be seen to have far-reaching consequences. For instance, Malthusian thinking adopted by many at the time, viewed the poor as “idle” and as “surplus population”. Scrooge, and by extension the merchant class of which he is emblematic, view the impoverished as worthless, and it is this callous disdain, formed from society’s narcissistic focus, that Dickens seeks to attack.
Dickens was concerned with the social problems in England and therefore he depicted the unjust life of the poor in many of his novels. “Mankind is my business” (Pooley, 1957: 347), Dickens expressed, and thus he became a spokesman for the underprivileged. The novel, A Tale of Two Cities, also deals with this social injustice and the irresponsibility of the ruling elite. However, Dickens seems to have been put in a dilemma when writing the novel: In order to be true
Text response ‘ in A Christmas Carol the main character is Christmas itself. To what extent do you agree?’ Charles dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ first written in 1842 is a social commentary on the sudden industrial growth of the capitalist Victorian society in which he lived. Dickens for most is condemning the division between the rich and the poor, which existed within England at the time. The novel is set in the festive and upbeat time that is Christmas, which to Dickens was no better way of representing a society that had many blemishes. Dickens presents us with a man who fought hard to succeed in business however lost touch with not only himself but also the wider community including those close to him.
Charles Dickens novella a Christmas Carol is a parable of social redemption where the main character Scrooge a working class man who has profited largely from the industrial revolution. Is visited by several Christmas ghosts promote change. Dickens’s criticism of the Utilitarian society is expressed through his characterisation of Scrooge. In the novella Dickens uses other characters such as Tiny Tim a sick little boy, and Scrooges nephew Fredrick as examples of his ideal society. Towards the end of the novella Scrooges conversion represents the conversion that the Author Dickens wishes society to undertake to forget the utilitarian way.
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard were famous for the way in which they depicted the changing of cultures. Both plays act as a sort of social commentary during times of widespread liberation, and use the contortive nature of these seemingly stereotypical characters’ actions to speak about groups of people as a whole. Throughout the course of both plays, this subversion of how different groups of people were typically perceived created a distinct contrast which often shocked and appalled audiences of the time. However, the effects of these plays were felt long after they were presented. Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, written in 1879, is set in late-19th century Norway.
To what extent does Lady Windermere’s Fan offer serious criticism of contemporary social and sexual conventions? In Lady Windermere’s Fan, Oscar Wilde bitingly satirizes and ridicules the morals of Victorian London High Society and focuses particularly on the aspects of marriage. The play is a juxtaposition both comical and serious subject matters. Wilde examines sexual morality and gender politics throughout the play, especially through both of the characters of Cecil Graham, a typical caricature of the upper class and Mrs Erlynne, a lost character who is no longer accepted into society due to her reputation. Wilde criticizes the society he lives in during the time he wrote the play and uses characters to emphasize the inequalities of double standards mainly between the gender roles and how London High Society during that particular era was hard to get in to but easy to become an outcast.
Although in the novel Carton spends majority of his life in idleness with an uncaring attitude, the selflessness of his death brings hope for humanity to change. The novel spends much time describing the outrageous acts committed by the privileged and the outraged peasants; it expresses the fact that throughout these violent actions there will be a better society. Dickens expands his theme with the character of Doctor Manette. Early on in the novel, Lorry has an imaginary conversation with him in which he says that Manette has been “recalled to life.” As this statement implies, the doctor’s eighteen-year imprisonment has formed a death of sorts. Lucie’s love enables Manette’s spiritual renewal, and her cradling of him on her breast reinforces this notion of rebirth.