Developed Through Pips Visit To Satis Essay

Essay Title: Discuss How The Theme Of Class Is Developed Through Pips Visit To Satis (enough) House Charles Dickens’ expertly created bildungsroman about a youthful common boy’s desire to be a gentleman develops the theme of class and its social importance throughout the story. Dickens’ aim was to show the corruption in English society at the time and he displays it through Pip’s, the main character, visits to Satis house – a house owned by a mysterious, middle classed woman with a beautiful daughter that is bemused by Pip’s appearance and lower class and therefore abuses him for it. Dickens portraits the upper class as evil, selfish villains in the novel and is on the lower class peoples side, always revealing the disgraceful riches the upper class owned while the poor got poorer. Great Expectations is a social commentary that gives a strong opinion on society. Pip is a classic example of the lowest level of a working class child; he’s an orphan, lives a miserable life with his obnoxious and beastly sister, and gets abused by everyone that sees him. ‘Universal struggle,’ this is how Pip describes life as a desolate young boy. Pip strives to become his dream fantasy; a gleaming, bright gentleman and to do that he must overcome many things. Firstly, Pip can barely read or write, â€Å"I struggled through the alphabet as if it had been a bramble bush,† this just adds emphasis on the true lowness of Pip’s class as only the rich got educated while the poor got overlooked. In fact, when the poor did get educated, it was of a very low standard with the teachers sleeping in class and cramp, overheated rooms, with very little ventilation, much the contrary for the lavish, learning system accustomed to the rich and upper-class youths. Also, Pip is innumerate meaning he cant count, â€Å"I fell among the thieves, the nine figures,† this tells us that Pip is lacking basic life skills and must adapt to life without reading, writing and counting which adds to his struggle of dreaming to become a gentleman and gains sympathy off the reader because of his desperate situation. From pip’s first visit to Satis House, we realize the staggering difference between Pip and Miss Havisham’s child, Estella, and how their class and background affect their attitudes towards each other and their views on society and life overall. The setting of Satis House flabbergasts Pip so much, he can barely explain everything around him, â€Å"satins, and lace, and silks all of white†¦ † The description brings to mind a very rich, selfish and stagnant person which is how Dickens represents all the rich and upper-class people. Pip is confused of how to prepare himself for his first visit to Satis House, â€Å"I was not at ease regarding the manner in which I should acquaint myself under that lady’s roof. † This shows that the poor scarcely get in contact with the rich and are bewildered with how to present themselves. On the other hand, Estella proudly calls Pip by the name â€Å"boy† and mocks his clothes which in turn makes Pip realise his â€Å"lower class† so he therefore begins to clean and pamper himself after the suffering. Dickens builds up tension by describing Satis House as unkept and decayed which is a reflection of Miss Havisham’s odd personality and it’s a bit bias to be honest, because all Dickens’ fantasies about the rich being evil, rude and a bit crazy are fitted into one character especially and her eerie house. One time, Miss Havisham questions Pip in such a way at one point, that he gets scared out of his wits and his answers to her spiteful questions are all monosyllabic, â€Å"who is it? † â€Å"Pip†¦ † In essence, Dickens’ disrespect to the upper-class is such, that he represents them all in one lady that is so low, she bully’s innocent little boys and makes them feel ashamed for who they are and even makes Pip accept he’s lower then her which one may argue is a good thing as it inspires Pip to greatness later on but is atrocious, giving that status is not all there is to life. Estella is the â€Å"lady† in the book. When she meets Pip, her presence with him clearly shows the enormous gap between their two respected classes. Of her first few words to Pip, she looks at his tatty state and says disgustingly, â€Å"come here, boy. † She judged him by his looks and clothes and instantly recognized his lower state and treats him like an animal and he follows reluctantly, falling for her looks, â€Å"being a girl, beautiful and self-possessed. † By being attractive, Estella has a power over Pip that she can allow herself to be rude and sly to him, yet he will still fancy her, ridicule him and he’ll still show respect, so Estella has the upper hand in all cases. Dickens’ use of imagery glorifies Estella in every way as Pip is drawn to her, â€Å"like a moth to the light,† but in reality his desire to be good enough for Estella leads him to selfishness and being big-headed, just like the rest of the upper-class in Victorian England at the time, according to Dickens that is. Estella is very lucky, in the sense she has access to food and wines while Pip’s struggling for bare bones with bread and water for snacks. Unfortunately, this was the case for everyone at the time it was rare for the lower-class to have luxuries even close to those of the rich and it all blatantly shows between the meetings of Pip and Estella. â€Å"I wish my boots weren’t so thick nor my hands so coarse. † This is the moment Pip feels ashamed of himself for the first time. He accepts defeat in a cowardly manner and is disappointed at life and why he, amongst others, is a common, miserable and poor, weak boy. He even calls himself â€Å"ignorant and backwards,† in his defeat, which is quite the contrary really until after visiting miss Havisham and being in her household.