SeongJae Shin
 Throughout Great Expectations, Dickens explores the
class system of Victorian England, ranging from the m
ost wretched criminals (Magwitch) to the poor peasant
s of the marsh country (Joe and Biddy) to the middle cl
ass (Pumblechook) to the very rich (Miss Havisham).
The theme of social class is central to the novel’s plot a
nd to the ultimate moral theme of the book, Pip’s reali
zation that wealth and class are less important than aff
ection, loyalty, and inner worth.
 Social class played a major role in the society depicted
in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. Social class d
etermined the manner in which a person was treated a
nd their access to education. Yet, social class did not de
fine the character of the individual.
 Great Expectations was se
t in Victorian era.
 In Victorian era there wer
en’t any differences betwe
en commoners and poor
people.
 But there were big gap of
differences between com
moners and rich people.
 However, commoners we
re divided to three parts.
Poor commoner, commo
n commoner and rich co
mmoner.
 Poor commoners could n
ot feed themselves as mu
ch as common commone
rs would have.
 Rich commoners had bet
ter jobs than common co
mmoners which gets the
m more money and digni
ty.
 Many men would have wor
ked on the railways, or in d
ockyards, which were thrivi
ng places in Victorian Engla
nd.
 These were badly paid, even
worse than now
 Many people worked as do
mestic servants, especially
women.
 A woman might be working
in dressmaking or millinery
jobs (making hats and maki
ng dolls) People might keep
a pub or a pie shop or eatin
g house. Some women ran
boarding houses.
 Some people would have w




orked at independent trade
s and crafts.
Men might be blacksmiths f
or instance, or builders or c
arpenters or craftsmen of va
rious kinds.
People might be shopkeepe
rs of various kinds.
A woman might have her o
wn dressmaking or milliner
y business
People might keep a pub or
a pie shop or eating house.
Some women ran boarding
houses.
 Offices employed large numbers




of people, in the early Victorian e
ra these would have been mainly
men.
But in the later part of the Victori
an era more women began to be e
mployed in offices.
The invention of the typewriter l
ed to a great increase in employm
ent of women in offices, as it was
found that women, with their sm
aller and nimbler fingers, made b
etter typists than men.
Also, the people who invent thin
gs were classified as richer part of
the commoners.
Some of the commoners who
were fairly were educated could
have been a teacher of a small
village or town but not in big
cities.
 Both men and women might work as





teachers, as the education system ex
panded during the course of the cent
ury more teachers were needed.
Doctors were mainly male, but from
the 1870s and onwards, some women
did begin to qualify as doctors.
Nursing became a respectable occup
ation for women from the 1850s onw
ards due to the reforms of Florence N
ightingale.
Richest of the riches would own a
mine field or a factory or a well going
lawyer.
Also, all the high ranked generals
and people who worked for kings
and queens were rich too.
But of course among these the
richest people would have to be the
kings and the queens.







"Character chart." Spider web. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2010. <http://media.wiley.com/lit_note_images/1
18/1.jpg>.
Lambert, Tim. "19th Century England." A World History Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2010. <h
ttp://www.localhistories.org/19thcentengland.html>.
"The context of Great Expectations Social / political context Educational context Pip's education in
Great Expectations » Great Expectations Study Guide from Crossref-it.info." Free English Literature
Study Guides - Crossref-it.info. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2010. <http://www.crossref-it.info/textguide/Gr
eat-Expectations/5/420>.
"Victorian England." Shelbyville Central Schools - Shelbyville, IN. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2010. <http://
www.shelbycs.org/ms/media%20center/victorian%20england/>.
"Victorian Occupations: Life and Labor in the Victorian Period as Seen by Artists, Writers, and Moder
n Historians." The Victorian Web: An Overview. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2010. <http://www.victorianwe
b.org/history/work/workov.html>.
"Women and Social Status in and Great Expectations." The Victorian Web: An Overview. N.p., n.d. We
b. 17 Apr. 2010. <http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/ebb/bv5.html>.
gradations. "Victorian Era Social Structure." Upload & Share PowerPoint presentations and documents
. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2010. <http://www.slideshare.net/sstuckey/victorian-era-social-structure>.