Yu, 1 Deborah Yu Honors English Ten Period One 11/3/11 Poverty in Nineteenth Century England Charles Dickens was

an English writer of the nineteenth century. To this day, he is known for his use of figurative language throughout all of his novels, such as Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities. In his novels, he uses prose to tell stories of peoples lives, which often represent social classes or realistic problems at the time for the poor people of England. Some considered him the spokesman for the poor, for he definitely brought much awareness to their plight (Merriman, par. 2). His childhood and background of being raised in a poor family most likely lead to and inspired these main themes in most of his novels. Throughout Dickens novel, Great Expectations, a major theme of social class is displayed through different characters in nineteenth century England. During the nineteenth century, many changes occurred in England. The industrial revolution cause rapid population growth in major cities, and the formation of more distinct social classes, especially in the middle class. As more and more factories started to develop, the factory owners and large company owners started to become significantly wealthier than the laborers. This eventually caused a huge gap to form between the two parts of the middle class. While the living standards started to rise for the wealthier factory and business owners, most of the laborers lived in poverty. The poor lived in small houses or crowded buildings in cities. Although most of these people worked in factories, unlike past centuries, they were able to move up or down in social class. They also believed that anyone could become successful through

Yu, 2 sheer hard work and thrift (Lambert, sec. 5). This type of social mobility is displayed in Dickens novel, Great Expectations through the main protagonist in the story. Although this character did not have a proper education or wealthy family, he was still able to move up in social class. Many of the characters throughout Great Expectations displayed elements of nineteenth century England. Throughout the novel, Pips life is shown from when he was a young boy into his mid-twenties. He was raised by his older sister and was brought up in a poor family. Pip was set to become a blacksmith to take his sisters husbands place, but he decided that he wanted to move up in social class, get an education, and become a gentleman. Logically that meant that if you were poor it was your fault (Lambert, sec. 5), but Pip decided to take matters into his own hands. To fulfill his goals and expectations to become a gentleman, he started to get an education and learned how to act like a gentleman. As time passed, he became a gentleman and eventually did move up in social class. Pips life displayed that poor people in England during this time period were capable of moving up in social class if they worked diligently. It was most probable for people in nineteenth century England to simply remain in the social class that they were born into. An example of this in Great Expectations is Mrs. Havisham, a fairly wealthy woman who does not work, but was born into a wealthy family. Although she does not have an actual job, Mrs. Havisham continues to remain wealthy because of her familys wealth. As a child, her father had a lot of money, which she inherited when he passed away. Because of her wealth, she was able to keep up with the rising standard of living. However by the late 19th century housing for most people was better than in the 18th century (Lambert, sec. 10). She had a significantly higher class looking home than most of the people in her town, and was able to afford to hire people to work for her. Her character represents the

Yu, 3 people who remained in their original social class for their entire life. Many changes took place in England during the nineteenth century. Some of these changes and elements of the nineteenth century are displayed and represented throughout Charles Dickens novels and short stories. For example, Great Expectations highlights key elements of the social classes during the nineteenth century by displaying social classes through the characters. Dickens was an author who wrote to represent the poor people of England during the time, and he was almost like a spokesman for them.

Works Cited

Yu, 4 Merriman, C.D. Charles Dickens- Biography and Works. Search Texts, Read Online, Discuss. online-literature.com/dickens. The Literature Network, 2006. Web. Nov. 2011. Lambert, Tim. 19th Century England localhistories.org/19thcentengland.html. England in the 19th Century, 2008. Web. Nov. 2011. Lambert, Tim. A History of Poverty localhistories.org/povhist.html. A Brief History of Poverty, 2008. Web. Nov. 2011.