Themes — Class, Ambition & Social Mobility

Class is the central preoccupation of Great Expectations. Dickens uses Pip's journey from the marshes to London and back to interrogate the Victorian class system, the nature of ambition, and what it truly means to be a "gentleman." This lesson explores these interlocking themes with key quotes and analysis.

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Class and the Victorian Hierarchy

The class system in the novel

Class	Characters	How Dickens presents them
Upper class	Miss Havisham, Estella, Bentley Drummle	Wealthy but morally bankrupt or damaged
Middle class	Jaggers, Wemmick, Pumblechook	Professional, sometimes hypocritical
Working class	Joe, Biddy, the forge community	Honest, kind, morally superior
Criminal class	Magwitch, Compeyson	Judged by appearance, not character

Dickens's argument

Dickens systematically inverts the expected moral hierarchy:

• The upper class (Miss Havisham) is trapped, bitter, and destructive.
• The middle class (Pumblechook) is sycophantic and self-serving.
• The working class (Joe) is dignified, kind, and morally admirable.
• The criminal class (Magwitch) shows more love and generosity than anyone above him.

Examiner's tip: A Grade 9 response will argue that Dickens does not simply reverse the class hierarchy — he argues that class itself is a false measure of human worth. The novel's power lies not in saying the poor are better than the rich, but in showing that moral character operates independently of social position.

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What Does It Mean to Be a "Gentleman"?

This is the novel's central question. Dickens presents two definitions of a gentleman:

The social definition

A gentleman is defined by:

• Wealth and income (not earned through manual labour)
• Education and manners
• Dress, speech, and social connections
• Leisure — a gentleman does not work with his hands

By this definition, Pip becomes a gentleman when he receives his expectations. But he also becomes idle, snobbish, and morally worse.

The moral definition

A gentleman is defined by:

• Kindness, loyalty, and compassion
• Integrity — being good, not just appearing good
• Treating others with dignity regardless of their status
• Self-sacrifice and forgiveness

By this definition, Joe Gargery is the greatest gentleman in the novel.

Character	Social gentleman?	Moral gentleman?
Pip (London)	Yes	No
Joe Gargery	No	Yes
Herbert Pocket	Yes (by birth)	Yes
Bentley Drummle	Yes	No
Compeyson	Yes	No
Magwitch	No	Yes (ultimately)

"Pip, dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together"

Joe's speech is simple but wise. He understands life — he does not need fancy language or London manners to grasp what matters.

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Ambition

Pip's ambition: corrupting or educating?

Pip's ambition to become a gentleman is the engine of the plot. But Dickens presents this ambition as morally corrupting:

• It makes Pip ashamed of the people who love him (Joe, Biddy).
• It is motivated by a desire to impress Estella, not by genuine self-improvement.
• It leads to idleness, debt, and moral decline.

"I want to be a gentleman"

This simple statement, spoken by young Pip, is one of the most significant in the novel. It marks the beginning of Pip's moral decline — his ambition is born from shame, not aspiration.

The self-made man vs. the made man

Victorian culture celebrated the self-made man — the idea that hard work could lift you from poverty to respectability. Dickens complicates this:

Self-made man (Victorian ideal)	Pip's reality
Earns success through hard work	Receives wealth passively from a secret benefactor
Is morally improved by effort	Is morally corrupted by unearned wealth
Achieves genuine independence	Is entirely dependent on Magwitch's money

Pip is not self-made — he is made by Magwitch. And Magwitch, the actual self-made man (who built a fortune through hard labour in Australia), is denied the status of gentleman because of his criminal record.

Examiner's tip: The irony of Pip's situation is central to Dickens's argument. Pip thinks of himself as a gentleman, but his wealth was earned by a convict in a penal colony. This exposes the Victorian myth of the self-made man as a class illusion.

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Social Mobility

Is social mobility real in Great Expectations?

Dickens suggests that social mobility in Victorian England is largely superficial:

• Pip can change his clothes, his manners, and his address — but his origins follow him.
• Magwitch can make a fortune — but he can never be accepted as a gentleman.
• Estella can be raised as a lady — but she is the daughter of a convict and a murderess.

The novel is full of characters who try to be something they are not:

Character	Tries to be	Reality
Pip	A gentleman	An orphan from the marshes
Estella	A cold, perfect lady	The daughter of a convict
Magwitch	A gentleman-maker	A transported criminal
Compeyson	A respectable gentleman	A swindler and conman
Pumblechook	Pip's greatest supporter	A sycophant who takes credit

Examiner's tip: Dickens uses dramatic irony throughout: the reader eventually discovers that almost every character's social identity is built on hidden truths. This structural technique reinforces the theme that Victorian class distinctions are based on appearance rather than reality.

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Snobbery and Its Consequences

Pip's snobbery is presented as his greatest moral failing:

1. Towards Joe: Pip is ashamed of Joe in London. He dreads Drummle seeing Joe. Yet Joe is the person who loves him most.
2. Towards Biddy: Pip condescends to Biddy, who is more intelligent and perceptive than he is.
3. Towards Magwitch: Pip's initial revulsion at Magwitch is pure class prejudice — he is horrified not by Magwitch's character but by his status.
4. Towards his past: Pip tries to erase his childhood, seeing it as shameful rather than formative.

Dickens shows that snobbery isolates Pip. The more he rises in society, the more he loses the genuine relationships that gave his life meaning.

"It was not until I began to think, that I began fully to know how wrecked I was, and how the ship in which I had sailed was gone to pieces"