Great Expectations Social Class Quotes

Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within, as the river wound, twenty miles of the sea. My first most vivid and broad impression of the identity of things seems to me to have been gained on a memorable raw afternoon towards evening. At such a time I found out for certain that this bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard; and that Philip Pirrip, late of this parish, and also Georgiana wife of the above, were dead and buried; and that Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias, and Roger, infant children of the aforesaid, were also dead and buried; and that the dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dikes and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes; and that the low leaden line beyond was the river; and that the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing was the sea; and that the small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 1. The novel has one of the greatest opening chapters in all of English literature. The story begins in a churchyard, where seven-year-old orphan Pip stands shivering and crying among the graves of his parents and family. The vivid and memorable opening paints a bleak desolate scene of where Pip grew up. The “marsh country” represents the low class, rural environment of his childhood, reflecting the important theme of social class. A less than happy childhood for Pip is conveyed with the use of words like “raw” and “bleak.” In a novel rich with dark themes and characters, the dark and dismal setting and ominous atmosphere foreshadow things to come. A series of powerful metaphors emphasize the dangerous forces of nature swirling around Pip and also his own vulnerability and isolation. The river is described as a “low leaden line,” the sea a “distant savage lair,” while Pip is a “small bundle of shivers.” The passage sets the scene for the boy’s terrifying encounter with an escaped convict, which will fundamentally shape the course of his life.

“I wish I was a frog. Or a eel!” At the same time, he hugged his shuddering body in both his arms, – clasping himself, as if to hold himself together, – and limped towards the low church wall. As I saw him go, picking his way among the nettles, and among the brambles that bound the green mounds, he looked in my young eyes as if he were eluding the hands of the dead people, stretching up cautiously out of their graves, to get a twist upon his ankle and pull him in.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 2. As he glances over the cold and wet marsh, Magwitch makes this humorous remark to Pip when the boy bids him goodbye. Magwitch may have been introduced to the novel as a threatening criminal. But his wish to be a modest water creature like a frog or eel as he limps over the graveyard to the marsh shows a weaker, vulnerable side. It also reflects his lower class status. When he hugs his cold body to hold himself together, this evokes sympathy for a man falling apart. In a vivid simile, he is seen by Pip as someone trying to escape the dead hands reaching up from their graves in an attempt to pull him in. This foreshadows the trials and dangers that Magwitch will later face.

“I’d never do it again! I know that. I may truly say I’ve never had this apron of mine off since born you were. It’s bad enough to be a blacksmith’s wife (and him a Gargery) without being your mother.”

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 2. Although Mrs. Joe is Pip’s older sister, she resents having to bring young Pip up after the death of their parents and views him as a burden and extra mouth to feed. She also makes an unkind comment about her kindly husband Joe. In it she suggests that she is not happy with her status as a blacksmith’s wife and would like to break out of the limitations of her social class.

In his working-clothes, Joe was a well-knit characteristic-looking blacksmith; in his holiday clothes, he was more like a scarecrow in good circumstances, than anything else.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 4. In the novel blacksmith Joe Gargery represents the decent and honest working class. A simile compares him to a scarecrow whenever he has to wear his holiday clothes. This emphasizes how uncomfortable he is with having to dress up in “nice” clothes. It also highlights the sharp social class distinctions in Victorian England, where people like Joe have little chance to escape their class and move up the social ladder.

She was an orphan like myself; like me, too, had been brought up by hand. She was most noticeable, I thought, in respect of her extremities; for, her hair always wanted brushing, her hands always wanted washing, and her shoes always wanted mending and pulling up at heel.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 7. From Pip’s description of Biddy, he doesn’t appear to have a very high regard for the girl who works in her grandmother’s store. He highlights the flaws in Biddy’s working class appearance, grooming and dress. Biddy goes on to become a good friend of Pip’s and later helps him with his education. Foreshadowed here is the boy Pip’s future obsession with social mobility and desire to escape his working class background.

I had heard of Miss Havisham up town, – everybody for miles round had heard of Miss Havisham up town, – as an immensely rich and grim lady who lived in a large and dismal house barricaded against robbers, and who led a life of seclusion.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 7. This is the first time Pip mentions Miss Havisham, a central character who will have a major effect on his life. We learn that she is a member of the upper class, in contrast to Pip’s working class background. Despite her riches, she is also spoken of as a lonely person living in seclusion.

“And couldn’t she ask Uncle Pumblechook if he knew of a boy to go and play there? Isn’t it just barely possible that Uncle Pumblechook may be a tenant of hers, and that he may sometimes – we won’t say quarterly or half-yearly, for that would be requiring too much of you – but sometimes – go there to pay his rent? And couldn’t she then ask Uncle Pumblechook if he knew of a boy to go and play there?”

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 7. We hear from Mrs. Joe how Uncle Pumblechook manages to get Pip into Satis House. Pumblechook is a tenant of the rich landlady Miss Havisham who lives there. Pip’s visits there will be his first introduction to the upper class.

Though she called me “boy” so often, and with a carelessness that was far from complimentary, she was of about my own age. She seemed much older than I, of course, being a girl, and beautiful and self-possessed; and she was as scornful of me as if she had been one-and-twenty, and a queen.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 8. Pip describes his first meeting with Estella, the girl who will become the great but unattainable love of his life. In this passage he describes his first impressions of her, after she tells him “don’t loiter, boy.” It is not only her physical beauty that attracts him, but the cold, fiery and disdainful side of her character. A simile compares the young girl’s scornful manner to that of 21-year-old and a queen. Her arrogance comes strongly across in the superior tone she uses in addressing Pip.

Miss Havisham beckoned her to come close…”Let me see you play cards with this boy.”
“With this boy? Why, he is a common labouring boy!”
I thought I overheard Miss Havisham answer, – only it seemed so unlikely, – “Well? You can break his heart.”
“What do you play, boy?” asked Estella of myself, with the greatest disdain.
“Nothing but beggar my neighbour, miss.”
“Beggar him,” said Miss Havisham to Estella. So we sat down to cards.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 8. Miss Havisham is portrayed as manipulative and vengeful in this conversation with her adopted daughter Estella. Foreshadowed is her diabolical plan to get Pip fall in love with Estella so she can break his heart. This is to be her revenge against men for her own broken heart years earlier. So she forces Estella to play cards with Pip. When Estella objects to playing with a low class laboring boy, Miss Havisham suggests using him to “break his heart.” There is irony in her telling Estella to “beggar” him, since Estella is a wealthy and beautiful girl and Pip is by contrast a poor orphan. But what she means is to emotionally ruin him. With Pip unaware of Miss Havisham’s plan to emotionally beggar him through Estella, this is also dramatic irony.

“He calls the knaves Jacks, this boy!” said Estella with disdain, before our first game was out. “And what coarse hands he has! And what thick boots!”

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 8. A spiteful Estella insults Pip by mocking his speech and appearance, highlighting the difference between the social classes. She repeatedly calls Pip “boy” to show her social superiority, even though she is just a young girl herself. Her jibes have a profound effect on Pip, as he later tries to rise above his class to impress the girl he becomes deeply infatuated with.

I had never thought of being ashamed of my hands before; but I began to consider them a very indifferent pair. Her contempt for me was so strong, that it became infectious, and I caught it.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 8. After Estella’s comment about his coarse hands and boots, Pip begins to feel ashamed of his working class appearance. He uses a metaphor to compare the girl’s contempt for him to an infectious disease which he then catches. This marks the beginning of Pip’s transformation into a shallow, materialistic young man, who will become ashamed of family and himself and value money and social status above true relationships and integrity.

I played the game to an end with Estella, and she beggared me. She threw the cards down on the table when she had won them all, as if she despised them for having been won of me.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 8. There is heavy foreshadowing in the Beggar My Neighbor card game played between Estella and Pip. Puppet master behind it is the manipulative Miss Havisham, who plots for Pip to fall in love with Estella so she can break his heart. The game is not a match of equals. But rather it’s a power play between social classes with a disdainful Estella using it to humiliate Pip. The notion of the wealthy Estella “beggaring” the by comparison poor Pip is somewhat ironic. There is further dramatic irony in that he is unaware he is a pawn in Miss Havisham’s larger game to “beggar” him emotionally using Estella. Pip’s future emotional troubles and manipulation by various people are foreshadowed, also the cruel and controlling nature of Miss Havisham’s influence on him and Estella.

I took the opportunity of being alone in the courtyard to look at my coarse hands and my common boots. My opinion of those accessories was not favourable. They had never troubled me before, but they troubled me now, as vulgar appendages.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 8. For the very first time Pip becomes aware of the “vulgar appendages” that reflect his working class status, his hands and boots. This happens after he plays cards in the upper class Havisham house where the girl Estella scorns his rough hands and thick boots. His visit to Satis House awakens in him feelings of shame for his common appearance and social status.

She came back, with some bread and meat and a little mug of beer. She put the mug down on the stones of the yard, and gave me the bread and meat without looking at me, as insolently as if I were a dog in disgrace. I was so humiliated, hurt, spurned, offended, angry, sorry, – I cannot hit upon the right name for the smart – God knows what its name was, – that tears started to my eyes.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 8. The boy Pip feels horribly humiliated when Estella feeds him in the yard of Satis House like he was some animal. In a simile he describes being treated by the young girl like “a dog in disgrace” and begins to cry. Estella with her superior attitude does little to hide her class prejudice in her treatment of Pip, whom she regards as common.

But when she was gone, I looked about me for a place to hide my face in, and got behind one of the gates in the brewery-lane, and leaned my sleeve against the wall there, and leaned my forehead on it and cried. As I cried, I kicked the wall, and took a hard twist at my hair; so bitter were my feelings, and so sharp was the smart without a name, that needed counteraction.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 8. We see the effect that Miss Havisham and adopted daughter Estella have on the uneducated and unsophisticated boy from the country. Pip kicks a wall, twists his hair and cries after Estella leaves him food in the yard as if she is feedings a dog. Pip feels unequal as the class difference between him and Estella is brutally highlighted.

So, leaving word with the shopman on what day I was wanted at Miss Havisham’s again, I set off on the four-mile walk to our forge; pondering, as I went along, on all I had seen, and deeply revolving that I was a common labouring-boy; that my hands were coarse; that my boots were thick; that I had fallen into a despicable habit of calling knaves Jacks; that I was much more ignorant than I had considered myself last night, and generally that I was in a low-lived bad way.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 9. As Pip travels between the upper class world of Satis House and his world at the forge, the walk home provides him plenty of time to reflect. Before he met Miss Havisham and her ward Estella he was mostly satisfied with his position in life. But Estella’s criticism of his common laboring class appearance and behavior has made him feel ashamed and dissatisfied with his position in life. We see the beginnings of the embers of desire and ambition to improve himself and move up the social ladder in the boy Pip.

I told Joe that I felt very miserable, and that I hadn’t been able to explain myself to Mrs. Joe and Pumblechook, who were so rude to me, and that there had been a beautiful young lady at Miss Havisham’s who was dreadfully proud, and that she had said I was common, and that I knew I was common, and that I wished I was not common, and that the lies had come of it somehow, though I didn’t know how.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 9. Pip explains his motivation for making up sensational stories about a velvet coach, giant dogs, and being fed from gold plates during his visit to Satis House. It was to cover up his shame at feeling he was common, after the beautiful young Estella Havisham told him so.

“Whether common ones as to callings and earnings,” pursued Joe, reflectively, “mightn’t be the better of continuing for to keep company with common ones, instead of going out to play with oncommon ones.”

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 9. Joe warns Pip that it is better for a commoner with modest earnings to mix with his peers than spend time with the wealthy. He counsels him that social climbing and spending time at Satis House will do him no good. Sadly Pip ignores the wise advice from his father figure.

My young mind was in that disturbed and unthankful state, that I thought long after I laid me down, how common Estella would consider Joe, a mere blacksmith; how thick his boots, and how coarse his hands. I thought how Joe and my sister were then sitting in the kitchen, and how I had come up to bed from the kitchen, and how Miss Havisham and Estella never sat in a kitchen, but were far above the level of such common doings.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 9. After Pip’s first visit to Satis House, he is worried about how Miss Havisham and Estella would view the man who has been an important father figure throughout his childhood. Rejecting Joe’s advice to be true to himself and his class, Pip becomes obsessed with social position and pleasing the upper class Havishams. His visit to their mansion has prompted him to see his own family’s way of life in a different and negative way. Estella and her criticisms of Pip being common have triggered in him an obsession with the importance of reputation and appearance over integrity and honesty. This change will follow him into adulthood.

That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But, it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 9. On his return to his modest home after a visit to the upper class Satis House, Pip reflects on the fateful day he met Miss Havisham and Estella. Foreshadowed is that his encounter with them will profoundly change the course of his life from that moment on. The metaphor of chains is used to show how it will improve his life (bring gold, flowers), but will also prove bad for him (iron, thorns). Signaled here is Pip’s obsession with class and desire to improve himself by scaling the social ladder.

The felicitous idea occurred to me a morning or two later when I woke, that the best step I could take towards making myself uncommon was to get out of Biddy everything she knew.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 10. An ambitious Pip wants to better himself so as to move up the social ladder. He believes that the best way to do this is to have his childhood friend and skilled teacher Biddy be his tutor and teach him what she knows. The ironic thing is that Biddy is just as “common” as he is.

“Come here! You may kiss me, if you like.” I kissed her cheek as she turned it to me. I think I would have gone through a great deal to kiss her cheek. But I felt that the kiss was given to the coarse common boy as a piece of money might have been, and that it was worth nothing.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 11. Pip has his first kiss with Estella, the girl he is besotted with. The intimate moment of connection is not quite what he expected. The peck on the cheek is offered by Estella in a cold and disinterested manner. It is his reward for beating an older boy in a fight, later revealed to be Herbert Pocket. In a simile, Pip likens the kiss to something transactional, like a worthless monetary tip you would give a common boy.

I could hardly have imagined dear old Joe looking so unlike himself or so like some extraordinary bird; standing as he did speechless, with his tuft of feathers ruffled, and his mouth open as if he wanted a worm.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 13. Joe’s awkwardness and embarrassment are evident when Miss Havisham questions him in Satis House, asking if he is the husband of the sister of the boy Pip. Joe is there to arrange or Pip’s apprenticeship, but feels terribly out of place in the upper class Gothic mansion. This is emphasized by Pip’s simile likening Joe to a ruffled bird with mouth open wanting a worm.

I was truly wretched, and had a strong conviction on me that I should never like Joe’s trade. I had liked it once, but once was not now.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 13. Having tasted the fruit of knowledge at Satis House with its money and class, Pip knows that he cannot be happy with a life working as a blacksmith’s apprentice. Exposure to upper crust life and the beautiful Estella has left him dissatisfied with his lot and a future at Joe’s forge. This shows an important change in Pip’s character.

It is a most miserable thing to feel ashamed of home. There may be black ingratitude in the thing, and the punishment may be retributive and well deserved; but that it is a miserable thing, I can testify. Home had never been a very pleasant place to me, because of my sister’s temper. But, Joe had sanctified it, and I had believed in it…I had believed in the kitchen as a chaste though not magnificent apartment; I had believed in the forge as the glowing road to manhood and independence. Within a single year all this was changed. Now it was all coarse and common, and I would not have had Miss Havisham and Estella see it on any account.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 14. In the chapter’s opening lines, Pip confesses to being ashamed of his humble origins and simple life with Joe and Mrs. Joe. He no longer believes that Joe’s forge is his metaphorical “glowing road to manhood and independence.” Pip has been changed by the time he spent with upper class Miss Havisham and daughter Estella at Satis House, but not for the better. He now believes that being a blacksmith is beneath him, or “coarse and common,” and wants to follow a different career path. He is certainly correct when he admits that he is showing “black ingratitude” to Joe for all the love he has shown Pip. Foreshadowed in this passage is Pip’s future snobbery and social climbing.
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