Great Expectations Essay

After being exposed to the life of the upper class and apprenticed to a blacksmith, Pip, from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations takes a walk with his friend Biddy and confesses his inordinate desire to become a gentleman on behalf of a beautiful, yet snotty Estella. As Pip struggles through the snare of distress over his aspirations, he dismisses Biddy’s difference in opinion about the significance of the upper class. Through this, Dickens expresses that the misperceptions of class bring unnecessary dissatisfaction with one’s place in society.

Pip begins the conversation with Biddy by “binding her to secrecy” and telling her that he wants to become a gentleman with “severity.” Knowing that his wishes are selfish and unlikely to come true, Pip continues to tell Biddy the “lunatic confession” that the real reason behind his yearning to rise in status is that he “dreadfully” admires “the beautiful young lady at Miss Havisham’s.” Despite the fact that Estella disgraced Pip and his “course and common” social status, Pip still wants to join the “best and wisest of men” in the world by becoming a gentleman.

Because Pip expects that higher classes have such a large advantage over the rest of the world, he is unhappy with his own place in society. He describes to Biddy that “unless [he] can lead a very
After Pip mentioned that he would always confide in her, Biddy courageously responded, “til your’e a gentleman,” whilst associating gentlemen as being contempt. Biddy also recognizes that being higher in social class is not worth obsessing over, and does not see the reason behind Pip’s distress. Consequently, her response to Estella shaming Pip for being part of the working class would have been to either “caring nothing for her words” or that “she was not worth gaining