SeongJae Shin

Great Expectations: Jobs for All Social Classed

Throughout Great Expectations, Dickens explores the class system of Victorian England, ranging from the most wretched criminals (Magwitch) to the poor peasants of the marsh country (Joe and Biddy) to the middle class (Pumblechook) to the very rich (Miss Havisham). The theme of social class is central to the novel’s plot and to the ulti-mate moral theme of the book, Pip’s realization that wealth and class are less important than af-fection, loyalty, and inner worth.

Social class played a major role in the society de-picted in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. Social class determined the manner in which a person was treated and their access to education. Yet, social class did not define the character of the individual.

Relations with the Book

Character/Job Chart

Great Expectations was set in Victorian era.

In Victorian era there weren’t any differ-ences between com-moners and poor people.

But there were big gap of differences between commoners and rich people.

Differences

However, commoners were divided to three parts. Poor commoner, common commoner and rich commoner.

Poor commoners could not feed themselves as much as common commoners would have.

Rich commoners had better jobs than com-mon commoners which gets them more money and dignity.

Differences (cont.)

Many men would have worked on the railways, or in dockyards, which were thriving places in Victorian England.

These were badly paid, even worse than now

Many people worked as domestic servants, espe-cially women.

A woman might be work-ing in dressmaking or millinery jobs (making hats and making dolls) People might keep a pub or a pie shop or eating house. Some women ran boarding houses.

Jobs For Commoners (Poor and Com-mon)

Some people would have worked at independent trades and crafts.

Men might be black-smiths for instance, or builders or carpenters or craftsmen of various kinds.

People might be shop-keepers of various kinds.

A woman might have her own dressmaking or millinery business

People might keep a pub or a pie shop or eating house. Some women ran boarding houses.

Jobs For Commoners (Richer)

Offices employed large numbers of people, in the early Victorian era these would have been mainly men.

But in the later part of the Victo-rian era more women began to be employed in offices.

The invention of the typewriter led to a great increase in em-ployment of women in offices, as it was found that women, with their smaller and nimbler fingers, made better typists than men.

Also, the people who invent things 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 vil-lage or town but not in big cities.

Jobs For Commoners (Richer cont.)

Both men and women might work as teachers, as the education sys-tem expanded during the course of the century 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 oc-cupation for women from the 1850s onwards due to the reforms of Florence Nightingale.

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.

Jobs for Riches (Gentleman and Lady)

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