Great Expectations – Victorian Class and Social Mobility

Great Expectations – Victorian Class and Social Mobility

A comprehensive and professionally structured resource exploring how Dickens presents class hierarchy, social ambition and moral worth in Great Expectations.

This resource examines Pip’s movement from the forge to London and the damaging influence of class prejudice on his identity and relationships. Through contrasts involving Joe, Estella, Miss Havisham, Jaggers and Magwitch, it considers how Dickens challenges the belief that wealth, education and social refinement automatically produce goodness or happiness.

Key features:

• Clear analysis of Victorian hierarchy, gentility, respectability, inherited status, occupation, education and social mobility
• Focus on Pip’s class shame, his changing treatment of Joe and Biddy, and the moral consequences of his expectations
• Exploration of the forge, Satis House and London as contrasting settings connected to labour, aspiration, illusion and identity
• Nine structured exercises covering key terminology, context, close language analysis, character comparison, structural reversal, debate, creative writing and extended essay preparation
• Detailed answer key and supporting presentation slides included for straightforward teaching, marking, feedback and review