Throughout history, women have suffered from unequal rights and liberties. This was especially common during the Industrial Revolution in England, where women received pay compared to their male counterparts solely based on gender. The rulers at the time, during the Victorian Era, did nothing to prevent these issues, which is why today they still persist. In the view of the author of Great Expectations, Charles Dickens, there were many more problems with the Victorian Era in England. One of the problems was many people had “expectations” at the time, and to expose this issue, Dickens wrote a novel about a young boy, Pip, who has great expectations. Pip wants to go to from a common man to a gentleman in order to seduce his love, Estella, into
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Also, Estella suffers as she has been brought up in such a way that diminishes her as a human being, forcing her to become someone she despises. In the middle of the book when she is explaining why she will never be able to return the love displayed by Pip, Estella says, “Oh! I have a heart to be stabbed in or shot in, I have no doubt, and, of course, if it ceased to beat I should cease to be. But you know what I mean. I have no softness there, no—sympathy—sentiment—nonsense” (Dickens 162). It is not true that Estella has no feelings of her own, it is just she has been taught throughout her life to bury them so deep such that she does not recognize them. However, the quote is partially contradictory to her true character as Estella actually has a heart, softness, and sympathy, which is why she issues this warning towards Pip. During the childhood of Estella, Miss Havisham tried to make something out of her which was not real. Miss Havisham always bossed her around, made decisions for me, and planned out her entire life, in which Estella never had any say. This led to her continuously suffering and being unhappy with the rest of the world, however, by the end of the book, Estella, and Pip, are able to learn from their past mistakes and suffering to make themselves better
Also, Estella suffers as she has been brought up in such a way that diminishes her as a human being, forcing her to become someone she despises. In the middle of the book when she is explaining why she will never be able to return the love displayed by Pip, Estella says, “Oh! I have a heart to be stabbed in or shot in, I have no doubt, and, of course, if it ceased to beat I should cease to be. But you know what I mean. I have no softness there, no—sympathy—sentiment—nonsense” (Dickens 162). It is not true that Estella has no feelings of her own, it is just she has been taught throughout her life to bury them so deep such that she does not recognize them. However, the quote is partially contradictory to her true character as Estella actually has a heart, softness, and sympathy, which is why she issues this warning towards Pip. During the childhood of Estella, Miss Havisham tried to make something out of her which was not real. Miss Havisham always bossed her around, made decisions for me, and planned out her entire life, in which Estella never had any say. This led to her continuously suffering and being unhappy with the rest of the world, however, by the end of the book, Estella, and Pip, are able to learn from their past mistakes and suffering to make themselves better