Construction of Social Space and Class Stratification in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations

Abstract

The conventional English social class system was based on a rigid social structure that depended on family background and occupation. However, following the industrial revolution in the 19th century, people could move from one social class to another. In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens utilizes various sub-spaces of social space to emphasize the blend between the rigid class system of the Victorian era and the newfound social mobility. Through the journey of Pip, and other characters, including Miss Havisham, Miss Estelle, and Magwitch, among others, Charles Dickens manages to explore physical and psychological spaces across the social classes and how they interact to dictate the social space. By constructing social space, Great Expectations evaluates the stratification of the social classes ranging from the lowest class of outcast criminals to the rich upper class, and how various aspects, such as morality, wealth, and value system changes as one moves from one class to another.