Social Class

Obviously, social class is a driving factor throughout the novel as it was in the world during Dickens’s lifetime. In the novel, there are characters that represent every class that existed in England during the Victorian age from the criminals – Magwitch – to the obscenely wealthy – Miss Havisham – and every level in between. However, these class ranks are not fixed, as they were in pre-Industrial Revolution times. For example, Miss Havisham’s fortune was not inherited “old money” but instead earned by the successful brewery. In the same vein, Pip’s future is not decided by the situation into which he was born, as is shown when he advances his status later in life.