The class of great expectations is the social class that was much evident in the Victorian era where there was slight stability in the social classes that the people at the times conformed to. In this era, people would amass great wealth with ease and abruptly and at the same time lose their fast acquired wealth easily (Dickens 331). This condition created the state of social and economic instability in the society as it led to the no distinct clarity in the social classes that people conformed to. The case of great expectations is first clearly illustrated in the novel done by Charles Dickens in the novel David Copperfield then secondly illustrated by the same author in the thirteenth novel Great Expectations. The times of great expectations brought inspirations to various people in the society as the state of social instability would then serve as motivation to every member in the society and help in uplifting the social and financial status of every member in the society (Dickens 342).
The nineteenth century Britain was a perfect example of a society of great expectations. The setting at the time pioneered various developments in the social and urban organizations, and this contradicts with the great beliefs of the people that Britain in the nineteenth century was a stratified nation (Cheryan 399). On the contrary, the social of Britain at the time lacked fixed class identities, and there were great transitions from poverty to wealth and vice versa. Such a condition in Britain led to the controversial understanding of the social classes as people gave much focus to the similarities among people in the different social classes as opposed to the differences between people in the same social class.
The society of great expectations illustrates the efforts that success that people achieve when they properly use their talents and hard work. Both David Copperfield and Great Expectations are novels done by Charles Dickens and illustrate the states of psychological growth and development. Although David Copperfield mainly focuses on psychological insight and fulfillment of the humankind, Great Expectations puts great focus on the emptiness and loss of self as a result of the vanity of conforming to a specific social class. Great expectations also show a certain social class in the society that portrays not the similarities between the social classes but the differences in the social classes (Gellis 951). This is because there are many differences between people of the same social class characterized by the differences in the accent, clothing and behavior; this is because the society of great expectations shows the status where people act out their identities and aspirations.
The society of great expectations proves that there are several differences between people of the same class as they all seek to achieve respectability from the society, and this creates greater differences (Smith 194). By putting great focus to individuals at the center of the social class in the society of great expectations, the people at the margins of the social classes prove to be more similar that the individuals inside the social classes. In this light, the individuals at the margins of the social classes are a perfect example of individuals in the society of great expectations characterized by the Britain economy in the nineteenth century (Green 98). Due to the fragility in the social classes in the society of great expectations, there is needed to pay much attention to the women in the society of great expectations.
Analysis of great expectations in the society
The fact that there are no clear alignments of the social classes due to the onset of the social arrangement of great expectations, there are various discriminations that arise due to the fragility of the social classes in such social settings (Greene 289). There is, therefore, the need to discuss the various sources of discriminations and the types of discriminations that the women face in the social settings of great expectations and design solutions to the issues affecting the society. Women in the society of great expectations face various challenges that affect their proper social development and lead to lagging of equal development in the society of great expectations in such societies. Due to the challenges that the women face in the society of great expectations, they are looked down upon while the men in the society have the edge to amass great wealth and attract respect from the society (Leacock, 247). The women, who lack the competitive advantage of the men, on the other hand, attract bad reputation from the society and are therefore considered as people that do not have the same right as other citizens.
History of great expectations
The period of great expectations is characterized by the Victorian period when Queen Victoria ruled from 1837 to 1901 after her husband, Albert, died in the year 1861 (Eddy 281). During the period of great expectation, the women were not allowed to vote, and this situation continued up to the year 1918 and this continued until the year 1928 when the women who were the age of 21 years were then allowed to vote. This was due to the numerous social discriminations that the women faced during the social times of great expectations. There are various challenges that the women during the great expectations faced various social discriminations and the conditions at the times only favored the men in the society. The social discrimination of the women during the times of the great expectations also proceeded until the year 1882 when no married women in the society were allowed to own any property but only until when their husbands died (Ridgeway 175). At this juncture, the women could then own property of their late husbands, and this led to great discrimination in the society during the period of great expectation.
The woes of the women continued during the period of great expectations, and this occurred when the women were divorced when they were found to have committed adultery. This led to the decrease in the case of divorce in the society as the women were expected to maintain utmost faithfulness in their marriages. On the contrary, if the women found their husbands to be unfaithful, they were expected to prove to the relevant authorities beyond any reasonable doubts that their husbands committed adultery (Hogan 825). On the occasions when the men committed adultery, there was not guaranteed divorce in the family as the wives were expected to prove that the men had committed bigamy, incest or were extremely cruel to their wives in their homes. Such conditions mostly favored the men during the times of great expectations and there were great discriminations among the women in the society.
Due to the fragility in the social and economic classes during the times of great expectations, there was great need to amass great wealth and ensure stability in the social classes in the society. This would only be possible by maintaining stable marriages in the society and ensure that it was the women in the society that were expected to ensure that the families stayed together. This is because the middle and the upper-class families in the society focused on gaining more power, status, land and wealth and that the love for the women in the families was not given any priority (Lorber 538). Such gestures lead to great discriminations in the families during the times of great expectations in the society. Another source of discriminations for the women during the times of great expectations was that the women had an ultimatum to marry and have children in the society and that the women in the society who were not married had to take care of the children of other women, teaching and educating such children to have good morals. Such conditions led to infringement of the rights of the women in the society during the times of great expectations in Britain.
The situation during the great expectation in the society suggested that the class was more important than the social classes of the population and individuals and especially the women were ranked by the social classes that they conformed to and not on their personal characters (Parsons 604). Although there was approval of the working class of the women, the requirement for the women served to uplift the social status of the communities and that would also lead to the growth or economies in the country. However, there was no need for the social discrimination of the society into the middle and the upper classes in the society and these led to the great sympathy of the women for the difficult situation that they were facing in the society. The conditions during the great expectations required that the women in the society needed to be independent and generate their living. This put great pressure on the women and required that the women be strong just the same way as the men were. On the contrary, the women in the society were expected to be as independent as the men although they were not expected to own any property in the society (Dobash 121). This was the source of great discrimination of the women in the society during such times.
Importance of analysis of great expectations
This research focuses on the discriminations that the women faced and the social status of the women during the period of great expectations in the Britain with the aim of understanding the reasons behind the numerous problems and proposing solutions to this problem in the modern society. This research will review relevant literature to establish where the problem originated. Relevant literature on the analysis and evaluation of the genesis of all the social ills directed towards the women and the resulting inefficiency of the women will inform the researcher on the probable solutions to the challenges that the women face. This paper is also going to focus on the impact of discrimination of the women in the great expectation period and the modern society in a bid to underscore the impact of the discrimination of women according to the social classes. The research is going to focus on the privileges directed towards both the women and the men and the cause of the great differences in the social classes in the society.
Moreover, this paper plans to analyze the effects of the nineteenth century great expectation in Britain in the modern society. Conducting a qualitative study on the topic will help to obtain an in-depth assessment of the problem, which will, in turn, inform the solutions that will be offered at the end of the study.
Common Questions about the social status of women in great expectations
Is there any relationship between the social status of women in great expectations in Britain and the social status of women in the modern society?
What is the impact of ranking of the women are different social classes to the economies of countries in the modern society?
Do the policies encourage discrimination of the women in the society? If yes, to what extent?
Do you think the economic recession in the society will increase the social discrimination of the women?
How can governments encourage equality and equity among men and women?
Hypothesis about social status of women in great expectations
Advocating for equality and enactment of women empowerment programs prevent the spread of discrimination of women in the society.
Discrimination of women in great expectations has an overall negative impact on the economies of various countries
Policy makers have not adequately assisted in eliminating the woes facing the women in great expectations.
Enactment of the right policies will help entrench the status of women in great expectations.
Improving the labor conditions especially for the women in the society will help combat the challenges affecting the women.
Social importance of great expect...
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