SEE BELOW BRIT LIT

Crime and Punishment in Charles Dickens ' Great Expectations

The Victorian era in Britain 's history was a time of great controversy in the nation 's history . An era of revolution , the country went through significant development and industrialization that promoted wealth and economic success . However , not everyone benefited from this modernization and there emerged a strong divide between the rich and the poor . During this period many used their work to addresses injustices in the system through the representation of crime and punishment in their works . Great Expectations is just one example

of this and , as it was written during the later stages of Dickens ' life , is perhaps one of the most insightful views of Dickens ' experiences of life and society in Victorian England with Dickens using his medium to criticize the contrast between the morality called for by the capitalists and the reality of how this morality materialized . Such conflicts are explored through symbols of the legal system such as lawyers , convicts and prison ships , a judge and a clerk and it is through these representations that we are able to observe Dickens negative views towards the systems of crime and punishment in existence at the time of his work . There is no doubt that much of the views expressed by key characters within the book will have been formed and molded through Dickens ' own experiences and exposure to the English penal system his father was at one point imprisoned for his debts in Marshalsea Debtors ' Prison and Dickens was , at one point , employed as a lawyer 's clerk and issues concerning the treatment of criminals were evident within many of his works . Jasmine Swift in the , Charles Dickens and the Role of Legal Institutions in Moral and Social Reform supports this view , Through this contact with a variety of legal practices , Dickens experienced a broad range of litigation which enabled him to develop opinions on the contemporary operation of the law and its efficacy in the administration of justice . Such experience almost certainly sowed the seeds for much of the critique of the legal system found in his novels (4

Great Expectations is set in the early 1800s (between 1810 and 1820 ) and tells the story of a young orphan , Pip , who commences the novel as poor , uneducated wretch who aspires to become an important and valued figure in society in to win the affection of the girl he loves Estelle . As events unfold he becomes increasingly concerned with issues of crime and punishment and a conflict emerges between his own instincts regarding right and wrong and that expressed by key characters within the novel such as Mrs . Joe Gargery and Mr . Jaggers . These conflicts manifest themselves in the form of guilt and he becomes increasingly weighed down by his failed efforts to suppress them . During this period London was a city that was experiencing industrialization and a rise in wealth . Although not everyone benefited from this development , all members of society were obsessed with...