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Background Charles Dickens’s novel Great Expectations is set in Victorian England, as the Industrial Revolution and other social upheavals were transforming the country. The topics below give some idea of what life was like during this time and Dickens’s own background when he wrote the novel. London in the Nineteenth Century During the nineteenth century, London became a thriving industrial
center and the shipping capital of the world, importing wine, sugar,
coffee, textiles, and tea. The city’s new industries demanded labor
and the city became a magnet for all who hoped for a better life. By
1885, Until 1890, there was no city planning and no central government. The rich lived well, but the industrialists and landlords who built the city ignored the needs of the poor. London was smoky and chaotic, with no open spaces. In the slums, housing and sanitation were appalling and criminals preyed upon the struggling population. The Empire By the late 1800s, Great Britain controlled a vast empire. Its empire included British-settled, self-governing countries such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It also included the Indian Empire and independent territories in Africa, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and the oceans. The saying was that "the sun never sets on the British Empire" because the English ruled so much of the world that on any given day, the sun rose on some piece of the Empire. The Industrial Revolution During the nineteenth century, there was a shift from making things by hand to making them by machine. This was the Industrial Revolution, and it transformed British society. Until the late nineteenth century, there were no building codes or controls and little concern for the workers. Factories were filthy and unsanitary. Workers were overworked and underpaid, running dangerous machines for long hours. Even children often worked 14 hours a day for very low wages. Factory discipline was harsh and severe. People were thrown in jail for not paying their debts. Manners and Morals Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were happily married, with nine children. They believed in family life and disapproved of gambling, heavy drinking, and sexual freedom. Victoria was a forceful leader. Because of her example, Victorian England is remembered for its strict morals and strait-laced manners. Manners were very formal and strictly observed. For example, a man never spoke to a lady unless she spoke to him first. Proper ladies never danced with the same person more than three times in an evening. Unmarried women never walked alone and never wore pearls or diamonds in the morning. A gentleman was always the first to go up a flight of stairs, but would follow a lady on the way back down. During the first course of a dinner, a gentleman was supposed to speak only to the lady on his right. For the rest of the meal, he might talk to anyone at the table. Timeline 1800–1900 Britain Charles Dickens Victorian England During the reign of Queen Victoria, from 1837 to 1901, the British Navy dominated the oceans and the country was at peace. Victoria’s reign was seen as a golden period for England. Industrial output and exports soared, cities expanded, commerce flourished, and the British empire spread around the globe. Industrial growth created a huge demand for labor and a population shift to the cities. By 1901, more than 80 percent of England’s population lived in urban centers. Transportation was revolutionized by the introduction of railroads. In 1870 voluntary schools were replaced by a national education system for primary education. Marsh Country of Medway Dickens sets much of Great Expectations in marsh country. Dickens grew up near the Medway River in the port town of Chatham, southeast of London, where the Thames River runs into the sea. When his family lived at Chatham, Dickens and his father took sailing trips up the Medway River. They also liked to visit the dockyard where his father worked. Dickens spent some of his happiest years playing in the marshes alongside the Thames. English Class System For centuries, Britain was ruled by a strict class system. At the top of the social pyramid were the peers—the 300 dukes, earls, barons, and viscounts of the monarchy. They controlled almost all of the Empire’s wealth and land. Ranking below the nobility were the gentry, a group of wealthy landowners. In Great Expectations, the gentry is representedby Miss Havisham. Next came a new middle class that arose during the mid-nineteenth century. This powerful class was made up of merchants, lawyers, factory owners, and shippers. In Great Expectations, the "new" middle class is represented by such characters as Mr. Pumblechook and Mr. Jaggers. The Industrial Revolution also created a lower middle class, composed of factory supervisors and skilled workers. The lowest class was made up of agricultural and other laborers such as Joe Gargery and Orlick. Until 1870, when a national system of primary education was enacted, most lower-class people could not read or write. Working people in England’s towns weren’t allowed to vote until 1867. It was not until 1882 that agricultural laborers received the vote. Biography Charles Dickens Charles Dickens (1812–1870) often is called England’s greatest novelist. Dickens grew up in the Medway River region southeast of London. His father was a clerk in the naval dockyards at Chatham, where Charles often watched convicts laboring at the docks and returning at night to the ominous prison ship moored nearby. In 1832 the family moved to London, and Charles’s father was thrown into debtor’s prison. Charles, then 12, was forced to work in a shoe-blacking factory. This was an intensely traumatic experience. Dickens later said that, "Until old Hungerford Market was pulled down, until old Hungerford Stairs were destroyed, and the very nature of the ground changed, I never had the courage to go back to the place where my servitude began. I never saw it. I could not go near it. My old way home by the Borough made me cry, after my eldest child could speak." With his father’s release, Charles returned to school. He left at 15, working as a clerk and a reporter. In 1833 he began sending stories and essays to magazines and newspapers. His Sketches by Box and The Pickwick Papers made him the rage of London at age 24. For the rest of his career, Dickens edited magazines and published his fiction in monthly installments. His most notable works include Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, and Bleak House. Great Expectations (1860–1861) often is judged his masterpiece. Married with nine children, Dickens was an active public figure in London. His fiction, sketches, and essays enjoyed immense popularity. The public responded to his vivid characters and dialogue, his strong narratives, his gift for creating atmosphere, and his pointed attacks on the social evils and institutions of Victorian England. Many Dickens novels were adapted to the stage and Dickens himself dramatized his works in 471 public readings in England and the United States. After an exhausting American tour, Dickens died at Gad’s Hill, his home near Chatham, in 1870.
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