Great Expectation

In the following essay I will compare the characters of Biddy and Estella and will discuss what Dickens was trying to illustrate by using these two characters. Estella and Biddy are two of the main female characters in ‘Great Expectations’. Charles Dickens uses both of them to emphasise many of Pip’s short falls and mistakes, with both characters becoming possible love interests. For Pip, Dickens portrays Biddy as an idealized character. She has good …

…people is Estella’s father. In my opinion Charles Dickens cleverly uses the two young ladies to educate the reader in the ideals of class and the feelings of depravity in this time, and that if you looked, behaved and spoke in a certain way it meant that you were a gentleman. Throughout the book we are reminded that this is not the case and money and class will not turn you into a gentleman!