What is a Gentleman?
What is a gentleman? It is a question that has been discussed exhaustively throughout time by men and women alike. Charles Dickens attempts to answer this question in the novel Great Expectations. In this book, he portrays two characters, Pip and Joe, as two different views of a gentleman. Pip represents 19th century society's view of a gentleman, while Joe is Dickens' depiction of what he thinks a gentleman is. The two are contrasting views, however, through my personal experiences, I believe Joe, Dickens' portrayal of what he thinks a gentleman is, truly captures the essence of what a gentleman is.
19th century society believed that a gentleman was determined by his wealth, job, and status. In Great Expectations, Pip represents this view of the gentleman. Throughout the novel, Pip looks to achieve "great expectations," and in turn become a gentleman or respected man, and thus win the respect and heart of the woman he loves, Estella.
English: Portrait - Charles Dickens Polski: Portre...
Hey .. Joe !
Joe Ceci in crowd at Marlborough 1These "great expectations" were to gain status, achieve riches, and be successful. These three things were what Pip and 19th century society believed to be important in life. However, in order to show the 19th century reader that these aspects are not what make a gentleman, Dickens sets Pip up for failure. While he does achieve these things, Pip comes to realize, after again being rejected by Estella, that a gentleman is not based solely on these characteristics. His epiphany is complete when he finally sees Joe, his brother-in-law, as the man he wants to be--a true gentleman.
Joe represents Dickens's view of a gentleman. In the 19th century, a man of Joe's poor and homely status would not have been looked fondly upon and he would definitely not be classified as a distinguished man. However, Joe accurately portrays...
Maybe it is the whole idea of being a gentleman that he wants to show as negative.
ive always read it that joe is happy with the status he was born with, and that gives him the dignity and strength that pip loses in his pursit of status. Dickens is trying to say that the whole institution of "Gentlemanship" is a usless phalusy , represented in the extream by Drummle. The working men are usually shown to be morrally superior in all of dickens works ( Dickens being born to a working class family had somthing to do with this i guess)
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