Destroying the myth of “independent” creativity: class mobility in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations

on the surface, Great Expectations tells the story of an innocent country boy, Pip, who is sponsored by a mysterious benefactor to pursue his dream of “becoming a gentleman” in London, only to have his dream shattered and he eventually returns home. In fact, by describing Pip’s rise and fall, Dickens exposes the illusory nature of the “self-made man” concept that was prevalent in the mid-Victorian era. According to Dickens, the very concept of the "self-made man" is a cultural myth, the true purpose of which is to protect the interests of the middle class and strengthen its superiority in the social hierarchy; the lower class has difficulty in getting an opportunity to move up the social ladder.

Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, the self-made man myth, class mobility