and wife. Today, in Western society at least, most marriages are based on love first. As far as the philosophy of child-rearing, it was not to give a child a free, nurturing environment to say the least. The philosophy was to bring a child up by hand. Victorians felt it was their duty to teach a child a lesson about being proper at every opportunity. In Great Expectations, at least before Mrs. Joe is crippled, Pip spends a lot of his time being yelled at, beaten, or forced to drink tar. Such things would be frowned on and in fact maybe illegal in today's society. No one in Victorian times was cruisin' around town in a Corvette. They got places with two feet and a heartbeat, and the occasional horse-drawn carriage. This is illustrated throughout Great Expectations obviously as everyone walks or takes a coach. Today is naturally very different. We have cars, bikes, trains, airplanes, and space shuttles. Our society has a lot easier time getting around than the Victorians did. Housing and careers sort of tie in together with dress and class consciousness. Property and jobs were more inherited in those days than today. If your father was a widget salesman, you would be a widget salesman and so would your son. This is shown in Great Expectations by the Joe's father - Joe - Pip blacksmith chain. On the other hand, Belinda Pocket expected to be in the nobility but ends up living in a dream world run by her servants. While heredity may have provided a sense of security, it also detracted from the freedom of choice we enjoy today. All these points clearly indicate the fact that the 1800's were a very different time than today, and the use of examples from Great Expectations helps to illustrate this fact....
