The Desensitiation Of Women In Great Expectations By Charles Dickens

Reflections on Women’s Terror in the Household Domestic abuse was an epidemic that was absolutely rampant in the Victorian era. Women and children experienced a majority of the abuse, as the men in the family wanted to physically employ their dominant nature. In a similar vane, Charles Dickens used Great Expectations to show the absurdity of the desensitization of domestic abuse in the Victorian Era, he reflected this in characters such as, Drummle, Estella, Mrs. Joe, and Orlick. The abuse Pip faces as a child leads him to crave release from the world around him, and gave him the need to find love. Because of to the constant power struggle in the common Victorian home, domestic violence was seen as extremely normal, and even necessary for
Women were made to serve their husbands, no matter how incredulous the task. This caused for domestic abuse to become normalized in society, and overlooked as a legal offence. Women were regarded in the Victorian era as perfect beings, when they were not able to live up to said expectations, they were punished, making them trivial in importance to society once they had fallen victim because they no longer upheld Victorian family values.
Domestic violence within a Victorian household can be traced back to the belief that women are to be submissive to their husbands in order to keep happiness in the marriage. These crimes were swept under the rug to keep order in towns, and to save face for families. Domestic violence wasn’t made completely illegal in the United Kingdom until 2004, and so the violence in families has been aided by the lack of consequences. Professor Clive Emsley, who teaches at Open University and is the President of the International Association for the History of Crime and Criminal Justice, writes of a violence tolerant
In his novel Great Expectations, Charles Dickens shows the common abuse of women during the time period using his femme fatale character, Estella as a victim. Estella has married a haughty man named Drummle, who due to his arrogant nature seems a good fit for Estella. Despite the similar personalities, Estella is extremely unhappy in this marriage, and soon separates from him. Pip is relaying information he has heard after having an emotional conversation with Bitty, in which he is asked if he still thinks of Estella. “ I had heard of her as leading a most unhappy life, and as being separated from her husband, who had used her with great cruelty, and who had become quite renowned as a compound of pride, avarice, brutality, and meanness. (Dickens 436) Estella was always extremely independent, and it would be extremely likely that Drummle was not able to assert his dominance over her. Estella was raised to be a heartbreaker by Miss Havisham, and was not prepared for the reality of marriage at the time. Drummle used her cruelly, implying that he physically abused her. This deeply upset Estella, as she is later described as losing happiness in her eyes. Estella has returned to the Havisham house, which is a shadow of its former glory, consisting of a garden wall, ivy, and mist. The brutality of her marriage affected the pride she once held, and it is personified in her physical manner. She is quite gentle, a stark contrast to the supercilious girl she once was. She admits