Estella constantly insults and commands Pip "common labouring boy," "don"t loiter' these quotes suggest again that she treated those who were socially beneath her like they were nothing more then animals. It also show how the social hierarchy worked in Victorian England as anyone of a high status seemed to have the imaginary power that they could command the lower class people to do anything. The way Pip responds to these insults "They had never troubled me before but they troubled me now, as vulgar appendages" this shows how even the lower class find themselves beneath those of a higher status as she starts insulting his clothes and Pips response, rather then defending himself was rather that he started to feel ashamed of himself. This shows the lack of self confidence the lower class people had but also showed that the upper class people needed to insult someone for them to feel powerful. We see soon enough that Estella was moulded into the cruel person she is by Miss Havisham who wanted her to "break his heart" this shows the cruelty the poor had to endure as Miss Havisham wanted revenge on the world yet she chose a lower class person to be her guinea pig. Dickens uses a variety of metaphors to show Pips desire for Estella, one such is "Estella"s light came down the dark passage like a star' this line shows how everything she touches in Pips eyes become wonderful but also the imagery of the light could symbolise Pip as a moth drawn to a flame.
After his visit to "Satis house" Pip started to become aware of the class system and how he was near the bottom of it. This knowledge made Pip start to resent and even hate his current life as he constantly says such things like "I wish you hadn"t taught me to call knaves at cards Jacks' and "I wish my boots weren"t so thick nor my hands so coarse.' These pieces of dialogue show Pips regret to the life that he had no choice of having. We see how Pip uses Joe as a scapegoat for the reason Estella doesn't like him as he starts to change his behaviour towards Joe and starts thinking of him as more of an obstacle between himself and the riches of the upper class. Before "Satis house" Pip had an extremely good relationship with Joe as he thought of him as a father and a friend. Pip stated that "“Joe and I being fellow sufferers" this shows how Pip talks about Joe more as a friend rather then a father yet because of Mrs Joe he also expects him to act as a father figure. After the events of "Satis house" we see how Pip's attitude has changed towards Joe "I am afraid I was ashamed of the dear good fellow. I know I was ashamed of him" shows how not only has Joe stopped becoming a friend but now he has become more of a hindrance towards Pip. We begin to notice how Joe and Mrs Joe are Pip's roots yet Miss Havisham and Estella are Pip's desires. This is even more complex when Estella provokes him to leave his roots and go for his desires by insulting him and giving him a reason to leave his roots behind.
The character of Biddy also gives insight to the theme of class as she represents Pip's origins. After "Satis house" Pip compares Biddy to Estella and realises how "Biddy was never insulting." Pip then soon began to tell Biddy about his desires, hopes and dreams this made him initially think that he was torn between the two worlds of class yet soon he realised that Biddy wasn't a person that he desired but rather a person that he confided with. Dickens uses these two girls to juxtapose the differences in the real class about how Biddy was poor but rich with morality and Estella was rich and poor of morality.
The novel is narrated by Pip in 2 different stages of his life. One was the young Pip that went to visit "Satis house" and another was a more older and mature version of Pip. These two Pips are shown as opposites and therefore give us a insight to Pips development as a character. Young Pip tells us how he desires Estella and was ashamed of Joe whilst the older Pip still desired Estella yet regretted his shame of Joe "home had never been a very pleasant place for me, because of my sister"s temper. But Joe had sanctified it'. This shows how his knowledge into life increase through time and how Pips self development has allowed him to realise the mistakes he had made in the past. Dickens tries to make the reader relate to Pip more so that they can understand the messages he is trying to give one such is how Miss Havisham calls Pip "boy" which shows how he was demeaned by the higher class which had happened to most people at the time. Another such example is the opening of chapter 1 where Pip runs into Magwich and shows his gullibility. He also tries showing his innocence so that Dickens can juxtapose it later with the more developed Pip.
Dickens' ideas on the relationships between classes as shown the strongest through Pip's visit to "Satis house." When Pip first goes to the house we see how the upper class treat him like he is there for entertainment. Dickens creates this view to show the rich as people who wanted to control and demean the other classes. Dickens' own life served as an influence on his ideas about the characters and this made the book seem more realistic. He also tries to use this book to get out a series of messages to the public which include desire as he feels that those who try hard enough will gain what they desire and also Education as Dickens never got a proper education and therefore wanted it to be easier for lower class people to gain an education. He also tries to promote the importance of family values through Pip's regret to his shame of Joe.
Overall the theme of class is mainly developed during Pip's visit to "Satis house" as it shows how Pip was never aware of social class until Estella started to make comments about Pip. After this visit we start to see Pips journey to better himself in hope that one day he will become higher class.
