“He was motivated by an enormous fear of giving way or visibly failing to live up to his standards and responsibilities” (Mitchell 271). This quote refers to the attitude of gentlemen in the Victorian Era. During this time the greatest ambition that flooded the minds of most men and women was to be a member of high class. The dream of being part of the gentry clouded their thoughts and led to change in the upper …showed first 75 words of 2360 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2360 total…to be on top, the citizens of England lacked the true essence of life. They followed a code of conduct that was based upon traditions passed down from the wealthy before them. In the novel Great Expectations it became clear that living up to the expectations of a “gentleman” was not an easy task to accomplish. In fact, becoming a gentleman was such a vague and complicated goal that it was difficult to aspire to.