Ambition fuels the lives of many people; however, it doesn’t always lead to success or good outcomes. Novelist Anthony Trollope once stated, “It is a grand thing to rise in the world. The ambition to do so is the very salt of the earth. It is the parent of all enterprise, and the cause of all improvement.” However, Charles Dickens, the author of Great Expectations, would contend differently. Great Expectations is a novel set in the Victorian Era with its main character, Pip, and multiple other supporting characters that each have their own ambitions and goals. In Dickens’s novel, the author conveys that ambition can be good or bad to some extent, and although ambition is important in one’s life, the ambition to “rise in the world” is not necessarily a “grand thing.”
In Dickens’s novel, one such character he writes about is Mr. Wopsle, a church clerk turned actor. Wopsle’s ambition in the novel was to rise up from his old position and pursue a life in theatre as explained when Pip’s brother-in-law, Joe, tells Pip: “All friends is no backerder, if not no forarder, ‘Ceptin’ Wopsle; he’s had a drop…he’s left the church, and went into the playacting. Which the playacting have likeways brought him to London along with me” (261-262). When Pip sees Wopsle’s acting for himself, he cannot help but notice the jeers and mockery Wopsle receives from the audience. It is evident that Wopsle is certainly very convinced in his sudden career change, but readers and everyone else can see him better off as a church clerk back at the village.
Additionally, readers can clearly see that instead of making him respectable or famous, Wopsle’s ambition has only made him a fool of himself. Evidently, Dickens is utilizing Wopsle to demonstrate that ambitions and dreams to rise in society are quite short-lived and are almost always met with disappointment and failure, which is directly contrary to what Trollope asserts. Furthermore, Dickens is contending that such ambitions can also cause one to become self-deluded and believe in their false fame and wealth, which can lead to ill-fated consequences. Similarly, Dickens’s displays through his novel that Pip’s ambition to rise among the ranks of society and be a gentleman, ultimately leads to his downfall.
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After getting his “great expectations,” Pip becomes increasingly arrogant and rude, apparent when he falsely accuses and scolds Biddy of being prideful and jealous when in fact readers can clearly see that it is Pip who needs the scolding (177). Clearly, Pip is acting condescending towards Biddy and wrongfully accusing her of something that is no fault of hers. By including this, the author is portraying the drastic changes in morals and values once ambition has taken hold of them. This is displayed yet again when Pip states before Joe visits, “If I could have kept him away by paying money, I certainly would have paid money” (259).
Again, the author is displaying that as a result of Pip’s ambition to rise in social class, he is deluded in not seeing himself as being snobbish and fails to perceive his own shortcomings. His relationship with Joe is severely weakened as a result. Moreover, readers can further understand that similar to Wopsle, Pip too is deluded and is also acting a role, but as a gentleman instead. It is apparent that Dickens clearly contradicts Trollope’s viewpoint again by demonstrating that ambition to rise in society doesn’t necessarily lead to improvement; it only misleads and destroys one’s basic moral principles.
In addition, Dickens portrays the idea that having ambition is good to some extent, just not up to the point where it takes control of one’s actions. In the novel, Biddy has always had the ambition of becoming a school teacher, which is made evident when she tells Pip: “I am going to try to get the place of mistress in the new school nearly finished here. I can be industrious and patient, and teach myself while I teach others.” (336). Contrary to Pip and Wopsle, Biddy’s ambition is to teach and help others, it is not to rise up in society for her own personal gain. Dickens shows readers that this kind of ambition is commendable and can lead to good consequences. Moreover, contradictory to what Trollope asserts, Dickens’s character of Biddy shows that having some ambition, just not the kind to rise in society, can still have respectable and beneficial outcomes.
Overall, both Dickens and Trollope express the significance of ambition in people’s lives, but Dickens demonstrates that this yearn for success and advance in social class does not correlate with actual success, but it can certainly lead to disillusionment and the deterioration of one’s own morals and values. Our society right now is focused so strongly on ambition and the strive for success that this ambition often takes hold upon many people, destroying their moral compass and misleading them to believe in their inauthentic fame and wealth, leading to disastrous consequences. Ultimately, while Trollope tells readers that ambition to rise up is important and leads to success, Dickens uses his novel and characters to suggest otherwise.
