Written during the Victorian Era (1850-1900) Charles Dickens's Great Expectations has echoes of Victorian Morality all throughout the novel. When looked up in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, morality is defined as "the evaluation of or means of evaluating human conduct as a set of ideas of right and wrong and as a set of customs of a given society, class, or social groups which regulate relationships and prescribes modes of behavior to enhance the groups survival." Although the Victorian Era occurred over one hundred years ago, the given definition is clearly portrayed through the use of several morally different characters. These characters are shown over a lengthy period of time and at many different stages in their life, both developmentally and morally.

Virtue, strength, thrift, manners, cleanliness, honesty and chastity are only a few of the morals Victorians held in high esteem. Through each...