How does Great Expectations reflect the Victorian era?

Charles Dickens is known for the ways in which he incorporates social issues and makes his readers conscious of the problems he saw in Victorian London. In Great Expectations, the main social issue Dickens presents is the gap between social classes. Pip, though he is the stepson of a blacksmith and is expected to apprentice to him, wants to rise in social class, partly so he can be Estella's equal. In trying to rise above his circumstances, Pip learns valuable lessons, such as gratitude for the sacrifices and love of Joe. When Pip matures, he realizes he has been somewhat inadvertently cruel and insensitive to Joe in an attempt to distance himself from his working-class background.
The novel also highlights problems with the justice system and the prisons of London in the Victorian era through the character of Magwitch. This character also teaches Pip a valuable lesson about how appearances can be misleading. All in all, the novel depicts a more realistic view of Victorian London than we get in many other works of the period that focus on the domestic and romantic lives of upper-class characters. Dickens instead raises the social consciousness of his readers while telling a classic tale of a young man's coming-of-age.