Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens and was published in 1860. It is one of his most popular novels, with around 250 film and stage adaptations being released.
The story focuses on a young orphan named Pip and is separated into three sections. These sections each show Pip’s expectations at different stages in his life. The first stage shows Pip living with his older sister and her husband, Joe Gargery. Joe Gargery is a kind man who is a father figure to Pip, but Pip’s sister (known as Mrs Joe Gargery in the novel), is unpleasant and sees Pip as a burden. To start with, Pip enjoys his life and is happy, but then he is hired as a companion for a girl named Estella by a wealthy woman, Miss Haversham. Whilst doing this, he becomes an apprentice for Joe so that he can later become a blacksmith.
Later, Mrs Gargery is found seriously injured after being attacked by Joe’s assistant, Orlick. The attack leaves her disabled and she later dies. Pip’s life begins to change after he receives a visit from a lawyer, who tells him that he will come into great expectations of a great property and that he will be trained to be a gentleman by a benefactor, who Pip assumes to be Miss Haversham.
The story then moves onto the second stage of Pip’s expectations. He goes to London, and whilst there learns about Miss Haversham’s past from a relative of hers. He learns that Miss Haversham was deceived by her brother and a man named Compeyson. Miss Haversham had been tricked by Compeyson into falling in love with him. He abandoned her at the alter and stole her money. As a result, Miss Haversham uses her adopted daughter, Estella, to seek revenge on males.
Miss Haversham’s relative helps Pip to improve his manners and dresses him in different clothing so that he can fit into the cultured society. Pip grows used to this way of living and finds friends and also a rival in Estella. When Joe comes to visit Pip later, Pip’s improved manners and ways of speaking cause him to become aware of how illiterate Joe is. Despite Joe being his friend, Pip is embarrassed of him and is even hostile. Later, pip meets his benefactor and discovers that it is not, as he had thought, Miss Haversham but instead Abel Magwitch, a man who is an escapee from a prison ship.
This takes Pip onto the third stage of his expectations. In the final stage, Pip is forced to face challenges that take him away from his upper class way of living. He makes a few discoveries along the way, two of these being that Magwitch is in fact innocent and was framed by Compeyson and that Estella is in fact Magwitch’s daughter. These discoveries cause Pip to have many doubts and he visits Miss Haversham, who is full of regret for the way she has raised her daughter and for the things she has done to Pip. Pip later saves her when her dress catches fire.
Later, Pip is kidnapped by Orlick, the assistant that attacked Pip’s sister. Orlick is about to kill Pip, but Pip is rescued by a friend, Herbert. Pip later tries to help Magwitch escape to Hamburg on a foreign ship. Compeyson comes after them, bringing police in an attempt to stop Magwitch from getting on the ship. A fight between Magwitch and Compeyson leaves Compeyson dead. Magwitch later falls ill and dies. Pip then becomes ill but is treated by Joe and the final stage of the story sees Pip leaving with Herbert in the Middle East.
Two different endings were written for the novel, both of which involved Pip meeting with Estella. The ending that was used saw Pip meeting with Estella and seeing that she had changed into a better person.
The story focuses on a young orphan named Pip and is separated into three sections. These sections each show Pip’s expectations at different stages in his life. The first stage shows Pip living with his older sister and her husband, Joe Gargery. Joe Gargery is a kind man who is a father figure to Pip, but Pip’s sister (known as Mrs Joe Gargery in the novel), is unpleasant and sees Pip as a burden. To start with, Pip enjoys his life and is happy, but then he is hired as a companion for a girl named Estella by a wealthy woman, Miss Haversham. Whilst doing this, he becomes an apprentice for Joe so that he can later become a blacksmith.
Later, Mrs Gargery is found seriously injured after being attacked by Joe’s assistant, Orlick. The attack leaves her disabled and she later dies. Pip’s life begins to change after he receives a visit from a lawyer, who tells him that he will come into great expectations of a great property and that he will be trained to be a gentleman by a benefactor, who Pip assumes to be Miss Haversham.
The story then moves onto the second stage of Pip’s expectations. He goes to London, and whilst there learns about Miss Haversham’s past from a relative of hers. He learns that Miss Haversham was deceived by her brother and a man named Compeyson. Miss Haversham had been tricked by Compeyson into falling in love with him. He abandoned her at the alter and stole her money. As a result, Miss Haversham uses her adopted daughter, Estella, to seek revenge on males.
Miss Haversham’s relative helps Pip to improve his manners and dresses him in different clothing so that he can fit into the cultured society. Pip grows used to this way of living and finds friends and also a rival in Estella. When Joe comes to visit Pip later, Pip’s improved manners and ways of speaking cause him to become aware of how illiterate Joe is. Despite Joe being his friend, Pip is embarrassed of him and is even hostile. Later, pip meets his benefactor and discovers that it is not, as he had thought, Miss Haversham but instead Abel Magwitch, a man who is an escapee from a prison ship.
This takes Pip onto the third stage of his expectations. In the final stage, Pip is forced to face challenges that take him away from his upper class way of living. He makes a few discoveries along the way, two of these being that Magwitch is in fact innocent and was framed by Compeyson and that Estella is in fact Magwitch’s daughter. These discoveries cause Pip to have many doubts and he visits Miss Haversham, who is full of regret for the way she has raised her daughter and for the things she has done to Pip. Pip later saves her when her dress catches fire.
Later, Pip is kidnapped by Orlick, the assistant that attacked Pip’s sister. Orlick is about to kill Pip, but Pip is rescued by a friend, Herbert. Pip later tries to help Magwitch escape to Hamburg on a foreign ship. Compeyson comes after them, bringing police in an attempt to stop Magwitch from getting on the ship. A fight between Magwitch and Compeyson leaves Compeyson dead. Magwitch later falls ill and dies. Pip then becomes ill but is treated by Joe and the final stage of the story sees Pip leaving with Herbert in the Middle East.
Two different endings were written for the novel, both of which involved Pip meeting with Estella. The ending that was used saw Pip meeting with Estella and seeing that she had changed into a better person.