Great Expectations

Great Expectations follows Pip, an orphan who rises from humble beginnings to become a gentleman with mysterious financial support. The novel explores themes of ambition, social class, love, and redemption as Pip learns that true worth comes not from wealth or status but from loyalty, kindness, and integrity.

• 1Young Pip encounters an escaped convict, Magwitch, in a graveyard and steals food to help him
• 2Pip visits wealthy Miss Havisham and falls in love with her cold adopted daughter, Estella
• 3Pip receives news of a mysterious benefactor funding his education as a gentleman in London
• 4Pip assumes Miss Havisham is his patron and that he's destined to marry Estella
• 5Magwitch reveals himself as Pip's true benefactor; Pip is shocked and ashamed
• 6Pip learns to appreciate Magwitch's loyalty and sacrifices; his expectations are reformed

• •Ambition and self-improvement
• •Social class and snobbery
• •Crime, guilt, and redemption
• •Love and rejection
• •The difference between surface and substance
• •Coming of age and moral development

• Pip: Orphan narrator whose expectations and character develop throughout
• Magwitch: Convict who becomes Pip's secret benefactor
• Estella: Beautiful but emotionally cold, raised by Miss Havisham to break men's hearts
• Miss Havisham: Wealthy recluse frozen in time on her wedding day
• Joe Gargery: Pip's brother-in-law, a blacksmith embodying loyalty and goodness
• Herbert Pocket: Pip's kind friend and roommate in London

• Published in 1860-1861 during the Victorian era
• Reflects Victorian concerns with social mobility and class boundaries
• Set in early 19th century during England's rapid industrialization
• Dickens drew on his own experiences of shame about his working-class origins
• Explores the British criminal justice system and transportation to Australia

• Analyze Pip's character development and moral education throughout the novel
• Examine how Dickens presents social class and its effects on relationships
• Discuss the role of guilt, crime, and redemption in the narrative
• Consider how different characters represent different values (Joe vs. Estella)
• Explore the significance of the title and how Pip's expectations change