GREAT
EXPECTATI BY
CHARLES
ONS DICKENS
Great Expectations is the thirteenth
novel by Charles Dickens and his
penultimate completed novel, which
depicts the education of an orphan
nicknamed Pip.
The novel is set in Kent and London in
the early to mid-19th century and is full
of extreme imagery – poverty, prison
ships and chains, and fights to the death –
and also has a colourful cast of characters
who have entered popular culture.
Dickens's themes include wealth and
poverty, love and rejection, and the
eventual triumph of good over evil.
PLOT
The major conflict of Great Expectations revolves around Pip’s ambitious desire to reinvent
himself and rise to a higher social class. His desire for social progress stems from a desire to
be worthy of Estella’s love: “She’s more beautiful than anybody ever was, and I admire her
dreadfully, and I want to be a gentleman on her account.”
The plot gets underway when Pip is invited to go to Satis House, and first encounters Estella
and Miss Havisham. The inciting action, however, has actually been earlier when Pip had a
seemingly random encounter with an escaped convict; neither he nor the reader will know for
a long time that this encounter will actually determine the course of his life. The rising action
progresses as Pip becomes increasingly dissatisfied with the prospect of living a simple life as
a country blacksmith. As he explains, “I never shall or can be comfortable … unless I can lead
a very different sort of life from the life I lead now.”
Pip receives news that he is going to be financially supported by an anonymous benefactor and
moves to London, where he becomes more refined and sophisticated while also becoming
extravagant and self-absorbed. After some years, Pip is astonished to discover that his benefactor
is actually Magwitch the convict. This discovery intensifies the conflict around Pip’s desire to be
perceived as a gentleman and be loved by Estella, since he is now tainted by an association with
a criminal.
The rising conflict forces Pip to declare his love to Estella, since he is planning to leave
England in order to cover up his secret. He tells her that “you are part of my existence, part of
myself,” but she explains that she plans to marry another man. This conversation resolves part of
the conflict, making it clear to Pip that Estella is incapable of loving him.
The conflict surrounding Pip’s shame at his social background and desire to be a gentleman
continues as he struggles to protect Magwitch and get him to safety. Along the way, Pip realizes
that Magwitch is Estella’s father. This discovery transforms Pip’s understanding of social
position and criminality. Up to this point, Pip has considered Estella and the criminal underworld
Magwitch represents as oppositional to one another, but now Pip understands that Estella and
Magwitch have always been interconnected. At the novel’s climax, Pip confides to a dying
Magwitch that his lost child “is living now. She is a lady and very beautiful. And I love her!” By
showing kindness to a criminal and describing Estella as a both a lady and the daughter of a
convict, Pip shows that he no longer thinks about social position in a black or white way. The
conflict resolves with Pip letting go of his social aspirations in order to focus on reconciling with
the characters who have been loyal to him all along, paying off his debts, and earning an honest
living.
Throughout the novel, Dickens points out
how people sometimes lead two lives that
they want to keep separate.
First of all, there is a physical change,
when he moves to London. That just
accentuates the difference between the two
lives. Before, he lived in a small town that
was near some marshes, both of which
MAIN IDEA & reflect the common side of his life. London
is seen by Pip as a great and wonderful city
STYLE which symbolizes his expectations of what is
to come in his future. Another change in his
life is that he is treated better by others.
The style is primarily wry and humorous.
Pip often describes events that are quite
tragic and upsetting, but he typically does so
in a way that relies on dark humor rather
than evoking pity.
“In a word, I was too cowardly to do what I
knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly
to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong.”
FAMOUS “The broken heart. You think you will die,
but you just keep living, day after day after
terrible day.”
QUOTES “Ask no questions, and you'll be told no
lies.”
“I have been bent and broken, but - I hope -
into a better shape.”
RUS
MARIA ALI CLASA A XII-A C
NA
