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Description edit
Great Expectations, described by G. K. Chesterton as a “study in human weakness and the slow human surrender,” may be called Charles Dickens' finest moment in a remarkably illustrious literary career. Written in the last decade of his life, Great Expectations reveals Dickens’ dark attitudes... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
This famous bildungsroman follows the orphan Pip in his early life, as he transforms from impoverished orphan living on the Kent moors, to London gentleman with great expectations.
Young Pip is brought up (by hand) by his proud sister and her blacksmith husband, with whom he is destined... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters edit
- Philip "Pip" Pirrip: An orphan, who is the main character. He is the protagonist and narrator of the novel. The narrator, as well as the main character in the story. Pip is an orphan being raised by his sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, and her husband, Mr Joe Gargery, a blacksmith. Pip is employed as a companion to the wealthy Miss Havisham when he meets the young and beautiful, but cold-hearted, Estella. Although apprenticed to Joe at the forge, he longs to become a gentleman worthy of Estella, but as he grows up he learns that there are more important things in life – such as true friendship and loyalty – than wealth and position in society.
- Joseph Gargery: The blacksmith, Pip's brother-in-law and everlasting friend. Pip’s brother-in-law and father figure is a kind and hardworking blacksmith, and a loyal friend and ally to Pip, despite Pip’s snobbish behavior towards him when Pip moves to London.
- Mrs. Joe Gargery: Pip's sister, who raises him 'by hand'. She is "a formidable woman". First name: Maria. Pip’s older sister (often referred to as ‘Mrs Joe’) who begrudgingly raises Pip ‘by hand’. An angry and violent woman, she rules by force and beats Pip frequently with a cane. But her personality changes when she is brain damaged after a serious attack from an intruder.
- Miss Havisham: Wealthy, eccentric old woman who lives in a manor called Satis House near Pip’s village. Cruelly abandoned on her wedding day, Miss Havisham is the wealthy owner of the grand Satis House where she lives as a recluse, still wearing her bridal gown. A bitter and twisted woman, she raises her adopted daughter Estella to despise and torment men and vindictively encourages Pip’s obsession with Estella.
- Estella Havisham: Miss Havisham’s beautiful young ward, Estella is Pip’s unattainable dream throughout the novel. The beautiful, adopted daughter of Miss Havisham. Estella is cold and haughty and ridicules Pip at every opportunity. Nevertheless, Pip in infatuated by her and longs to win her approval, and her love.
- Arthur Havisham: Although he doesn’t appear in the story, Magwitch tells Pip that Arthur Havisham was Miss Havisham’s half-brother. He died racked with guilt after joining Compeyson’s scheme to cheat Miss Havisham out of large sums of money by gaining her trust with a promise of marriage to Compeyson.
- Abel Magwitch: He seems very mysterious and fearful, but makes entrances into the novel throughout. We discover he gave Pip his fortune and see that Magwitch dies for his actions.
- Biddy: She helped raise Pip up by hand. She is a common folk that has a big heart deep down. A kind-hearted orphan girl, who moves in to keep house at the forge. Biddy helps Pip learn how to read and write, and gradually becomes Pip’s friend and confidante. Biddy takes care of Mrs. Joe after she is brutally attacked by Orlick, and when Mrs Joe dies she later marries Joe.
- Mr. Jaggers: The powerful, foreboding lawyer to supervise Pip’s elevation to the upper class. A well-known and highly regarded London lawyer who is commissioned by Magwitch to act as Pip’s guardian and handle Pip’s fortune. He is also Miss Havisham’s lawyer, a fact that misleads Pip into thinking that Miss Havisham is his secret benefactor.
- Compeyson: He is a convict who was partners in crime with Magwitch. He is disliked and a rude character. A professional swindler and cheat, and former partner-in-crime of Magwitch. He is also the man who was engaged to Miss Havisham twenty-five years earlier, and jilted her on their wedding day.
- Mr. Matthew Pocket: Miss Havisham’s cousin, who is the only one in his family not interested in her money. In the end Miss Havisham leaves her fortune to him because he alone cares about her. Matthew is an intelligent man and a kind friend and teacher to Pip.
- Mr. Herbert Pocket: He is the son of Matthew Pocket, Miss Havisham’s cousin and Pip's best friend. Matthew Pocket’s son. Herbert and Pip first meet at Satis House and later become best friends and roommates in London. Herbert is a cheerful, honest character and helps Pip to hide Magwitch.
- Mr. Pumblechook: Is Pip's great-uncle and is not a very nice man. Joe Gargery’s uncle, who sides with Mrs Joe, treating young Pip with disdain. But when Pip comes into his fortune, Pumblechook boasts that he was the one who set Pip on the path to becoming a gentleman by introducing him to Miss Havisham.
- Dolge Orlick: A sour-faced, nasty and malicious character, who works as a labourer for Joe at the forge. Orlick comes across as stupid and slow, but really he is vindictive and extremely jealous of Pip. He is often described as being slouched.
- Mr. Wopsle: The clerk of the church in Pip's village. A friend of the Gargerys, who eventually resigns from his position as clerk in the church and goes to London to pursue a career in acting.
- John Wemmick: He is Mr. Jaggers’s clerk and Pip’s friend. He is in charge of the money distribution from Mr. Jaggers. Works as a clerk in Jagger’s law firm, and a good friend of Pip. He keeps a clear boundary between his work and home life, where he looks after his elderly deaf father.
- Miss Clara Barley: The lady of Herbert's fancy. She takes care of her monstrous father.
- Bentley Drummle: Pip's romantic nemesis and brute. Arrogant and bad-tempered, Drummle is rich and comes from the noble classes. He pursues Estella and she appears to return his affections, much to Pip’s dismay. Drummle takes every opportunity he can to taunt Pip as he courts Estella. Drummle eventually marries her but he is an uncaring and abusive husband.
- Aged P: Wemmick's aged father who Wemmick looks after. Aged Parent.
- Ms. Skiffins: An unimportant character whom Wemmick is acquainted with and whose brother assists in finding Herbert a job.
- Miss Sarah Pocket: One of the aging relatives of Miss Havisham who don't have an inch of love for the woman but are greedy for her money.
- Startop: A friend of Pip’s and Herbert’s. Startop is a delicate young man who, with Pip and Drummle, takes tutelage with Matthew Pocket. Later, Startop helps Pip and Herbert with Magwitch’s escape.
- Mr. Waldengarver: Add a description of this character.
- Mr. Provis
- Mrs. Whimple
- Collins
- Mr. Camilla
- Tom
- Jane Pocket
- Mike
- Bill Barley
- Miss Estella
- Mrs. Coiler
- Georgiana M'ria
- Mrs. Pocket
- George Barnwell
- Clarriker
- Flopson
- Aged P.
- Mr. Hubble
- Miss Skiffins
- Mrs. Brandley
- Molly
- Mrs. J. Gargery
- Mistress Camilla
- Mr. Trabb
- Mrs. Hubble
- Philip Pirrip
- Mr. Campbell
- Mr. Wemmick
- Cousin Raymond
Quotes edit
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“That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But, it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that never would have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.”
Pip -
“Mrs. Joe was a very clean housekeeper, but had an exquisite art of making her cleanliness more uncomfortable and unacceptable than dirt itself. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and some people do the same by their religion.”
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“It were understood,” said Joe. “And it are understood. And it ever will be similar according.”
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“Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts.”
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“I verily believe that her not remembering and not minding in the least made me cry again, inwardly – and that is the sharpest crying of all.”
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“And now, dear Biddy, if you can tell me that you will go through the world with me, you will surely make it a better world for me, and me a better man for it, and I will try hard to make it a better world for you.”
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“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.”
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“So throughout life our worst weaknesses and meanness are usually committed for the sake of the people whom we most despise”
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“If I ain't a gentleman, nor yet ain't got no learning, I'm the owner of such. All on you owns stock and land; which on you owns a bought-up London gentleman?”
Abel Magwitch, the Convict -
“And then he would rumple my hair the wrong way,--which from my earliest remembrance, as already hinted, I have in my soul denied the right of any fellow-creature to do,--and would hold me before him by the sleeve,--a spectacle of imbecility only to be equalled by himself. Ch. 12”
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“I've been locked up as much as a silver tea-kittle.”
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“"You bring me, to-morrow morning , that file, and them wittles."”
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“Life is made of ever so many partings welded together.”
Joe -
“An epergne, or centre-piece of some kind was in the middle of this cloth; it was so heavily overhung with cobwebs that its form was quite indistinguishable, and, as I looked along the yellow expanse out of which I remember its seeming to grow like a black fungus, I saw speckled-legged spiders with blotchy bodies running home to it, and running out from it, as if some circumstance of the greatest public importance had just transpired in the spider community. I heard the mice, too, rattling behind the panels, as if the same occurrence were important to their interests. But, the black beetles took no notice of the agitation, and groped about the hearth in a ponderous elderly way, as if they were short-sighted and hard of hearing, and not on terms with one another.”
Setting & Locations edit
- England
- Barnard's Inn: Despite its historic standing, Dickens describes it as ‘the dingiest collection of shabby buildings ever squeezed together in a rank’. This is where Pip first lodges with Herbert Pocket when he moves to London. It is a short walk from Little Britain.
- Billingsgate market: Billingsgate fishmarket has a long history. It was originally situated in the streets around Billingsgate Wharf by Lower Thames Street. In 1849 the market was moved to a building on the harbor. This was demolished and replaced by an arcaded market hall in 1875.
- Blue Boar: England
- Cheapside: Originally the site of a thriving medieval food market in the City of London (‘Chepe’ is the Old English word for ‘market’) Cheapside developed into a prosperous and wealthy neighbourhood. Although burned to the ground in the Great Fire, the area was rebuilt and by Victorian times became a bustling place full of shops and places to eat.
- England: Southernmost country making up the island of Great Britain. England is the nation, Great Britain is the island mass on which it is found.
- Covent Garden: Originally developed in the London borough of Camden in the seventeenth century, Covent Garden began as a very simple market trading in fruit and vegetables. It flourished into a colourful, busy place, and it’s where Pip spends the night in the nearby Hummums Hotel after his friend Wemmick advises him not to go home. Today, this area is a thriving market with cafes and shops that attract many tourists.
- Flopson: England
- Gray's Inn: There are four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges in London): Lincoln’s Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple and Gray’s Inn. Law has been taught on the site of Gray’s Inn since the reign of King Edward III.
- Hammersmith: The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles (eight kilometres) west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames.
- High Street: England
- Kent: County of Kent, directly south of the city of London, sometimes referred to as the Garden of England because of its beautiful landscapes.
- Little Britain: The name given to a small area in the heart of the City of London. The narrow and ancient street called Little Britain winds around London’s oldest hospital, St Bartholomew’s. In the novel, Jaggers has his law office in Little Britain, situated to the east of St Bart’s.
- London: England
- London Bridge: England
- Mill Pond Bank: England
- New South Wales: Australian colony
- Newgate Prison: A famous London prison and the site of many public executions in the nineteenth century. It was demolished in 1902 and the Old Bailey, London’s central criminal court, was built on the site. Pip and his friend Wemmick visit Newgate while Pip waits for Estella to arrive from Richmond.
- Portsmouth: Coastal town in south western England. A sea port
- Richmond: England
- Satis House: England. Miss Havisham's residence.
- Smithfield Market: Further along Little Britain. Originally a live cattle market, which Dickens describes as ‘being all asmear with filth and fat and blood and foam.’ The building that currently houses Smithfield Market was built in Victorian times.
- St Paul's Cathedral: Built by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of London in 1666, the famous dome of St Paul’s has since been a focal point of London’s skyline. St Paul’s Cathedral and its surrounding streets form a backdrop in many of Dickens’s novels.
- The Battery: Out on the marshes of Joe's home.
- The Hulks: They were ships that were falling apart that sat in the ports and were often used as prisons if the actual prisons were overcrowded.
- The Temple: The area of London originally occupied by the Knights Templar who protected pilgrims on their journey to the Holy Land. Later, the Temple housed two of the four Inns of Court: Inner Temple and Middle Temple. Pip is living in garden Court chambers at the Temple when he is visited by the convict Magwitch.
- The Tower: More commonly known as the Tower of London, the Tower was built in the time of William the Conqueror in 1078. It was used as a fortress, a royal residence and a prison, as well as a place of execution. The crown jewels have been kept here since the 1300s and are guarded by the Yeoman of Guard (Beefeaters). Pip, Herbert and their acquaintance Startop row past the Tower while attempting to help Magwitch escape.
- Three Jolly Bargemen: The Three Jolly Bargemen is a bar in Pip's village.
- Walworth: England
- Westminster Abbey: The most famous of England’s churches. Pip and Herbert Pocket attend services in the Abbey. Originally built by Edward the Confessor in 1050, the abbey was rebuilt in its present Gothic style in 1245. Henry VII added a chapel shortly before his death in 1509. Since William the Conqueror in1066, England’s monarchs have been crowned here. Many of England’s kings and queens are also buried here, as are many of its famous citizens, including Geoffrey Chaucer, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Charles Dickens.
Organizations edit
First Sentence edit
My Father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip.
Table of Contents edit
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Glossary edit
- Ablutions: The ritual of getting washed each day
- Accoucheur policeman: An Accoucheur was a male midwife or an obstetrical doctor. Because Pip's sister always acts as if Pip had insisted on being born, she treats him like a criminal. Pip concludes that since he was an "offender" at birth, he was delivered to his sister by an obstetrical policeman.
- Ague: A high fever
- Antipodes: That is, through a trapdoor. The actual definition is any two places that are directly opposite each other on the earth.
- Bad courtier: A courtier, originally an attendant at a royal court, refers here to someone who is adept at using flattery to get something or to win favor. Herbert's father is a bad courtier with Miss Havisham in that he does not flatter her but speaks the truth whether she likes it or not.
- Contumaciously: Stubbornly disobedient.
- Corn chandler: A dealer in corn.
- Dumb-waiter: A small elevator used in houses or restaurants for moving dishes of food between floors.
- Fetters: A chain or shackle that is placed round the ankles and feet.
- Fired a rick: Set fire to a haystack. Pip's reference to this crime means people would have viewed him as a major criminal because at that time, children even as young as 7 were sometimes hanged for arson.
- Gibbet: A T-shaped structure from which executed criminals were hung for the public to see.
- Hackney-coach: A four-wheeled carriage for hire with six seats and drawn by two horses.
- Hulk: A prison ship.
- Indentures: A contract by which a person, as an apprentice, is bound to service.
- Journeyman: A person hired to do work for another, usually on a daily basis.
- Linchpin: Something that holds the various parts of a complicated structure together.
- Mail-coach: Before the building of the railways there were two types of coach on English roads: the mail-coach and the stage-coach. The mail-coaches were subsidized by the Post Office, whereas stage-coaches were privately owned.
- Musket: A large, heavy gun
- Myrmidons: Faithful followers, who carry out orders without question.
- Portmanteau: A suitcase, usually made of leather that opens in two halves.
- Repeater: A person who has been convicted and sentenced for one crime, and later for another.
- Turnpike: A barrier across a highway to stop passage until a toll has been paid.
- Vittles: Food supplies.
- Wheelwright: A person who makes and repairs wheels.
Themes & Symbolism edit
- Bentley Drummle: Describe this theme.
- The Mists on the Marshes
- Doubles
- Comparison of Characters to Inanimate Objects
- Crime, Guilt, and Innocence
- Social Class
- Ambition and Self-Improvement
- Bildungsroman: A formation novel dealing with the main character's development or spiritual education.
- Love and Friendship
- Fathers
Series & Lists edit
This book is in Heritage Press. (publisher edition list)
This is book 80 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2011). (authoritative list)
This is book 81 of 194 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2010). (authoritative list)
This is book 79 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2011). (authoritative list)
This is book 71 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2010). (authoritative list)
This book is in The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge. (community list)
This is book 49 of 101 in Penguin English Library. (publisher series)
This is book 17 of 82 in BBC "Big Read" Top 100 Novels. (authoritative list)
This book is in Readers Digest Press. (publisher edition list)
This book is in Penguin Classics. (publisher edition list)
This book is in Arcturus Paperback Classics. (publisher edition list)
This book is in Cover to Cover Classics. (publisher edition list)
This book is in Modern Library Classics. (publisher edition list)
This book is in Penguin Classic Deluxe Edition Book Covers. (community list)
This is book 70 of 37 in 100 Books Every Child Should Read - Part 03: Early Teens (The Telegraph). (authoritative list)
This book is in 100 Fantabulous Book Challenge. (community list)
This book is in Folio Society. (publisher edition list)
This is book 876 of 1286 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)
This is book 16 of 91 in The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time, 2004. (authoritative list)
This is book 10 of 95 in Telegraph Top 100 Books, 2008. (authoritative list)
This is book 17 of 200 in BBC 'Big Read' Top 200 Novels, 2003. (authoritative list)
This is book 22 of 113 in Book Smart Reading List. (community list)
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This book is in Oprah's Book Club. (authoritative list)
This is book 20 of 10 in Classics and Contemporaries. (publisher edition list)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Chapman & Hall
Country: Great Britain
Publication Date: 1861
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 799
Publisher: Chapman & Hall
Country: Great Britain
Publication Date: 1861
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 799
Awards edit
- BBC's Big Read (April 2003: Best Loved Novel, #17)
- Guardian 1000 (Family & Self)
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006-2008)
- Audie Award - as Narrate by Charlton Griffin (2010: Classic)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PR4560 .A1
- Dewey: 823.8
Subjects edit
Popular Tags
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Links to Supplemental Material edit
- Project Gutenberg: Link to the book in fulltext.
- Librivox: Great Expectations audio book read by Mark F. Smith (Total running time: 20:26:03)
Movie Connections edit
- Great Expectations (1934) (IMDb): Staring Phillips Holmes and Jane Wyatt
- Great Expectations (1946) (IMDb): Staring John Mills and Jean Simmons
- Great Expectations (1974) (TV) (IMDb): Staring Michael York and Sarah Miles
- Great Expectations (1989) (TV mini series) (IMDb): Staring Anthony Calf and Kim Thomson
- Great Expectations (1998) (IMDb): Starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow. A 'modernized' version.
- Great Expectations (2012) (TV) (IMDb): Starring Douglas Booth, Gillian Anderson and Vanessa Kirby
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