Great Expectations: Summary

The following text is a short summary of the book written with the help of AI to serve as background to our essays on the book for those who haven’t read the book.

If you have read the book already, go to our essays:

Sasha’s essay TBA

Michael’s Essay TBA

J. M. W. Turner | Snow Storm — Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth (1842) | Artsy

The next piece on our list of 1000 Books to Die Enlightened is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published in serial form between 1860 and 1861. The story follows the life of an orphan named Pip, from his childhood into adulthood.

The edition that I had was split into three roughly equal volumes and the plot can be summarized as follows:

1. Early Years: The novel begins with Pip living with his older sister and her husband, the blacksmith Joe Gargery, in rural Kent, England. Pip encounters an escaped convict named Magwitch in a graveyard, who demands food and a file to remove his chains. Fearful, Pip helps him, but the encounter leaves a lasting impression on him.
2. Expectations: Pip is later approached by the mysterious lawyer, Mr. Jaggers, who informs him that he has an even more mysterious benefactor who wishes to sponsor Pip’s education and raise him as a gentleman. Pip assumes this benefactor is the wealthy and reclusive Miss Havisham whose house he had been frequenting as some sort of amusement for the lady. Miss Havisham is leading a strange sort of crazy life in which she preserves her trauma of being abandoned by her fiancé by freezing herself, her house, and her affairs in place. While at the house, Pip also meets Estella, Miss Havisham’s adopted daughter. Eventually, he is sent to London to begin his education and training as a gentleman.
3. London Life: In London, Pip becomes friends with Herbert Pocket, learns the ways of the upper class, and develops romantic feelings for Estella even though she herself is sent for her own lady training in France. Pip undergoes a transformation as he is educated in the manners and customs of the upper class. He spends time with Herbert Pocket and other young gentlemen, learning about business, society, and the expectations placed upon a gentleman. Pip’s time in London is marked by financial struggles and mismanagement. He lives beyond his means, spending lavishly on clothes, furnishings, and entertainment in an attempt to fit in with high society.
4. Revelations: Pip eventually learns that his benefactor is not Miss Havisham as he had thought, but the convict Magwitch, whom he had helped in the graveyard at the start. Magwitch made his fortune in Australia where he lived in exile as punishment and has returned to England to see the gentleman that Pip has become at great personal risk since his return is considered a crime. Shocked and disillusioned, Pip realizes the true source of his “great expectations.”
5. Redemption and Resolution: Pip’s moral and emotional journey leads him to reassess his values and priorities. He helps Magwitch escape from the authorities but is ultimately caught. Magwitch dies in prison, and Pip falls ill. With the help of Joe and Herbert, Pip recovers and returns to the forge. He never marries Estella who marries his rival, but in the end, Pip gets over it.