Great Expectations is written in a semi-autobiographical style and is the story of the orphan Pip, writing his life from his early days of childhood until adulthood and trying to be a gentleman along the way. Novel follows Pip's development through life after an early meeting with the escaped convict Abel Magwitch, who he treats kindly despite his fear. His unpleasant sister and her humorous and friendly blacksmith husband, Joe, bring him up. Crucial to his development as an individual is his introduction to Miss Havisham, a now aging woman who has given up on life after being jilted at the altar. Cruelly, Havisham has brought up her daughter Estella to revenge her own pain and so as Pip falls in love with Estella she is made to torture him in romance. Aspiring to be a gentleman despite his humble beginnings, Pip seems to achieve the impossible by receiving a fund of wealth from an unknown source and being sent to London with the lawyer Jaggers. He is employed but eventually loses everything and Estella marries another. His benefactor turns out to have been Magwitch and his future existence is based upon outgrowing the great expectations and returning to Joe and honest laout. Eventually he is reunited with Estella.
General Note
[This record reflects various editions with several different introductions by various people].
First published 1860-1861.
1992 Wordsworth Classics ed. has an introduction by John Mepham.
1992 Everyman's Library hardcover edition is illustrated by F.W. Pailthorpe with an introduction by Michael Slater.
1998 Signet Classic/New American Library ed. has a new introduction by Stanley Weintraub.
2000 Aladdin Paperbacks ed. has a foreword by Newbery author Zilpha Keatley Snyder and a Reading Group Guide.
2001 Modern Library trade paperback edition contains an introduction by Bernard Shaw and notes by Deborah Lutz.
2009 Signet Classic paperback edition contains a new afterword by Annebel Davis-Goff.