Great Expectations
By Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
February 7, 1812 – June 9, 1870
• Dickens was born in Portsmouth,
Hampshire to John Dickens, a naval pay
clerk, and his wife Elizabeth Dickens.
• When he was five, the family moved to
Chatham, Kent.
• When he was ten, the family relocated to
Camden Town in London.
• Dickens talked later in life of his extremely
strong memories of childhood and his
continuing photographic memory of people
and events that helped bring his fiction to life.
• His family was moderately well-off, and he
received some education at a private school
but all that changed when his father, after
spending too much money entertaining and
retaining his social position, was imprisoned
for debt.
• At the age of twelve, Dickens was deemed
old enough to work and began working for
ten hours a day in Warren's boot-blacking
factory.
• He spent his time pasting labels on the jars
of thick polish and earned six shillings a
week. With this money, he had to pay for
his lodging and to help support his family
while his father was working off his debt in
prison.
• Dickens began work as a law clerk, a junior
office position with potential to become a
lawyer.
• He did not like the law as a profession and after
a short time as a court stenographer he became a
journalist.
• In his early twenties he made a name for himself
with his first novel, The Pickwick Papers.
• Some of his more well known novels include,
David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and A
Christmas Carol.
Great Expectations
• Dickens wrote and published Great Expectations
in 1860-1861. The novel, however, looks back to
an earlier time (1812-1840).
• Like all of his novels, Great Expectations was
published serially—meaning in weekly or monthly
installments in magazines.
– Each installment ends with a “cliffhanger”
– Dickens would often take feedback from his audience
into consideration when writing his novels.
– Because Dickens was paid by the word, his novels
were often VERY long and detailed! (which is why
we are reading the abridged version )
Historical Background:
Victorian England in the 1800s
• Dickens used his own personal experiences
as material for his novels.
– He was deeply concerned about the struggles of
the poor and mistreated.
– Although his novels were fictional, he used
them as a way to comment on the social and
political problems existing in London at the
time.
• During the Victorian Era, London was a
very rich city. This wealth, however, was
not equally distributed.
– The upper class made up the smallest portion of
society. They controlled most of the money and
power and lived extravagant lives.
– The lower class made up the largest portion of
society. They worked the most difficult jobs,
had very few rights, and lived in extreme
poverty. Many fell into debt quickly.
• People who simply could not pay their bills
often went to debtors’ prison.
• Children of those in debtors’ prison had to
work to support themselves.
• A child might work up to 16 hours a day.
• Labor in a factory or work pulling a cart
earned only pennies a day.
– There were no labor laws to protect children
and many never finished school because they
were forced to work instead.
• Because many of the prisons were filled
with debtors, the more dangerous criminals
were often imprisoned on ships or sent to
live in Australia—then a British territory.
• Conditions in Australia were harsh.
– Only the strongest and hardest working people
could make a life for themselves
– Once sent to Australia, a convict was most
likely exiled from England—not legally
allowed to return.
Basic Plot Overview:
• Great Expectations is a coming of age tale
about a poor orphan named Phillip “Pip” Pirrip
who is given an extraordinary chance to
become a gentleman. Throughout the course of
the story, he is faced with many trials and
tribulations that ultimately shape who he is.
• It is broken down into three different stages and
spans the length of 30+ years
Stage One (Chapters 1-15)
• Pip starts off 8 years old living in the marsh
lands of rural England with his sister and
brother-in-law, Joe and Mrs. Joe.
• Although poor, he becomes aquaited with Miss
Havisham and her ward Estella who are
wealthy members of high society
• He is apprenticed as a blacksmith to Joe
• At the close of Stage One, he is presented with
“great expectations” that will change his life
Stage Two (Chapters 16-29)
• As a result of his “expectations” Pip begins
living in London and studying to be a
gentleman.
• He becomes caught up with “gentlemanly
pursuits” spending more and more time with
Miss H. and Estella while neglecting those
who care for him, like Joe.
• At the close of Stage Two, Pip is met by a
mysterious figure with a secret that will turn
his life upside down.
Stage Three (Chapters 30-44)
• Because of his mysterious visitor, Pip finds
himself in trouble with the law
• He ends up losing his money, social status, and
the love of his life
• Once again poor, he reflects on his choices and
has a decision to make: Does he waste away to
nothing or strive to improve himself and make
amends?
Literary Elements
• Characterization: the personality a character
displays; also, the means by which an
author reveals that personality. There are
two types of characterization
• Direct—the author tells the audience
directly what the character is like. This in
done by:
– commenting directly about the character
• Indirect—allows the audience to draw their
own conclusions. This is mainly done by:
–
–
–
–
showing the character acting and speaking
giving physical descriptions of the character
revealing character’s thoughts
revealing what other characters think about the
character
Thematic Elements:
Ambition and Self-Improvement
• A "pip" is a small seed, something that starts off tiny
and then grows and develops into something new
• Pip's name, then, is no accident, as Great
Expectations is a coming of age story about his
growth and development as a main character.
• Dickens presents the ambition to improve oneself
that drives Pip along as a force capable of generating
both positive and negative results.
• Pip's early ambitions focus on elevating his
social class
• He eventually comes to understand selfimprovement as a more complex process
involving moral and spiritual development
as well
• Pip strives to better himself despite his
circumstances and although this is
admirable
• When do ambition and self-improvement become
harmful?
Social Class
• Great Expectations is set near the end of
Industrial Revolution, a period of dramatic
technological improvement in manufacturing
and commerce that, created new opportunities
for people who were born into "lower" or
poorer classes to gain wealth and move into a
"higher" and wealthier class.
• Dickens explores the class system of Victorian
England, ranging from the most wretched
criminals to the poor peasants of the marsh
country (Pip and his family) to the very rich
(Miss Havisham and Estella).
• The importance placed on social class is a
driving force in the novel and begs the
question:
• Are individuals who have or obtain wealth
guaranteed happiness?