Great Expectations

Summary

In this unflaggingly suspenseful story of aspirations and moral redemption, humble, orphaned Pip, a ward of his short-tempered older sister and her husband, Joe, is apprenticed to the dirty work of the forge but dares to dream of becoming a gentleman. And, indeed, it seems as though that dream is destined to come to pass — because one day, under sudden and enigmatic circumstances, he finds himself in possession of "great expectations." In telling Pip's story, Dickens traces a boy's path from a hardscrabble rural life to the teeming streets of 19th-century London, unfolding a gripping tale of crime and guilt, revenge and reward, and love and loss. Its compelling characters include Magwitch, the fearful and fearsome convict; Estella, whose beauty is excelled only by her haughtiness; and the embittered Miss Havisham, an eccentric jilted bride.

Great Expectations, written in Dickens' final decade of life, received widespread acclaim and worldwide admiration. It was his final great novel, and many critics consider it to be his best. Readers and critics alike commended it for its excellent plot, which rises above the melodrama of some of his earlier works, as well as its three-dimensional, psychologically realistic characters, which are far deeper and more engaging than the one-note caricatures of earlier novels. "In none of his other works," noted the reviewer in the 1861 Atlantic, "does he evince a shrewder insight into real life, and a cheaper perception and knowledge of what is called the world."

 Swinburne thought the novel was the best in all of English fiction, with flaws "as nearly imperceptible as spots on the sun or shadows on a sunlit sea." Shaw considered it Dickens' "most completely perfect book." This low-cost edition encourages current readers to experience Dickens' timeless masterwork, which is brimming with colorful characters, unexpected narrative twists, and Dickens' vivid depiction of mid-Victorian England.