Great Expectations

"Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but - I hope - into a better shape."

Great Expectations is a 1861 novel by Charles Dickens. His 13th piece of work, Dickens tells the bildungsroman of Pip who received a large fortune from a mysterious benefactor and becomes a gentleman, but witnesses a lot of successes and failures, as well as know about happiness.

Like with some of Dickens' other works, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, and A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations is seen as one of his most popular and beloved novels, and it may also be his most influential.

Plot summary
Phillip Pirrup, a.k.a. Pip for short, is a young orphan raised by his adult sister and his brother-in-law Joe Gargery the blacksmith in the marshes of Kent, England. One day, Pip was sitting at his parents' grave in the local churchyard, when an escaped convict appears and confronts Pip. He demands him to bring him some food and a file, and Pip obeys in fear. He steals some food from his sister's pantry and a file from Joe's workshop, then he offers them to the convict. The man was later captured by authorities, along with another escaped convict roaming around the area.

Some time later, Pip is invited to visit the nearby Satis House, the home to the wealthy, strange Miss Havisham, who still wears her old wedding dress after being jilted by her husband-to-be. Pip meets Miss Havisham's ward and adoptive niece, a beautiful young girl named Estella. But she is very cold and mean towards Pip, but he visits Satis House frequently and he becomes interested in Estella and hopes that he will be rich enough one day to marry her. But he was instead apprenticed by Joe in his blacksmith workshop. He struggles to keep up with his education and spots a mysterious man named Orlick, who works with Joe.

After Mrs. Joe was suddenly attacked and becomes invalid, the local village girl named Biddy moves in to help care for the family household. Several years later, a lawyer named Mr. Jaggers comes over and informs Pip that a benefactor has just given him a large fortune and he must come to London to begin training as a gentleman. Pip immediately suspects that Miss Havisham is his benefactor and that she is finally making him worthy enough for Estella.

Pip arrives in London and becomes friend with a young man named Herbert Pocket, and they began living together. He also befriends Jaggers' clerk Wemmick who is cold and strict at work, but is happy and cheerful when he is at home. Pip's tutor is Matthew Pocket, Herbert's father, and he forgets about his family back home and continues to go after Estella. During his time in London, Joe visits Pip, but the young gentleman feels embarrassed and uncomfortable being in his brother-in-law's presence. Pip was then brought back to Satis House, where he meets Miss Havisham and Estella again, now an elegant young woman. Pip was assigned to become Estella's escort when she is in London, and when he and Herbert begin to go into debt, the two of them work together to help Herbert make his way into a career he secretly chose for himself.

Mrs. Joe dies and Pip goes home for the funeral. He feels guilty and remorse, and becomes tormented by Estella's coldness. One night, Pip is alone at home when a strange visitor arrives. He is the same convict Pip had met many years ago, who introduces himself as Abel Magwitch and that he is the true benefactor to Pip, not Miss Havisham. Magwitch claims that he was so moved by Pip's childhood kindness that he decided to let him live a proper lifestyle by offering him a large fortune from Australia.

Pip was appalled and disappointed that he may never be betrothed to Estella, but he is determined to help Magwitch escape London since he entered England illegally under the name "Provis" and is now pursued by the police and his former partner-in-crime Compeyson. He is also finds out that Compeyson is Miss Havisham's ex-fiance and Estella is Magwitch's daughter.

When he goes back to Satis House, Pip discovers that Estella will be married Bentley Drummle, a classmate of his who he didn't get along, and Miss Havisham begs for forgiveness for the way she had treated him over the years. But after Pip does, Miss Havisham's dress catches on fire, and he tries to save her. She survives, but becomes critically injured and invalid afterwards, and dies a short time later.

Pip and his friends prepare to help Magwitch flee from England. But as he arrives in the marshes, he is captured by Orlick and prepares to kill him, but Herbert and the others save him. They set sail on a rowboat on a river back in London with Magwitch, but they are soon caught up by the authorities and Compeyson. The two former convicts fight in the water and Compeyson drowns, and Magwitch is captured. He is sentenced to death, but falls ill and dies before his execution.

Pip falls ill but is nursed back to health by Joe and they are reconciled. He returns home to marry Biddy, but saw that she has married Joe, and instead travels abroad with Herbert as a merchant. 11 years later, Pip returns to England and visits Joe and Biddy, who now have a young son together named Pip II.

Pip arrives at Satis House, now in ruins, and meets Estella again. She was abused by her husband but he is now dead. She is no longer cold and heartless than she was before, and both Pip and Estella leave the garden together, hoping to never be apart again.

Characters
Pip- The main protagonist and narrator. He grew up an orphan, met a fearsome escaped convict in his village graveyard, visited an eccentric jilted bride and her beautiful ward, and received "great expectations" a large fortune from an unknown benefactor. He immediately leaves his old life behind and begins life as a wealthy gentleman, but later discovers some surprising secrets along the way that would have an effect on his wealth.

Estella- The adoptive niece and ward of Miss Havisham. She is a lovely but heartless girl who had met Pip various different times he came over to Satis House where she lived and she was always cold and cruel towards him. She eventually grows into an fair, young woman and part of the upper social class. While Pip loves and adores her, she doesn't love him back, until an abusive marriage she endured later in life changed her nature.

Miss Havisham- An elderly, wealthy woman. She still wears her old, yellowed wedding dress since the day she was abandoned by her husband at the altar on their wedding day, and since then, she had become obsessed with her rejection, such as stopping all the clocks in her at the same time. She adopted her niece Estella and raised her as her own child, even teaching her how to break men's hearts, just like how they did to hers. She encounters Pip several times he came over to her house and even she wasn't kind to him.

Abel Magwitch- An former criminal and convict. After he escapes from the prison ships, he meets and demands young Pip to steal some food and a file for him. Despite Magwitch looking bad and fearsome, he was moved by Pip's boyhood kindness and decided to dedicate his life to him by offering Pip large amounts of money after he was transported to Australia. Years later, he comes back to England under the name "Provis" but would be in danger of being hunted down by the authorities looking for him.