Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Plot Summary

About the Author

Charles Dickens, in full Charles John Huffam Dickens, was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. He was an English novelist generally regarded as one of the best writers of the Victorian period. The many books he wrote include novels like A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and Our Mutual Friend.

Dickens had a greater following in his time than any previous author. Many of his works could be appealing to both the basic and the sophisticated, the poor, as well as to royalty. The development of technology and the quality of his writing allowed his popularity to grow worldwide rapidly.

Great Expectations- Summary

Great Expectations tells the tale of Pip, who is an orphan taken in by the family of a blacksmith with good fortune and high hopes but is then unable to meet both his fortune and expectations. Through this soaring and falling, Pip learns how to discover satisfaction. He discovers the importance of friendship as well as the significance of love. He also, naturally, grows into an improved person because of it.

The story begins by introducing the protagonist, Pip, who tells the story of a younger Pip looking at his parents' tombstones. A tiny, frozen child gets scared by a man in a prisoner's uniform. The man tells Pip that if he wishes to be alive, he'll have to go to his house and bring him some food and a file for the shackle on his leg.

Pip returns home to his mother, Mrs. Joe Gragery, and his adoptive father, Joe Gragery. Mrs. Joe is a loud and angry woman who constantly reminds Pip and her partner, Joe, of the struggles she has had to overcome to bring up Pip and look after the household. Pip is able to find comfort from her rages in Joe as he is more of an equal to him than a father figure. The two have a shared subjugation.

Pip can steal food and pork pie off the shelves of his pantry and an item from Joe's forge and return them to the prisoner the next day. Then, Pip watches the man being caught by police, and then the entire incident fades away from his mind.

Mrs. Joe comes home one evening and is very exuberant. She announces that Pip will "play" for Miss Havisham, "a rich and grim lady who lived in a large and dismal house."

Pip is taken to Miss Havisham's home, which is a mansion called the "Satis House," where the sun never comes in. Pip is introduced to a woman of the same age as him, Estella, "who was very pretty and seemed very proud." Pip immediately falls in love with Estella and will be in love with her for the remainder of the time. Then he meets Miss Havisham, an adorable aged woman with a yellowed complexion in a vintage wedding gown. Miss Havisham appears to be most content as Estella is a bit rude to Pip because of his coarse hands and thick boots as they play.

Pip feels insulted but feels there's something wrong with him. He promises to improve, be more popular, and become a gentleman.

Pip keeps coming to Estella as well as Miss Havisham for eight months and discovers more about their bizarre lives. Miss Havisham invites him into an impressive banquet hall, in which a table is filled with food and a giant wedding cake. The food, as well as the cake, are decades old and untouched, aside from an array of bugs, beetles, and spiders who roam the room. The family members all visit her on her birthday and wedding day, which fall on the same day. This is which is the day the cake was laid out, and the clocks stopped working many years before, i.e., when Miss Havisham was no longer living.

Pip is beginning to think about what his life might be like in the event that he is a wealthy gentleman. The dream comes to an end with Miss Havisham requests Pip to take Joe to see her to ensure that he may begin his apprenticeship as a blacksmith. Miss Havisham will give Joe twenty-five pounds in exchange for the service to her; then she ends the visit by saying goodbye.

Pip describes his plight for his readers by saying that Pip is insecure about his place of residence and is ashamed of the profession he works. He would like to be unique. He wants to be an elegant gentleman. He would like to be part of the community, which he got a little experience of at Manor House.

In the early hours of the indenture process, Mrs. Joe is found lying unconscious and pounded to the ground by an unidentified assailant. Mrs. Joe has sustained severe brain injuries and has lost most of her voice, hearing, and memory. Additionally, she said that her "temper was greatly improved, and she was patient." In order to help out with household chores and take care of the elderly, Mrs. Joe, Biddy, an orphaned friend of Pip's, is moved into the family home.

The years go by quickly. It is the fourth year of Pip's training, and Pip is in the same place as Joe in the bar as they are confronted by someone who is not familiar with them. Pip is able to recognize him and the "smell of soap," like a man whom he encountered in Miss Havisham's home a few years earlier.

In the home, the man Jaggers tells us that Pip currently has "great expectations." Pip is receiving an enormous monthly salary that will be managed by Jaggers, who is an attorney. However, the benefactor is not keen on being identified and is determined to remain anonymous.

Pip is unable to sleep and spends the night together with Biddy and Joe and then goes to sleep. In spite of having everything he's ever wanted to be realized, it has left him feeling lonely. Pip meets Miss Havisham, who hints subtly to him that she is his unknown patron.

Pip moves for a stay in London and makes friends with Wemmick, the clerk of Jagger's square mouth. Wemmick takes Pip to the Bernard's Inn, which is where Pip will reside for five years, along with Matthew Pocket's child Herbert, a cheerful young man who is one of Pip's best friends. Through Herbert, Pips finds out that Miss Havisham adopted Estella and brought her up to take revenge on males by getting them to love her but then breaking their hearts.

Pip is invited for dinner at Wemmick's, whose motto appears to be "Office is one thing, private life is another." In fact, Wemmick lives a fascinating private life. Even though the actor lives in an unassuming cottage, the house has been altered in order to resemble the castle of his dreams, with a moat, drawbridge, as well as an armed cannon.

On the following day, Jaggers invites Pip and his friends for dinner. Pip, upon Wemmick's recommendation, carefully observes Jagger's personal servant. She is described as a "tigress," according to Wemmick. Pip is approximately forty years old and is able to look at Jaggers as a combination of duty and trepidation.

Pip goes back to the Satis House to see Miss Havisham as well as Estella, whom he believes is getting older and more gorgeous that he can't even recognize her immediately. When he is confronted by her, Pip slips "into the coarse and common voice" from his childhood, and she, in turn, treats him the same way as the young man that he was. Pip is struck by something familiar in Estella's expression. Pip is unable to place the expression, but Estella's face evokes memories of someone else.

Pip keeps his distance from Joe Biddy's home and the forge. Instead, he strolls around the town and enjoys the admiring stares he receives from the people he used to live with. Then, shortly after, a letter addressed to Pip informs her of the passing of Mrs. Joe Gragery. Pip is back home for the funeral. Then, Joe and Pip sit at ease by the fireplace, just like in the previous days. Biddy says that Pip will never return as promised shortly and leaves angrily. In London, Pip is astonished. He asks Wemmick to give him advice regarding how to offer Herbert the remainder of his annual salary in a confidential manner.

Narrator Pip discussed his relationship with Estella when she was in the city. He said, "I suffered every kind and degree of torture that Estella could cause me." Pip is able to find out that Drummle is the most disgusting of his acquaintances and is now courting Estella.

It's been a while since the years have gone by, and Pip is immersed in the same life as the wealthy youthful man in the city. An unassuming sea-weary man, aged sixty years, shows up at Pip's house on a dark night shortly after Pip's Twenty-fourth birthday. Pip is gracious enough to invite the stranger in and treats the man with a smile, and then starts to identify him as the notorious convict who was fed in the marshes by him while he was a kid. Magwitch, the man, tells him that he is Pip's friend. From the moment Pip was able to help him, Magwitch pledged to himself that each penny he made would be donated to Pip.

"I've made a gentleman out of you," the man yells. Pip is stunned. His hopes are discredited. It is no big plan by Miss Havisham to keep Pip wealthy and happy with a comfortable life in an empathetic marriage with Estella.

The inmate informs Pip that he's been sent back to meet him in danger of losing his life as the laws will put him to death if they locate him in England. Pip is disgusted with him. However, he wants to defend his friend and ensure that there isn't any chance of him being found and sentenced to death. Herbert and Pip determine that Pip will attempt to convince Magwitch to leave England together.

Magwitch shares with them the tale of his personal life. Since he was a child, Magwitch lived on his own and was a target for problems. When he was in one of his brief stints in and out of prison, Magwitch met a young and well-off gentleman named Compeyson who was involved in all things illegal, including fraud, swindling as well as other white-collar crimes. Compeyson was able to recruit Magwitch to help him with the dirty work and brought Magwitch into the crosshairs of the authorities. Magwitch is furious with the guy. Herbert gives a note to Pip explaining that Compeyson is the name given to the person who walked out on Miss Havisham on her wedding day.

Pip is back at Satis House and finds Miss Havisham and Estella in the same banquet room. Pip is unable to resist and admits his affection for Estella. Estella informs him in plain terms she is incapable of loving him. She has previously warned him about this-- and will shortly be getting engaged to Drummle.

Returning to London, Wemmick explains to Pip the lessons he's learned from prisoners in Newgate. According to him, Pip is monitored and may be in the middle of a risk. In addition, Compeyson has made his appearance known in London. Wemmick had already warned Herbert too. In response to the warning, Herbert has hidden Magwitch in the home of his wife, Clara.

Pip is invited to lunch along with Jaggers and Wemmick at Jaggers's house. In the course of dinner, Pip finally realizes the similarities between Estella and Jagger's servant woman. Jagger's "servant" is Estella's mom!

When they return home, Wemmick recounts the tale of Jaggers' servant woman. This was Jaggers's first breakthrough matter, the one which made him. Jaggers was representing a woman in the case in which she was charged with killing an unidentified woman by strangulation. The woman was also accused of having killed her own daughter, who was a child at the time of the murder. Miss Havisham requests Pip to visit her.

Pip finds her sitting by the flame; however, this time, she looks pretty alone. Pip shares with her that his family was donating some of the money to assist Herbert in securing his future, but he must now stop because Pip himself is no more making money from the person who gave him money. Miss Havisham wants to help her friend, so she offers Pip the sum of nine hundred dollars in order to assist Herbert. She requests Pip to forgive him. Pip says she is already forgiven and that he himself needs too much forgiveness.

Pip takes a stroll in the garden, only to come home to find Miss Havisham burning! Pip puts the flame out and burns himself severely in the procedure. The doctor arrives and declares that Pip will survive.

Pip is home when Herbert is in charge of his burnings. Herbert has been spending moments together with Magwitch at Clara's house and has been told the entire Magwitch tale. Magwitch was the spouse of Jagger's servant woman, who was the Tigress. The woman had contacted Magwitch when she had killed another woman. She told him that she planned to murder their son, and Magwitch was never to see her again. But Magwitch was never there. Pip puts it together and informs Herbert that Magwitch is Estella's father.

It is time to go home together with Magwitch. Herbert and Pip wake up the next day and begin rowing through the water to pick up Magwitch at their stipulated time. The two are just a couple of feet from a steamer that they are hoping to board when another vessel comes alongside to hinder them. The confusion is so intense that Pip notices Compeyson, who is leading another boat. However, the steamer is sitting on top of the two boats.

The steamer smashes Pip's boat, and Compeyson and Magwitch disappear in the water as Pip and Herbert discover themselves in a police boat. Magwitch is finally able to emerge from the submerged water. Magwitch, together with Compeyson, engaged in a fight for some time. However, Magwitch allows him to go and is probably drowned. Again, Magwitch is shackled and detained.

Magwitch is in jail and is extremely ill. Pip attends to the suffering Magwitch each day in prison. Pip tells him one day that his daughter, whom he believed to be dead, is alive. "She is a lady and very beautiful," Pip declares. "And I love her." Magwitch has given up ghosts.

Pip has suffered from rashes for over a month. The creditors, as well as Joe, slide in as well out of his thoughts as well as his actual real life. Then, he comes back to his consciousness and realizes that Joe has been there all the time, helping him back to his health. Joe tells his friend that Miss Havisham died during his condition, leaving Estella the majority of her possessions and Matthew Pocket a great deal. Joe goes missing one day with only a small note. Pip realizes Joe has paid the entire amount owed to his creditors.

Pip is determined to return the favor to Joe, asking for forgiveness for the things that he has done and also asking Biddy to be his bride. Pip returns to Joe and finds happiness- but it is Joe and Biddy's. It is their wedding day. Pip hopes for a beautiful wedding, in all honesty, and asks to forgive him for every action. They are happy to give their forgiveness.

Pip is sent to work in Herbert's company and lives with newly wedded Clara along with Herbert. In a short time, Pip is an associate. He settles the debts he owes and also works.

Eleven years after, Pip returns from his work abroad. Pip visits Joe and Biddy and sees their son, a tiny Pip, sitting by the fireplace alongside Joe as he used to do years ago when he was a kid. Pip tells Biddy that he is quite the settled bachelor living alongside Clara and Herbert and believes he will never be married. However, he goes into Satis House that night to dream of his girl who ran away. There he is greeted by Estella.

Drummle was rough with her and has recently passed away. She confesses to Pip that she has discovered the hurt of heartbreak by experience and is seeking his forgiveness for the wrongs she committed to him. Both take a walk out of the garden hand in hand. Pip "saw the shadow of no parting from her."