Teacher Guide: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
As a young orphan living with his obnoxious older sister and her kind husband, Joe, Pip helps an escaped convict who is nonetheless apprehended by the police. Soon afterward, Pip is summoned by the wealthy and eccentric Miss Havisham and meets Havisham’s cold-hearted ward, Estella. As Pip grows up, he visits Miss Havisham and Estella repeatedly and clashes with Orlick, a surly man who assists Joe around his forge. Pip’s sister is attacked (Orlick is suspected), and Biddy, a kind-hearted girl, moves in to care for her. Pip becomes infatuated with Estella. Not long afterward, Jaggers, a reputable lawyer, contacts Pip to inform him that he has an anonymous, wealthy patron. Pip moves to London, where he encounters the earnest Herbert Pocket, who tells Pip how Miss Havisham’s bitterness derives from being abandoned by a former lover. Pip takes on debt living his new, decadent lifestyle. The convict from his youth visits him, introducing himself as Abel Magwitch, Pip’s secret benefactor. Magwitch was exiled from England for life, so Pip and Herbert try to figure out how to get him out of the country, especially when Jagger’s odd assistant Wemmick notifies Pip that Magwitch’s old enemy Compeyson, who would be able to identify him for the authorities, is in London. Pip also discovers that Estella is Magwitch’s daughter. Right before the planned escape, Orlick tries to kill Pip, who is saved by Herbert. As Pip, Hebert, and Magwitch sail toward the docks to leave England, they are discovered by Compeyson, who has led a group of policemen to arrest Magwitch. The boat collides with a steamer, Compeyson dies, and Magwitch is arrested. He dies of his injuries, sustained during the collision, before his sentence can be carried out. Pip reconciles with Joe and Biddy, who are married, then leaves the country to work with Herbert. Eleven years later, he returns to England, re-encountering Estella, who is much changed after suffering through a bad marriage. The novel closes on an ambiguous but optimistic note—perhaps Pip and Estella have a future together after all.
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