Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens' Novel Great Expectations The New Annotated Edition

Great Expectations follows the young protagonist Pip, a lower-class orphan who lives with his sister and her husband in Kent. At the beginning of the novel, Pip is visiting his parents' graves when a mysterious stranger-clearly an escaped prisoner-grabs ahold of him and makes several demands of the young boy. Following these demands, Pip steals food and a file (items the prisoner requests), but the man is caught by authorities anyway. This deed serves as the inciting incident of the novel, as it is later revealed in the text that this escaped prisoner, Magwitch, is Pip's anonymous benefactor. As a young boy, Pip is taken by his kindly brother-in-law, Joe, on a visit to Satis House-the abode of the eccentric spinster Miss Havisham. Pip becomes enamored with Estella, Miss Havisham's young ward. Estella is beautiful yet cruel, and Pip makes it his life's mission to become a wealthy gentleman worthy of being her husband.