Charles Dickens

Radhika Jones

Written in the last decade of his life, Great Expectations reveals Dickens's dark attitudes toward Victorian society, its inherent class structure, and its materialism. Yet this novel persists as one of Dickens's most popular. Richly comic and immensely readable, Great Expectations overspills with vividly drawn characters, moral maelstroms, and the sorrow and pity of love.

Great Expectations

Presents the classic story of the orphan Pip, the convict Magwitch, the beautiful Estella, and her guardian, the embittered Miss Havisham

fareez

The death close before me was terrible, but far more terrible than death was the dread of being misremembered after death. 

I knew not how to answer, or how to comfort her. That she had done a grievous thing in taking an impressionable child to mould into the form that her wild resentment, spurned affection, and wounded pride, found vengeance in, I knew full well. But that, in shutting out the light of day, she had shut out infinitely more; that, in seclusion, she had secluded herself from a thousand natural and healing influences; that, her mind, brooding solitary, had grown diseased, as all minds do and must and will that reverse the appointed order of their Maker; I knew equally well. And could I look upon her without compassion, seeing her punishment in the ruin she was, in her profound unfitness for this earth on which she was placed, in the vanity of sorrow which had become a master mania, like the vanity of penitence, the vanity of remorse, the vanity of unworthiness, and other monstrous vanities that have been curses in this world? 

“…You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever become acquainted with. The stones of which the strongest London buildings are made, are not more real, or more impossible to be displaced by your hands, than your presence and influence have been to me, there and everywhere, and will be. Estella, to the last hour of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil…”

According to my experience, the conventional notion of a lover cannot be always true. The unqualified truth is, that when I loved Estella with the love of a man, I loved her simply because I found her irresistible. Once for all; I knew to my sorrow, often and often, if not always, that I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be. Once for all: I loved her none the less because I knew it, and it had no more influence in restraining me, than if I had devoutly believed her to be human perfection. 

So, throughout life, our worst weaknesses and meannesses are usually committed for the sake of the people whom we most despise

Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlaying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before — more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle. If I had cried before, I should have had Joe with me then.

“Do you want to be a gentleman, to spıte her or to gain her over?” Biddy quietly asked me, after a pause. 

 "Because, if it is to spite her," Biddy pursued, "I should think — but you know best — that might be better and more independently done by caring nothing for her words. And if it is to gain her over, I should think — but you know best — she was not worth gaining over." 

In a word, I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong. 

But l loved Joe — perhaps for no better reason in those early days than because the dear fellow let me love him — and, as to him, my inner self was not so easily composed. It was much upon my mind (particularly when I first saw him looking about for his file) that I ought to tell Joe the whole truth. Yet did not, and for the reason that I mistrusted that if I did, he would think me worse than I was. 

Abigail Mills

In an overgrown churchyard, a grizzled convict springs upon an orphan boy named Pip. The convict terrifies Pip and threatens to kill him unless the boy helps further his escape. Later, Pip finds himself in a ruined garden where he meets the embittered and crazy Miss Havisham and her foster child, Estella, with whom he instantly falls in love. After a secret benefactor gives him a fortune, Pip moves to London, where he cultivates great expectations for a life that would allow him to discard his impoverished beginnings and socialize with members of the idle upper class. As Pip struggles to become a gentleman, he slowly learns the truth about himself and his illusions, and is tormented endlessly by the beautiful Estella. Written in the last decade of Dickens's life, Great Expectations reveals the author's dark attitudes toward Victorian society, its inherent class structure, and its materialism. Yet it persists as one of Dickens's most popular novels. Richly comic and immensely readable, Great Expectations is a tapestry woven of vividly drawn characters, moral maelstroms, and the sorrow and pity of love.

Alissa 

Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the forma- tion of the first link on one memorable day.

Julie <3

'Out of my thoughts! You are part of my existence, part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then. You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since -on the river, on the sails of the ships, on the marshes, in the clouds, in the light, in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets. You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever become acquainted with. The stones of which the strongest London buildings are made, are not more real, or more impossible to be displaced by your hands, than your presence and influence have been to me, there and every where, and will be. Estella, to the last hour of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character.’

I was lost in the mazes of my future fortunes, and could not retrace the by-paths we had trodden together. 

What could I become with these surroundings? How could my character fail to be influenced by them? Is it to be wondered at if my thoughts were dazed, as my eyes were, when I came out into the natural light from the misty yellow rooms? 

Honey 🍯 

Young as I was, I believe that I dated a new admiration of Joe from that night. We were equals afterwards, as we had been before; but, afterwards at quiet times when I sat looking at Joe and thinking about him I had a new sensation of feeling conscious that I was looking up to Joe in my heart.

Great Expectations (Wordsworth Classics) (Wordsworth Classics)

Júlia Pedroso

Amelia C 

love love love this book! my darling sister got me a leather bound edition...

Took me almost half a year to finished it! But i must’ve said, it is a good read. 

I quite enjoy all the details that were written from Pip’s Point of View, give me so much new vocabularies to learn! 

But i don’t think i will reread it in any present moment… but it’s a good book!

I’d gave it 4.5/5 for this one 🌟

Fauzia

Title: Great Expectations
Genre: Slice Of Life, Romance
Length: 692 halaman
Premise: Seorang anak miskin yang mendapat warisan dari Penderma Misterius
Genre Save The Cat: Rites of Passage

Uwahhhh menurutku ini cerita yang alurnya paling gabisa ditebak, bener-bener Plot Twist banget aku ngga nyangka. ceritanya bagus sih cuma kadang aku kurang hapal sama nama tokoh-tokohnya karena emang banyak banget tapi ini serius bagus banget, kita jadi bisa melihat dunia dari sudut pandang Pip yang merupakan anak kecil yang polos, minderan, dan penakut, tapi menyukai gadis kaya yang sombong dan angkuh, penggambaran situasinya juga bagus banget, berasa balik ke inggris zaman 80-an, disini Dickens juga ngebahas isu “money can do anything” dimana kita bisa ngeliat dengan jelas perbedaan perlakuan orang-orang ke Pip waktu dia masih miskin sama waktu dia udah dapet warisan dari penderma misterius, dengan adanya tokoh penjilat (Pumblehoock) dan sahabat Pip (Joe) yang akhirnya menjauh setelah Pip pergi ke London dan jadi pria terhormat. Disini Pip juga udah mulai sombong dan boros setelah nerima uang sebegitu banyak dan mulai ngelupain Joe, Biddy, dan temen-temen lamanya. 

Yang keren itu gimana Dickens ngegambarin Pip yang udah berekspektasi tinggi sama pendermanya yang ia kira Ms. Havisham dan ngira kalo dia sama Estella bakal dijodohin. Tapi ternyata Pendermanya malah tawanan yang dulu pernah dia tolong dan ngebuat dia nyesel udah ninggalin Joe dan nerima warisan dari orang itu, ditambah lagi sama kenyataan kalo Ms. Havisham ternyata cuma jadiin dia korban dari balas dendam dia sama lelaki yang dulu jadi tunangannya, dan Estella nikah sama musuhnya (Drummle). Jujur sih aku kecewa Estella harus nikah sama lelaki kasar kayak Drummle, Tapi sebenernya aku lebih ngedukung Pip sama Biddy walaupun akhirnya Biddy malah sama Joe. Intinya Pip akhirnya bener-bener ngga dapet apa-apa kecuali sahabat setia (Herbert) yang sebenrnya itu udah lebih dari cukup, tapi yaa sesuai judulnya *Great Expectations* Pip emang terlalu berharap
 
Beat sheet: save the cat

ACT 1
Opening Image
Pip digambarkan sebagai anak yang tidak percaya diri, rendah diri, dan penakut 

Theme Stated
Setelah diundang ke rumah Ms. havisham, ia jatuh cinta pada Estella dan ingin menjadi pria yang pantas untuknya

Setup
Ia bercerita pada biddy tentang apa yang dialaminya dan berharap ia dapat menjadi pria terhormat untuk Estella

Catalyst
Mr jaggers datang membawa kabar bahwa Pip mendapat sejumlah warisan besar dari seseorang misterius

Debate
Pip senang sekaligus resah karena itu artinya ia harus meninggalkan Joe dan Kakaknya yang sedang sakit setelah kecelakaan waktu itu



ACT 2
Break into 2
Pip berangkat ke london dengan perasaan campur aduk, ia sempat ingin memutar kembali tapi ia tidak jadi

B story
Pip berteman dengan Herbert yang kemudian menjadi sahabatnya, ia mulai menjalani kehidupan sebagai Pria terhormat dibantu dengan Herbert dan gurunya

Fun and Games
Pip bertemu lagi dengan Estella yang sudah bertamabah cantik dan menemaninya jalan-jalan. Pip sempat bertemu dengan buronan yang dulu pernah ditemuinya dan membuat pip merasa was-was. Pip dijebak oleh Orlick yang kejam dan hampir saja dibunuh

Mid point
Penderma yang sesungguhnya akhirnya datang dan kebenaran pun terungkap, bukan Ms. Havisham, melainkan Mr. Magwitch yang merupakan buronan yang ditolongnya dulu dan ternyata juga merupakan Ayah kandung Estella

Bad Guys Close In
Keberadaan Magwitch lambat laun akhirnya diketahui dan ia kembali dikejar-kejar. Pip diselimuti rasa takut dan berusaha membawa Magwitch kabur

All Is Lost
Magwitch akhirnya tertangkap dan dijatuhi hukuman mati, setelah kepergian Herbert bersama Istrinya Pip merasa kebingungan dan sangat hancur 

Dark Night Of The Soul
Magwitch berpulang saat masih dalam masa tahannya, Pip mengungkapkan bahwa putrinya masih hidup dan tumbuh besar menjadi wanita yang cantik dan bahwa ia menyukainya. Tapi setelah itu Pip tererang sakit yang sangat parah dan terlilit hutang



ACT 3
Break into 3
Pip dirawat oleh Joe dan saat ia menyadarinya Pip merasa sangat malu dan menyesal telah meninggalkan sahabat sekaligus kakak iparnya yang sangat setia dan menyayanginya, Pip sadar bahwa apa yang ia lakukan salah dan berniat untuk kembali ke Old Street untuk menemui Joe dan Biddy untuk mengakui kesalahan dan meminta maaf

Finale
Awalnya ia berniat untuk melamar Biddy, Tapi gagal karena tepat di hari kepulangannya ia menyaksikan Joe dan Biddy menikah. Pip berlapang dada dan kembali merantau menyusul Herbert dan Clara untuk berbisnis ke luar negri

Finale Image
Pip sudah dewasa dan bisnisnya diluar negri berjalan lancar, ia sudah mengganti uang Joe yang membayar hutangnya dahulu. Pip pulang ke Old Street dan mendapati Joe duduk di dekat tungku perapian bersama anaknya, Pip, yang sengaja diberi nama yang sama dengannya, Serta pergi ke rumah tua mendiang Ms. Havisham dan secara tak sengaja bertemu Estella yang telah hancur namun aura dingin yang dulu sudah pergi darinya, mereka berdua berjanji akan terus berteman dan kemudian kembali berpisah. 🙂

Sonia Grgas

There's no denying the Dickens is a great writer with a tremendous grasp of human nature. The book was very enjoyable but it was overly descriptive, which doesn't work for me and it loses a star for that.

And this marks the end of my 2019 Dickens sprint!

Great Expectations is probably known in literary circles as the better David Copperfield. If it is not, well too bad, that’s what I am calling it.

This book is another classic Dickens, complete with an unfairly treated orphan child, a pitying look into the criminal system in the Victorian era, some unexpected humour, and just a boatload of crime and moral shaming.
Yet, I found myself following Pip through the cringe-y highs and shockingly dark lows of his life with a curiosity, which is what I am looking for in an overly detailed Dickens story spanning decades of tongue-in-cheek Victorian shenanigans.

I would recommend, if only for the petty legend that is Miss Havisham.

★★★☆ // it took me a long time to finish this book and would often pause after each part ended. i have to say that i’m not a fan of its prose and i suppose that’s what contributed to my seasonal mood of picking this up to finish. despite that, the core story touched my heart. i often feel like Great Expectations is a really sad story, and Pip was always just sort of floating from one circumstance to another. there are always external events that prevent him from being happy and to really belong to a place. he couldn’t comfortably stay home because his sister was abusive even though he had Joe and Biddy. he was transported to Miss Havisham’s house and fell in love with Estella, but was cruelly disregarded at every turn. he was then in London to be a gentleman, but would later learn that his sponsor is the very threat to the glory he strives for. so, his long journey has always been turbulent but i liked where things ended for him. that end meant a new beginning and going back to the people that held him dear to their hearts even if they didn’t exactly ended on good terms in their last encounter.

for some reason, even though i appreciate the dynamic between Pip and Estella, i didn’t really fall in love with them. i often have this feeling that he idealized her too much. to be honest, from the get-go, i was kind of always rooting for Biddy. she just seems so pure-hearted and supportive of Pip but also never tolerates him when he’s wrong. she’s just so consistently endearing.


  ”Biddy was never insulting, or capricious, or Biddy today and somebody else tomorrow; she would have derived only pain, and no pleasure, from giving me pain; she would far rather have wounded her own breast than mine.”


Pip’s relationship to Magwitch and Joe are kind of the same in a sense. they just happened to be in different circumstances. i think that ultimately these are two people who cared for him and wanted him to be happy, to be something. his relationship to them were the most touching parts of the book.

finally, there’s this passage in the book that i just loved:


  ”I whistled and made nothing of going. But the village was very peaceful and quiet, and the light mists were solemnly rising, as if to show me the world, and I had been so innocent and little there, and all beyond was so unknown and great, that in a moment with a strong heave and sob, I broke into tears.”


it perfectly captures the anxiety that one feels of facing a huge change for the first time, of leaving something familiar and comfortable. but it was also exciting and full of hope. it was a reminder that there is really no other choice but to move forward and see how it goes.

Great Expectations, Dickens's funny, frightening and tender portrayal of the orphan Pip's journey of self-discovery, is one of his best-loved works. Showing how a young man's life is transformed by a mysterious series of events - an encounter with an escaped prisoner; a visit to a black-hearted old woman and a beautiful girl; a fortune from a secret donor - Dickens's late novel is a masterpiece of psychological and moral truth, and Pip among his greatest creations.

Benedict Neo

My first ever Charles Dickens novel. I must say it was quite difficult reading some parts of it due to the writing style of the Victorian Era, but with beautiful descriptions that bring inanimate objects to life, along with a mature, well-written story about the life of a poverty-stricken young boy who was lifted from his low social class and transformed into a London gentleman, presented many lessons and caricatures that many can relate till this day.

Perhaps the most important lesson of all being — in the shortness and brevity of our life on the world, loyalty, love, family relations and friendships are the only few things to be appreciated and worth striving than rising in social class and accumulating material grandeur and money, which in the end amounts to nothing but dissatisfaction, ego, and loneliness.

jennifer 

“[When] 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.” 
.

It took me a while to get through, but I have to say I completely see why this novel has retained popularity over 150+ years. I truly enjoyed it. 

Arjo Gupto

Mr Dickens continues to be the one of the main motivations for my existence as a writer!

Ed Kay

Perhaps I need to be more forgiving reading historical fiction in the modern day, but Jesus, how many coincidences? Every single character introduced turned out to be related to another character from an entirely separate section of the plot. Apparently this was a big convention of the day (I know Dickens employs this in Oliver Twist, and similarly Bronte with Jane Eyre - "oh, these ENTIRELY RANDOM STRANGERS are actually my LONG LOST COUSINS!") but it leaves me cold.

The writing is stunning, though. A bit overly-flowery at times, making the slower sections a trudge, but when he gets it right, Dickens nails it. As he does with the characterisation. Do you ever hate a self-promoting ass as much as you do Pumblechook? Or love a simpleton as you do Joe Gargery? Genius.

Ariel

Umm,
- lost the plot at the halfway mark
-the love story was cute but verrrrrryyyyyyy slow burn
-just dragged 
-language was confusing but I totally don't blame the book.
Disappointed

miraj

everyone that says they like this book are lying liars that lie.

Lynn

3.25 ⭐️  I did it! Completed my first Dickens novel (not including A Christmas Carol). I didn’t love this book throughout and quite despised Pip at times, however, I thoroughly enjoyed the second half of the book in which there were some plot twists I hadn’t foreseen and Dickens ties a nice bow on the novel. I will surrender that our dear Charles has a mastery over the English language and I enjoyed learning more about London at that time, yet I can’t say I adored this book as much as most seem to do. Regardless I am happy to have read it and maybe I’ll pick up some other longer classics in the future. Big thanks to the r/bookclub for helping me trudge through this.

Beatrix Haase

I can not remember when I finished this book... So I set a random date

xoxo,
Bebe

Rhianna Jones

Charlotte Dann

Didn't quite finish it in 2019, but making a strong start to 2020 (incidentally a year for which I have great expectations). I want to make a habit of reading a Dickens around Christmas, there's something festive about old English good fortune and hardship. Miss Havisham is iconic, and I loved Pip's progress through the book. All tied up with a neat little bow.

Nicole Sonja

This is a well written book. I can’t deny that. It was full of thrilling plot twists and tiny important details that evoke imagery. 
It’s not my favorite Dickens novel. I find that this is the first tragedy that I don’t like. This could be because I don’t like Pip. He was rather disagreeable in an unforgivable way. I didn’t like that he was so easily manipulated and that he had no control over even himself. I seem to have left with the impression that he could have prevented some of what happened to him. 
I think I should read this book again one day since there were so many details.

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. 'Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule.' Living with his sister and her husband, Pip is an orphan without any expectations. It is only when he begins to visit a rich old woman, Miss Havisham and her adopted niece that he begins to hope for something better. When it is revealed that Pip has inherited a large sum of money from a mysterious benefactor on the condition that he moves to London to become a gentleman, Pip's adventure really begins. Epic, illuminating and memorable, Dickens mysterious tale of Pip's quest to find the truth about himself is one of his most enduring and popular novels to date.

Arianna M

2.5 stars. This could've been three hundred pages shorter with great ease. I kept checking if Dickens had been paid by the word for this (he hadn't! and I knew he hadn't!), because boy does this read like he had! The novel improves in the last quarter—but not enough to make me forget the pain of the first three quarters.
The fact of the matter is, the sensibilities of this book are far too Victorian for me. I understand the context, and I am happy Dickens tried to expose social inequalities with his writing, but this was too long and boring in too many places. Also, there's other Victorian writers who wrote to the same end, that I enjoy more, so it's not just a matter of the novel being a product of its time.

Noha Abdelaziz

it's also matter of expectation. We don't miss things that we never expected to have .
الجمله دي بتلخص كل الكتاب او بالاصح يكفي المقدمه عشان تلخص كل الروايه او كل الحياه في وجهة نظر البشريه ، فضلت شويه عقبال ما استوعبت انها خلصت انها خلاص كدا دي النهايه النهايه اللانهائيه اكيد ولكن نهايه ببدايه شويه افكار في دماغك كدا ، تقريبا دي اول مره اقرأ لتشارليز او يمكن اول مره ارتبط بروايه ليه كدا في الاول كرهتها وحسيت اني عايزه اقفلها واكنسل فكرة اني اقرأها بس كأم الروايه سمعتني ورحات شدتني من اول ما Pip بدأ يزور الست عشان يتعلم عندها *مبعرفش احفظ اسمها -_- * هنا بدأت احس بشوية تحويلات في الرواية وجت الصدمه الي خلتني اقعد عليها ما اقومش ولا اسيبها الا لما ترضي فضولي بالي بيحصل ودا بيبدأ من اول ما يسافر لندن عشان يكون gentleman او اول ما اخته يحصلها حادثه هنا الاحداث هتكبر وتطورات كتير هتحصل في حياته وفي وجهة نظري عن الرواية .. 
كنت بكره اخته ومع ذلك كنت حاسه ان السجين بتعاطف معاه غريب ومعرفش كنت ليه حساه مظلوم مش ظالم بس متوقعتش نهائي انه هيكون ليه اي صلة في دراسة بيب من اي اتجاه زي زيه شكيت في العجوز انها هي السبب في الدراسه والفلوس دي وجو فكرني بالجزء الضعيف او بالاصل لكل انسام الي بيكرهه لما بيعلى وبيتعالي عليه والي بيشوف انه عار يكون موجود معاه في نفس المكان قدام الناس والي متوفر في كل مكان وفي كل حد عايز يبقى حاجه مميزه * مش ك شرط بس ك نظرية* 
استفزتني إستيلا بشكل خاص وتقريبا هو دا القصد من شخصيتها ومع ذلك كنت حاسه ان دورها مهمش وكان ممكن يبقى اقوى من كدا.
وكرهت لما سرع الاحداث بسرعه في فتره لدرجه اني اضايقت انه ما 
مالهاش بالتفاصيل المهمه والي ممكن تكون لمسه خفيفه ودسمه.
اسلوب الكاتب سلس ومعبر جدا تحس انك بتعيش تفاصيل الرواية وكانك قاعد وسطهم وبتتفرج عيشني في الحقبه الي اتكتبت بيها الروايه وسابني ب مليون سؤال وسؤال وفكره .. وغير فطرتي عن الحياه الرواية مش لترفيه دي لاشباع نظريه الانانيه في الانسان وتأكيد مبدأ الأنا في البشرية ..
الرواية تستحق القرأه وارشحها لكل قارئ فلسفي ودماغه صافيه الايام دي :))

Ella

she’s not interested in you bro, move on.

still getting used to dickens' language and writing, so this one took me a bit to get through, but it was a magnificent read. loved the relationships between pip and joe, along with pip and herbert (I still believe they were the ones who were in love, but I digress). truly made me think about women's station in life in these ages, how manipulation can work its terror. I hold a dear place in my heart for pip pirrip; I think he is a sweet boy at heart who just wants to do right, but is easily swayed by the wonders of social advancement due to his inner insecurity. he reminds me a bit of myself, in some ways. (I would also like to add that, although not knowing whether this is an unpopular opinion or not, I actually prefer the original ending to this novel to the new one. it seems more fitting.)

all in all, I'd like to thank my ap lit teacher for assigning this as our summer reading—one of my favorite classics for sure!

nita

still getting used to dickens' language and writing, so this one took me a bit to get through, but it was a magnificent read. loved the relationships between pip and joe, along with pip and herbert (I still believe they were the ones who were in love, but I digress). truly made me think about women's station in life in these ages, how manipulation can work its terror. I hold a dear place in my heart for pip pirrip; I think he is a sweet boy at heart who just wants to do right, but is easily swayed by the wonders of social advancement due to his inner insecurity. he reminds me a bit of myself, in some ways. (I would also like to add that, although not knowing whether this is an unpopular opinion or not, I actually prefer the original ending to this novel to the new one. it seems more fitting.)

all in all, I'd like to thank my ap lit teacher for assigning this as our summer reading—one of my favorite classics for sure!

Great Expectations

Reviews

Highlights