What is Great Expectations About?

Updated: June 09, 2023

The novel is set in early Victorian England and follows the life of Pip, an orphan who, through a series of events, finds himself in possession of a large fortune which he uses to try and improve his social status.

Detailed answer:

Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, is one of English literature’s most popular classical works. The novel follows the life of a young orphan named Pip as he rises from humble beginnings to become a gentleman and falls in love with a beautiful girl.
Great Expectations also explores themes such as wealth and poverty, love and rejection, and the eventual triumph of good over evil through its main character’s journey from poverty to wealth. As an orphan who lives with his sister Mrs. Joe Gargery (Joe), Pip feels like an outsider in society and believes that he would have better luck if he were rich like his wealthy friend Herbert Pocket or even better if he had been born into a higher social class such as Miss Havisham who lives in Satis House with her adopted daughter Estella.
Dickens uses irony throughout the novel to highlight how actual events often do not fulfill Pip’s expectations.
The story was written between August 1859 and January 1860 while Dickens worked on another novel (Great Expectations was published in 1867). It has been adapted for stage and screen numerous times. There are currently more than 100 million copies of Great Expectations in print worldwide.