Raised from poverty to live the opulent life of a London socialite, he hopes to win the hand of the disdainful Estella but comes to realise that the things he thought would bring him happiness are nothing compared to the family he has left behind.
Any of Charles Dickens’ novels will give you a flavour of his flair for creating wacky characters and his compassion for the poor, but Great Expectations is perhaps the most universally loved of them all. It tells the story of Pip, who, after helping an escaped convict on the marshes and working as a companion to the frightening, deluded Miss Havisham, is told to nurse ‘great expectations’ for his future. Raised from poverty to live the opulent life of a London socialite, he hopes to win the hand of the disdainful Estella but comes to realise that the things he thought would bring him happiness are nothing compared to the family he has left behind.