Questions and Answers for Great Expectations
Great Expectations
What happens at the end of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations?
Pip goes to Cairo and Estella marries someone else. There are two endings of the book. Charles Dickens was advised by a friend to make the ending a little happier, so he revised it. However, in...
Great Expectations
Discuss the significance of the title of the novel Great Expectations.
The title of Charles Dickens's second-to-last work in which he writes with what critics term "extravagant didacticism" and stylistic decorations that "exceed all bounds" indicates the grand...
Great Expectations
Discuss the Pip-Estella relationship in Great Expectations. What bearing does it have on the theme of the novel?
The relationship between Pip and Estella in Great Expectations is incredibly complex and goes through many different stages. When they first meet as children, Estella treats Pip with scorn,...
Great Expectations
What are the main themes in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens? Please include explanations of these themes.
The main themes in Charles Dickens's popular 1861 novel Great Expectations are class differences, crime and injustice, and dreams and aspirations. Class differences One of the main themes in the...
Great Expectations
Describe Pip's first meeting with the convict and his consequent suffering until he runs away with the food for the...
When Pip first meets Magwitch in the marshes as a young boy, he is terrified at the sight of a man with a leg iron. The convict threatens Pip and demands that he bring him a file and food.Pip is...
Great Expectations
Discuss the relationship between Joe Gargery and Pip.
Joe is the husband of Pip's much older sister. He is a blacksmith, a humble occupation, somewhat like being a car mechanic today. When Pip's parents die it is the kind-hearted Joe, rather than...
Great Expectations
What are the three stages of Pip's expectations? Comment on them.
Pip’s expectations are broken down into a cycle of how he experiences the world. Stage One: Childhood and the Rise to Riches Pip has almost no expectations when the book opens. He agrees to help...
Great Expectations
In Great Expectations, Estella says to Pip,"suffering has been stronger than all other teaching." How does suffering...
"I little thought," said Estella, "that I should take leave of you in taking leave of this spot. I am very glad to do so." "Glad to part again, Estella? To me, parting is a painful thing. To me,...
Great Expectations
Describe Miss Havisham and her house from Great Expectations.
Miss Havisham is an eccentric old lady who is always dressed in her wedding dress. She is described as being "faded" - everything about her is old and decaying. Her hair is white and...
Great Expectations
What is the relationship between Pip and Estella in Great Expectations?
One cannot answer this question without first thinking about Miss Havisham. She was jilted as a young woman and never recovered from the loss; because of her disappointment in love, she has groomed...
Great Expectations
Why did Pip lie to Mrs. Joe and Pumblechook about Miss Havisham in Great Expectations?
Pip lies to Mrs. Joe and Uncle Pumblechook because he does not want to tell them what happens at Miss Havisham’s house. He does not think they will understand. When Pip returns home from Miss...
Great Expectations
What is Pip's first impression of London in Great Expectations?
Pip reaches London in chapter 20 of Great Expectations after much eager anticipation. His departure is a great event—not only for him but also for Joe and Biddy and various members of the...
Great Expectations
What does the convict tell Pip to bring him? Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
At the graveyard at the beginning of chapter 1, Pip hears a man telling him to stand still or "I'll cut your throat." A man appears, dressed in "coarse grey" with a "great iron on his leg." Pip...
Great Expectations
What are the differences between the book Great Expectations and the movie?
Out of all the film adaptations of Great Expectations, the 1946 David Lean version tends to receive the most celebration. The film is quite close to the spirit of the original novel, capturing the...
Great Expectations
Who is Biddy and what role does she play in Pip's life in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens?
Biddy was a former classmate of Pip's, and she acts as a foil to Estella and is the overlooked potential love of Pip. She represents everything that Pip should seek in a wife but misses out on due...
Great Expectations
Please provide a character sketch of Pip.
Pip is a complex character. His parents die when he is young and he is raised by his abusive sister and Joe, who is loving yet simple. Raised in an environment in which his sister often beats him...
Great Expectations
Which quotation shows that Pip gets to be kind of stuck up when he gets rich or gets to be a gentleman? I just want...
In Stage Two, Chapter XXVII, Pip receives a tardy message from Joe, who asks to visit Pip. And, even though the message, written by Biddy, expresses Joe's wish that Pip "excuse it [the visit] for...
Great Expectations
What are Pip's expectations in stage 1, stage 2, and stage 3? "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
"Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens is a bildungsroman that is divided into three important stages of the life of Pip, the main character. As an ingenuous boy, Pip lives with his shrewish...
Great Expectations
Why did Estella marry Drummle and not Pip in Great Expectations?
Estella married Drummle because she knew he was a terrible person and everyone would be perplexed and hurt that she married him. She was more interested in hurting her suitors, because there were...
Great Expectations
Explain the context of this quote: That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But, it is...
The context of this quote is that Pip has just come home from his first day at Miss Havisham's house. Mrs. Joe and Mr. Pumblechook want to know all about it. Pip feels incapable of explaining what...
Great Expectations
What is Miss Havisham's house like in Great Expectations?
Miss Havisham is an eccentric lady who lives a life of seclusion. She has a reputation for being strange, and few have actually seen the inside of her house. [Everybody] for miles round had heard...
Great Expectations
What incident takes place between Pip and the pale young gentleman in Great Expectations?
In Chapter Eleven of Great Expectations, Pip is wandering around Miss Havisham's yard when he encounters a "pale young gentleman" with "red eyelids" and "light hair." Rather unexpectedly, this...
Great Expectations
Explain the fairy tale theme in Great Expectations.
The fairy-tale theme in this novel is most apparent in its depiction of a rags-to-riches situation with the character of Pip. Pip is born in humble, rural, working-class surroundings but then...
Great Expectations
What are lessons you can find in Great Expectations and apply to our lives today?
Pip has many expectations, but I think the main expectation in Dickens' novel, and the one to which the title refers, is that Miss Havisham is going to do something wonderful for him. When he...
Great Expectations
What are the most important moral lessons in Great Expectations? For each lesson, what is an example from the book?
The most important moral lessons from the book are: being a good person is more important than wealth; good deeds will come back to benefit you; bad deeds will come back to haunt you; family is the...
Great Expectations
I need to describe Wemmick's home in Dickens' Great Expectations, and I don't know how to do it.
To describe a scene is to show it through the five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Pip's visit to Mr. Wemmick's home is perhaps the most whimsical chapter in the novel and Dickens...
Great Expectations
What is Pip and Miss Havisham's relationship like in Great Expectations?
Pip and Miss Havisham have a complicated relationship. She relies on him because she needs someone for Estella to practice on. Although she hates all men, and presumably boys, she does seem to...
Great Expectations
How does Dickens use humor and pathos in Great Expectations? Please give a detailed explanation.
Charles Dickens uses humor and pathos both singly and together. Although the novel has many serious themes, Dickens makes the narrative more compelling through the constant interjection of humorous...
Great Expectations
In Chapter 2, what is the nature of the relationship between Pip and Joe Gargery?
The nature of Pip's and Joe Gargery's relationship is one of the protective properties of love. The orphaned Pip comes to live with the older sister, Mrs. Gargery, who abuses him, both physically...
Great Expectations
Why is Pip's manservant called the Avenger? Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
On the one hand, Pip is tempted to show him off to Trabb's boy, yet at the same time he worries that Trabb's boy might reveal some of Pip's humble past and the Avenger would ridicule him...
Great Expectations
In what chapter does Estella tell Pip that she has no heart and that she wants nothing to do with him?
Estella explicitly says that she has "no heart" in chapter 29: "You must know," said Estella, condescending to me as a brilliant and beautiful woman might, "that I have no heart—if that has...
Great Expectations
In chapter 8, how does Estella criticize Pip, and what does his reaction to her criticism reveal about Pip? "Great...
In Chapter 8 of "Great Expectations" Pip arrives at Satis House after having been brought by Uncle Pumblechook at the request of Miss Havisham. He is there to play with Estella, who haughtily...
Great Expectations
What are some of the important events in Great Expectations?
1. Another significant event in Pip's journey to maturity, is his detour after having gone with Joe to Miss Havisham to sign the papers of indenture. Afterwards, Pumblechook, "that basest of...
Great Expectations
What is the relationship between Estella and Miss Havisham in Great Expectations?
On the face of it, it might seem rather noble of Miss Havisham to take in the offspring of a couple of common criminals. But in actual fact, there are less selfless motives at work. Ever since she...
Great Expectations
What quotes from Great Expectations show that Biddy does not care about status? Please could you tell me which pages...
Biddy is a perfect contrast to both Estella and Pip. She is a patient, sweet, kind, simple girl who is completely happy with her social status. Like Pip, Biddy is an orphan. Unlike Pip, she does...
Great Expectations
Why does Miss Havisham meet with Joe and Pip, and what does Pip's attitude towards her offer reveal about his...
Miss Havisham commands Pip and Joe to meet with her in order to sign over Pip as an apprentice to Joe. From the time Pip is young, Miss Havisham invites him to her house to watch him play with...
Great Expectations
Why is Great Expectations by Charles Dickens a bildungsroman novel?
Though some critics have argued that Great Expectations isn’t a pure bildungsroman in that it incorporates a number of other genres, it nonetheless displays the basic qualities one would associate...
Great Expectations
What is the quote where Pip realizes he would have been happier if he never came into money, never met Miss Havisham,...
I used to think, with a weariness on my spirits, that I should have been happier and better if I had never seen Miss Havisham's face, and had risen to manhood content to be partners with Joe in...
Great Expectations
In Chapter 25-26 of Great Expectations, How does Walworth reflect Wemmick's personality? Where can I find proof?
Wemmick is clearly a dual personality. He is "wooden" at the office, having "a post-office mouth" that merely takes in the information, sorting it, and sending out what is necessary. In many...
Great Expectations
What are the setting, problem of the story, climax, events leading to resolution, and ending of the novel Great...
While short stories usually have a singleness of setting, conflict and climax, in novels there are often multiple settings and conflicts. Such is the case, of course, with Charles Dickens's Great...
Great Expectations
How does Pip feel about Biddy in "Great Expectations"? How does she feel about Pip and his wanting to be a gentleman?
Having spent time with Pip in her great-aunt's school, Biddy becomes childhood friends with Pip, especially because both are orphans and are emotionally neglected in their homes. Then, when Mrs....
Great Expectations
What are the conditions upon which Pip will receive his "great expectations" in Chapter 18?
Mr. Jaggers was a lawyer from London, sent by Pip’s benefactor to inform him and Joe on the offer made and the conditions of the said offer. The lawyer first informed Joe of the offer to relieve...
Great Expectations
What are examples of satire in part 1 of Great Expectations?
In one respect, Great Expectations is a social satire that criticizes the social justice of the Victorian Age as well as the fawning admiration of the rising middle class for what he perceived as a...
Great Expectations
Describe the situation when Pip meets the convict in Great Expectations.
Pip meets the convict in the marshes in a cemetery. Pip’s meeting of the convict was a fortuitous event, for sure. The day starts fairly ordinarily. Since most of Pip’s family is dead, including...
Great Expectations
Please provide an example of humour and irony in Chapters 1-10 of Great Expectations.
Much of the humor in Great Expectations comes from Dickens's detailed descriptions of his larger-than-life characters. For instance, Uncle Pumblechook is described as "a large, hard-breathing,...
Great Expectations
Why do you think Miss Havisham manipulates and misleads Pip into thinking she is his secret benefactor? What, if...
Miss Havisham wants to gain revenge on the whole of mankind for being jilted on her wedding day all of those years ago. She doesn't deliberately set out to fool Pip as to the true identity of his...
Great Expectations
What is remarkable about Mr. Jagger’s housekeeper, Molly?
Molly, Mr. Jaggers's housekeeper, is a minor character with a big secret: she is Magwitch's wife and Estella's mother. Molly had been accused of murder, but Jaggers was able to get her acquitted,...
Great Expectations
Describe Pip's encounter with the two convicts and their influence on his life and future in Great Expectations.
The two convicts Pip encounters are Abel Magwitch and his partner, the evil gentleman conman Compeyson. When Pip first meets them, he is a small boy. He is visiting his family tombstones in the...
Great Expectations
What is the significance of "Great Expectations?"
"Great Expectations" is significant also as a Bildungsroman, or the "novel of maturation." And it is for this reason, Dickens's novel is often included in school anthologies. The moral lessons...
Great Expectations
How do the characters' names illustrate/symbolize the themes of Great Expectations?
In Great Expectations, the names employed by Dickens are significant because they help to convey his key ideas. Here are some examples: Pip - the word, Pip, means the seed of a fruit and, just like...
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