While Charles Dickens's classic tale of maturation, Great Expectations, is replete with situational irony and satire, it also contains verbal and dramatic irony.

Verbal irony often involves surprising or amusing contradictions in the use and meanings of words. One example of verbal irony is Mrs. Joe's name for the device which she uses for disciplining Pip. "Tickler" is the name given to the piece of cane with which Mrs. Joe strikes Pip with rage. Ironically, Pip describes it as "wax-ended piece of cane, worn smooth by collision with my tickled frame" (ch.1). The phrase "tickled frame" is ironic since Pip is more than "tickled" by this instrument of harsh punishment. Whenever Mrs. Joe appears, Joe tries to hide Pip and protect him from a thrashing with this cruel tool.

Satis House is the name of the house belonging to Miss Havisham which was once a beautiful home with all the luxuries of the age. The word satis comes from the Latin word that means "enough." Ironically, it suggests that the residents are people satisfied and contented with life. Of course, the opposite is the case. Miss Havisham is a tragic figure who, after having been abandoned at the altar on her wedding day, tries to wreak vengeance on males by having her pretty ward be cruel to boys and men. Estella never seems content, either, because she is brought up alone and is taught to be selfish and hateful.

Dramatic irony involves the readers' knowledge of things about which the characters are unaware. In chapter 8, while Pip believes that Miss Havisham has him return to Satis House after his first visit because she wants him to establish a relationship with Estella, the reader becomes aware that Miss Havisham exploits Pip. For unlike Pip, the reader is aware that Miss Havisham's intentions are not honorable. When Estella objects to playing cards with Pip, Miss Havisham whispers to her the reason she has Pip there.

I thought I overheard Miss Havisham answer—only it seemed so unlikely—"Well? You can break his heart." (ch.8)

The innocent Pip is naive, but the reader suspects that since Miss Havisham is dressed strangely in a wedding gown and has previously put her hand upon her heart and declared that it is "Broken!" in a strange, boastful way that she has plans to exploit Pip. The stopped clock and other signs suggest to the reader that Miss Havisham was jilted, and she may now harbor a hatred for the male sex.

In chapter 23, Pip goes to Matthew Pocket's home where he perceives the foolishness and superficiality of Mrs. Pocket who fancies herself as a woman of pedigree who should not be burdened with domestic tasks. She buries herself in a book of aristocratic family titles, hoping to find a title which she can claim because of what her father has taught her.

. . . he had directed Mrs. Pocket to be brought up from her cradle as one who in the nature of things must marry a title, and who was to be guarded from the acquisition of plebeian domestic knowledge. (ch.23)

As she occupies herself with the book on English titles, Mrs. Pocket foolishly pays no attention to her children, especially the baby who is mistakenly given a nutcracker to play with which had "handles of that . . . were not likely to agree with its eyes" (ch.23). The dramatic irony that occurs involves the reader's knowledge that Pip fails to apply the realization that he has about Mrs. Pocket's foolish delusions and neglect of loved ones to himself as he, too, neglects his family.

In chapter 31 there is another example of the foolish delusions of adults as Mr. Wopsle plays the role of Hamlet. When Pip attends his performance, he hears the jeers of the audience since Mr. Wopsle's performance is terrible. Afterwards, Pip is told that a Mr. Waldengarver is waiting for him. When Pip and Herbert meet him, the stranger is a now-pretentious Mr. Wopsle. When Wopsle asks them what they thought of the performance, Herbert says, "Capitally!" Then Pip mimics this reply without the courage to be honest. Ironically, while Pip perceives the superficiality in the unrealistic Mr. Wopsle, he does not perceive it in himself when he is not candid in his response. The reader is also aware that Pip is no better than Mr. Wopsle in his pretensions and newly acquired snobbery that keeps him from returning to the marsh.

When Pip receives a large sum of money from Jaggers, which has been given to the lawyer by Abel Magwitch, he is told that he has come into a fortune and has “great expectations.” What he means by this is that Pip can look forward to a life of wealth and high social standing, the life of a gentleman. This is the dream that Pip’s harbored for many years, and is understandably excited to escape from his humble blacksmith’s cottage and enter into a new life of urbane sophistication.

And yet, although Pip does indeed lead such a life for a time, it is eventually taken away from him. His great expectations of wealth and social standing essentially divert him from his true self, turning him into a frightful snob. The irony of the title, therefore, is that these great expectations are, in the long run, anything but great. They lead Pip to value those things in life that are ultimately unimportant, such as money and social class. It is only by turning his back on these fripperies and returning to what really matters in life, such as love, loyalty, and family, that Pip can truly achieve the maturity that he initially thought Jaggers’s “great expectations” would bring him.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is a novel of romance and adventure and a good example of a Bildungsroman, or a novel of the development of a protagonist’s character and mindset through the journey from childhood to maturity. Following a myriad of experiences and frequently spiritual crises, the protagonist usually finds their individuality and purpose in life.

The novel begins as the narrator and main character Pip relates his experiences as an orphan, the abuse he suffers at the hand of his mean sister, and the kindness he shows to a convict he helps to escape from the law. The initial chapters in the novel allow Dickens to demonstrate how the protagonist’s personality develops, which eventually helps to highlight the irony of Pip’s discoveries as he comes of age.

Pip is cognizant of the injustices that have been done to him by adults. As a result, he is determined to seek higher goals in his life:

I had believed in the forge as the glowing road to manhood and independence. Within a single year all this was changed.

He vows to acquire wealth and power and he eventually achieves his goals, ironically with the help of Provis (Abel Magwitch), the convict Pip assisted in his earlier experience in the graveyard. Although Provis is a homeless character and a societal outcast, he is a man with a big heart, very much unlike other adults that have harmed Pip in the past. He provides Pip with the funds necessary to fulfill the boy’s “great expectations” by becoming a “gentleman.”

Ironically, after seemingly fulfilling his warped dreams of success, Pip changes his personality. He becomes reckless, spends money irresponsibly, and develops into a selfish snob. When he ultimately learns that his benefactor is the convict Provis, Pip begins his epiphany. Although he initially reacts to the news of the source of his wealth by growing to hate his financial status, he gradually learns the extent to which Provis has sacrificed and has helped him to alter his personality for the better. The great irony in the novel is Pip’s discovery that wealth and power do not equal happiness. Instead, the opposite of his “great expectations” proves to be true. Loyalty, friendship, and good virtue are more important than social class and wealth. For example, before his acquired wealth, Estella hated Pip since he was a common laborer. Nevertheless, Estella’s own background shows her to be complicit in felonious activity such as adultery and murder. Elevating his social status to the satisfaction of Estella does nothing to move Pip closer to achieving his goals in life.

In the end, it is not Pip’s desire for wealth and status that brings about his transformation. It is ironically his innate humility and compassion for others that he possessed all along that carries him to maturity.

One type of irony is when event turns out the opposite of what one expects.

Pip learns he has "great expectations" when an anonymous benefactor provides the money so that he can be established as a gentleman. Pip believes his benefactor is Miss Havisham. He thinks she wants to elevate him so that he can marry her ward, Estella, who represents a refined, high-status life to him.

Ironically, Pip learns instead that his great expectations come from the convict, Magwitch, a man he helps as a child. Magwitch has become wealthy in Australia and wants to repay Pip. Pip is horrified that he owes his wealth to a convict and no longer sees it as a great expectation. He also discovers that Miss Havisham raised Estella to be cold and break Pip's heart, just as Miss Havisham's own heart was broken. She never wanted Estella to marry Pip. Finally, Pip learns that Estella, who is a symbol of refinement to him, is the convict Magwitch's daughter. All his great expectations have turned out to be the opposite of what he thought they would be.

Ironically, Pip learns that his great expectations lie not in wealth or climbing the class ladder but in personal growth, generosity of spirit, and learning to value the simple things in life. As he learns to appreciate people like Magwitch and Joe, he becomes a better person and begins to build his life on a solid foundation.