In Great Expectations, the reader follows the protagonist, a young boy named Pip, through the opportunities and relationships in his life. Help your students bring the story to life with Storyboard That's premade lesson plans and activities!
One of the most popular forms of literary fiction, Bildungsroman novels capture the essence of character growth, maturity, and understanding about the world around them. At its very core, this type of novel is a story about a character’s maturing process, especially from childhood; in fact, it is often called a “coming-of-age” story.
Pip is from a small, rural area south of London, affectionately called "the meshes," or the marshes, by local people.
In order for Pip to find happiness and content, he must journey to London and begin his education to become a gentleman.
Pip knows that he used to be happy, before he met Estella. He believes that becoming a gentleman and winning her over will make him happy again.
Pip is tutored by Matthew Pocket, a relative of Miss Havisham's, and is helped by Matthew's son Herbert, in the ways of becoming a gentleman.
When Pip arrives in London, he finds it to be dirty and depressing, not at all the glitz and glamour he had envisioned.
Pip realizes that he is not meant to have Estella, because his benefactor is Abel Magwitch, a convict. Therefore, Pip can have no hope of being accepted in high society.
STAGE 3: MATURITY
STAGE 4: ACCEPTANCE AND REMEDY
Pip resolves to help Magwitch escape from England, despite knowing it is a risk. First, he ensures that Miss Havisham will continue his secret plan to help Herbert financially.
As Magwitch lays in his prison cell dying, Pip does not tell him that his fortune has been confiscated; instead, he gives him the gift of knowing his daughter is still alive.
Pip falls ill and Joe tends to him; Pip realizes that his home is not in London after all, and resolves to make himself an honest man for Biddy.
Pip returns to the forge a changed man, but discovers that Joe and Biddy have just gotten married. He decides to go work for Herbert in Cairo instead.
Pip returns to visit Joe, Biddy, and their kids. Pip lives with Herbert and Clara and never married. He is no longer proud and arrogant, and has repaired his relationship with Joe.
Pip meets Estella at Satis House, and while they are both greatly changed, they offer comfort to one another. Pip also reveals to Herbert that he helped him financially.