Great Expectations

About the story

Orphan Pip is growing up with his sister and her kind husband, Joe the blacksmith, when he is summoned to play at the gloomy house of Miss Havisham, who still wears her wedding dress. Later a secret benefactor sends him to London to become a gentleman — and Pip learns that money, manners, and true friendship are very different things.

Before reading

• What does it mean to be a "gentleman" or a "lady"?
• Have you ever been embarrassed by someone you love? Why?

Discussion questions

1. How does meeting Miss Havisham and Estella change the way Pip sees himself?
2. Why does Pip become ashamed of Joe? Is he right to feel that way?
3. Who does Pip think his benefactor is? Why?
4. How do the pictures show the difference between the forge and Miss Havisham's house?
5. What does Pip learn about loyalty?
6. What are Pip's "great expectations," and does he get them?

Words to know

• Benefactor — someone who gives money or help.
• Forge — a blacksmith's workshop.
• Gentleman — (in Dickens's time) a man of wealth and good manners.
• Convict — a person found guilty of a crime.
• Snobbery — looking down on people of lower social rank.

Activities

• Two worlds. Draw the forge and Satis House side by side. What does each say about the people who live there?
• Letter to Joe. Write the letter Pip should have written to Joe from London.