Great Expectations

Though Great Expectations contains some flawlessly kind, ideal characters (such as Joe and Biddy) and some simply evil characters (such as Orlick), most of the novel’s characters are morally complex, displaying both their best and worst characteristics. Choose between Pip, Estella, Miss Havisham, Mr. Jaggers, or Abel Magwitch and track that character’s moral progression over the course of the book. 

Between Pip’s various “educators” on his path to becoming a gentleman—including Mr. Wopsle, Biddy, Estella, Herbert, and Matthew Pocket—how does Pip’s educational process change over the course of the novel? How does Pip’s idea of a “gentleman” evolve with his teachings?

Pip’s romantic desires are connected to his material aspirations. Considering this link between desire and material gain, do you interpret Great Expectations as a romance, or a cynical representation of love? Defend your opinion with evidence from the book. 

In Great Expectations, Pip’s rise in class status is fraught with complications. In your opinion, what is the book’s message about rising up in class? Be sure to cite both the positive and negative effects of Pip’s wealth. 

Post-colonial theorists such as Edward Said have analyzed the ways Great Expectations exemplifies the British imperial process. Do you think that Great Expectations is an imperialist novel? Defend your answer using evidence from the text. 

Throughout Great Expectations, Pip experiences a number of strange premonitions, visions, and hauntings, from his childhood dream wherein a file jabs “at [him] out of a door” (179) to the eerie specter of Miss Havisham hanging from a rafter (just before her dress catches fire). Why do you think the novel contains so many visions of this nature? What role do these visions play in the book’s development? 

Why do you think Magwitch stipulates that Pip must retain his original name? What is the significance of Pip’s name in the thematic development of Great Expectations? Analyze at least three scenes wherein Pip’s name is overtly addressed. 

Between Mrs. Joe, Mr. Pumblechook, Miss Havisham, and Magwitch, Great Expectations has several adoptive parent figures who perceive themselves as creators of their children. How are Pip and Estella taught to behave as the creations of their benefactors? Over the course of the book, do they move beyond their creation status? Why or why not?