Great Expectations

1861 novel by Charles Dickens

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"Great Expectations" is an 1861 novel by Charles Dickens that follows a young man's journey as his life circumstances change dramatically and he pursues his ambitions. The novel is considered significant for its exploration of social class, ambition, and personal growth in Victorian England.

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Author: Charles Dickens
First published: 1861
Editions: 1,489
Subjects: Authors, Benefactors, Bildungsromans, Boys, British and irish fiction (fictional works by one author), Child and youth fiction, Classic Literature, Coming of age

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Charles Dickens was a British author, journalist, and editor whose work brought attention to the struggles of Victorian England’s lower classes. His writings provided a candid portrait of the era’s poor and served as inspiration for social change. Great Expectations , Dickens’ thirteenth novel, was first published in serial form between 1860 and 1861 and is widely praised as the author’s greatest literary accomplishment. The novel follows the life, relationships, and moral development of an orphan boy named Pip. The novel begins when Pip encounters an escaped convict whom he helps and fears in equal measure. Pip’s actions that day set off a sequence of events and interactions that shape Pip’s character as he matures into adulthood. The vivid characters, engaging narrative style, and universal themes of Great Expectations establish this novel as a timeless literary classic, and an engaging portrait of Victorian life. azw3 — Kindle devices and apps. Also download the Kindle cover thumbnail to see the cover in your Kindle’s library. Despite what you’ve been told, Kindle does not natively support epub. You may also be interested in our Kindle FAQ . kepub — Kobo devices and apps. You may also be interested in our Kobo FAQ . Advanced epub — An advanced format that uses the latest technology not yet fully supported by most ereaders. If you’re comfortable with technology and want to contribute directly, check out this ebook’s GitHub repository and our contributors section . You can also donate to Standard Ebooks to help fund continuing improvement of this and other ebooks.

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Great Expectations is the thirteenth novel by the English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after David Copperfield, to be fully narrated in the first person. The novel was first published as a serial in Dickens's weekly periodical All the Year Round, from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. In October 1861, Chapman & Hall published the novel in three volumes.

The novel is set in Kent and London in the early to mid-19th century and contains some of Dickens's most celebrated scenes, starting in a graveyard, where the young Pip is accosted by the escaped convict Abel Magwitch. Great Expectations is full of extreme imagery—poverty, prison ships, chains, and fights to the death—and features a colourful cast of characters who have entered popular culture. These include the eccentric Miss Havisham, the beautiful but cold Estella, and Joe Gargery, the unsophisticated and kind blacksmith. Dickens's themes include wealth and poverty, love and rejection, and the eventual triumph of good over evil. Great Expectations, which is popular with both readers and literary critics, has been translated into many languages and adapted numerous times into various media.