The plot in six lines
Pip, an orphan living with his sister and Joe Gargery, steals food and a file for an escaped convict, who protects his secret when soldiers capture him.
At Satis House, Miss Havisham watches Estella mock Pip's hands and boots, awakening a shame about his origins that makes him long to become a gentleman.
Pip becomes Joe's apprentice but resents the forge, while Biddy recognizes that his desire to rise comes from his longing for Estella.
Mr Jaggers announces that an unnamed benefactor will support Pip in London, and Pip wrongly assumes Miss Havisham intends him for Estella.
In London, Herbert Pocket helps Pip learn manners, but Pip accumulates debts, remains devoted to Estella despite her warnings, and treats Joe coldly.
The truth about his benefactor humbles Pip, who risks everything to protect that person, endures illness and loss, and returns repentantly to Joe and Biddy before a later reunion with Estella brings quiet hope.
Themes
Class and conduct: Pip mistakes wealth and manners for worth, while Joe's kindness shows that being a gentleman depends on conduct.
Guilt: Pip's guilty conscience connects his childhood secret with his later neglect of the people who love him.
Ambition and shame: Estella's scorn makes Pip ashamed of the forge, turning his wish for improvement into rejection of his closest friends.
Love and control: Miss Havisham shapes Estella to hurt others, while Joe's undemanding love offers a contrast to Pip's painful longing.
Money and crime: Pip's hidden financial support and Jaggers's legal world bring respectable society into close contact with crime.
Characters
- PipAn orphan raised at a village forge, who longs to rise above his low origins and win the girl he loves.
- Joe GargeryThe gentle village blacksmith, married to Pip's sister, who treats Pip as a friend and wants only that he be well.
- Miss HavishamA wealthy, embittered woman who lives in a shuttered house in her old wedding dress, with all the clocks stopped.
- EstellaA beautiful, proud girl raised by Miss Havisham, who tells Pip she has no heart and cannot love him.
- Mr JaggersA powerful London criminal lawyer, guarded and shrewd, who manages Pip's affairs and never explains his clients.
- Herbert PocketA cheerful, penniless young man who becomes Pip's closest friend and teaches him the manners of the city.
For the AP English Literature exam, May 2027
- The AP English Literature and Composition exam is on Wednesday 5 May 2027, in the first session of the day.
- The College Board sets no reading list for AP English Literature and Composition. Great Expectations is one of the works it prints with its sample Question 3, the literary argument, where you choose the work yourself.
- Section 1 is 55 multiple-choice questions in 1 hour, 45 percent of the score. Section 2 is three free-response questions in 2 hours, 55 percent.
A two-week plan
- Day oneRead the 15-minute summary of Great Expectations from start to finish, then tell the story back to yourself in five sentences.
- Day twoA boy meets a convict on the marsh: Notice how Pip's fear and the convict's loyalty complicate the difference between guilt and wrongdoing. Joe's kindness against Mrs Joe's hard hand: Watch how Joe's kindness reveals the value of a home Pip measures mainly through what it lacks.
- Day threeSatis House and the girl who wounds him: Follow how Estella's comments turn ordinary hands and boots into sources of shame for Pip. Shame grows and Pip wants to be a gentleman: Notice how Pip feels ashamed of his shame but still refuses Biddy's honest advice.
- Day fourMr Jaggers brings a startling offer: Watch how Pip turns the lawyer's silence into certainty about Miss Havisham and Estella.
- Day fiveLondon, Herbert Pocket and the ways of Little Britain: Compare Wemmick's separate worlds and Herbert's kindness with the behavior of people who possess social rank.
- Day sixPip drifts from Joe and falls into debt: Notice how Pip's regret after Joe's visit fails to produce a change in his behavior.
- Day sevenWhat the book says about class, guilt and love: Compare Joe's generous love with Pip's painful longing when considering what gives a person moral worth.
- Day eightHow Dickens tells it: voice, mist and symbols: Watch how the older narrator's irony, recurring objects, and mist expose the younger Pip's mistaken beliefs.
- Day nineThe cast: Pip, Joe Gargery, Miss Havisham, Estella and Mr Jaggers. Write one line on what each of them wants.
- Day tenThemes: Class and conduct; Guilt; Ambition and shame; Love and control; Money and crime. Pick one moment in the story for each.
- Day elevenForm: study how the story is told: the narrator, the order of events and the settings.
- Day twelvePractice: plan and write an open-question essay on this work, with a clear claim and evidence from the story.
- Day thirteenPractice: try the same work with a second prompt about a character, a setting or a conflict.
- Day fourteenRecap: reread your notes and the summary, say the plot out loud once, then rest.
From the College Board's AP Central exam page and its course and exam description (effective fall 2024), read on 23 October 2026.
Questions
What is Great Expectations about?
Great Expectations is about Pip's pursuit of wealth and social standing, and the damage that shame does to his loyalties. His movement from Kent to London tests whether becoming a gentleman means acquiring manners or learning to act with kindness.
Who are the main characters in Great Expectations?
The main characters are Pip, Joe Gargery, Estella, Miss Havisham, Mr Jaggers, Herbert Pocket, Wemmick, and Magwitch. They shape Pip's understanding of affection, social ambition, secrecy, and the difference between appearances and moral worth.
What are the main themes of Great Expectations?
The main themes are class, ambition, shame, guilt, loyalty, love, and the connections between money and crime. Dickens contrasts Pip's pursuit of status with Joe's steady kindness and examines how Miss Havisham's influence shapes Estella.
Is Great Expectations on the AP English Literature reading list?
The College Board sets no reading list. Great Expectations is one of the works it prints with its sample Question 3, the literary argument, in its course and exam description (effective fall 2024). On the exam you choose the work yourself.
When is the AP English Literature exam in 2027?
The AP English Literature and Composition exam is on Wednesday 5 May 2027, in the first session of the day.
