Great Expectations has a wealth of memorable characters whom appear in the novel and interact with the hero, Pip, influencing his development for better or for worse.
Pip, the central character of the novel, meets many other people who affect his life for better or worse. They influence his upbringing, his attitudes, his emotions and, most importantly, his financial position. Pip knows some of them from his home in a small country village; he comes into contact with many others during his time in London. As Charles Dickens uses a first-person narrative in this book, it is important to remember that all the other characters are seen through Pip's eyes and that this may affect our views of them. more...
Pip is the protagonist of the novel Great Expectations. We follow his journey from being a poor young boy in the countryside to a well-to-do young man in London who moves in high society. Although he is always restless about improving his position, two things really encourage Pip in his efforts:
It is important to understand that Pip is fundamentally mistaken about both these things. He loves Estella but she cannot love him in return and the money comes from an unexpected and 'contaminated' origin more...
Abel Magwitch, like Pip, follows his own rags to riches story and has his own 'Great Expectations'. He has quite a dramatic change in personality between the earlier and later parts of the book. In the first part of the novel, Magwitch is an escaped convict who meets the young Pip while he is on the run. Pip supplies Magwitch with food and a file to help him in his escape. At this point in the story Magwitch is a frightening figure often compared to a hunted animal. Magwitch is recaptured and is transported to Australia so he disappears from the novel for quite a while.
He reappears (under the name of 'Provis') many years later when Pip has grown up and is living in London after coming into money from a mysterious benefactor. By this time Magwitch is a much older and somewhat kinder figure – though he is still tough and determined to achieve his goals. It eventually becomes clear that Magwitch:more...
Joe is the village blacksmith, strong but gentle, kind and forgiving. Though Pip is his wife's (Mrs Joe) younger brother, he treats Pip like a son. He guides him through his childhood years, shielding him from Mrs Joe's spiteful attacks and providing employment to him when he becomes a young man. He is also Pip's truest friend throughout the book, sticking by him in times of trouble and never being critical of the way Pip behaves.
Although Joe has rough and ready manners and looks uncomfortable in formal clothing, he is a true gentleman. The reader realises how badly Pip is going wrong when he feels ashamed of his old friend when he comes to visit him in London. Joe is 'rewarded' at the end of the novel by a second marriage to Biddy who is one of the kindest people in the book.more...
Main characters
Secondary characters
Minor characters more...
Just like Pip, Estella is an orphan and is subject to abuse by her adoptive mother, Miss Havisham. In Estella's case it is psychological rather than physical abuse. She is brought up to despise men but to use her beauty to attract them and then break their hearts. Pip is possibly the first of her victims. Although only a child herself, she ridicules his background and lack of education. When she grows older, however, she seems to have developed a soft spot for Pip. She repeatedly warns him that she cannot love him in return but he will not listen.
Estella's upbringing means she becomes cold and cruel. Dickens makes it clear that Estella behaves as she does only because of her upbringing, so the reader is sympathetic towards her.
Estella enters into a disastrous and abusive marriage with Bentley Drummle. When he is killed she becomes a widow, free to associate with Pip once more. more...
Miss Havisham is a bitter recluse who has shut herself away since being jilted on her wedding day. She never leaves the house and has stopped all the clocks so that she is unaware of time passing. She always wears her wedding clothes and has left the prepared wedding feast to decay in one of her rooms. As a result of her experiences, Miss Havisham hates humanity, particularly, men. She has adopted a young girl, Estella, and is training her to be cold and cruel so that she will break men’s hearts. Miss Havisham invites the young Pip to the house so that Estella can practice on him. He mistakenly believes that Miss Havisham wishes them to have a future together and he also thinks she is his mystery benefactor.
Although she eventually regrets what she has done and her character starts to change, it is too late. In a tragic accident, Miss Havisham is horribly burned when her wedding dress catches fire and she dies shortly afterwards.
Miss Havisham is clearly suffering from psychological damage so the reader does not condemn her completely. She is one of the mother figures in the novel. more...
