Charles Dickens was born in 1812, in Portsmouth England. As a result, Charles was determined to be more successful than his father. He taught himself shorthand as a teenager and became a court reporter, allowing him to resume his education. From there, Dickens launched his lifelong career as a novelist, work that he supplemented with long hours in the theatre and publication businesses. Most of his books were published serially, in magazines, during his lifetime. Charles Dickens was happy in his life, although his marriage, which lasted twenty-two years, was mutually unrewarding. By the time he wrote Great Expectations, Dickens was separated from his wife and was involved in a trying affair with a young actress. Perhaps as a consequence, the ending Dickens wrote for Pip and Estella (in which the two characters presumably never reunite) was not a happy one. But an editor convinced Dickens to change his novel's conclusion to the sunnier one which now remains. Dickens died in 1870.
Pip is an orphaned boy raised by his domineering sister and her kind husband, and his life and expectations make for the drama of the novel. A mysterious benefactor enables Pip to escape a destiny as the village blacksmith, and he travels to London as a teenager to become a 'gentleman.' Pip's perception of his life and prospects (especially his prospects with Estella) change dramatically when he's twenty-three, when he learns that his benefactor is not a rich old lady, but a common convict. Ultimately, Pip comes to appreciate the convict as a benefactor and a friend.
Below is a summary of the first three chapters:
Chapter One
The novel opens in the marsh country of England, land raw and wet, where young Pip stands alone in a churchyard before seven gravestones, under which are buried Pip's mother, father and five younger brothers. The sight of these stones starts Pip crying, and then, to make matters worse, out from between the graves hobbles a growling, mean and ragged looking man. He's got an iron shackle on one leg, but two good arms, which he uses to turn Pip upside-down, shaking loose a crust of bread from his pocket. The man sets Pip on a gravestone and wolfs down the bread, demanding to know where Pip is from and with whom he lives. Pip points to his village and explains that he lives with his sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, and Joe Gargery, a blacksmith. After one more tip upside down, the shackled man demands that Pip meet him at the Battery tomorrow morning, with a file and some "whittles" (food). He warns Pip that he's not alone, that he has a henchman, a vicious young boy that's hiding among the stones, listening, who will be eager to tear Pip to pieces if he doesn't procure the whittles and file. That said, the old man hobbles off and Pip watches him head toward the river, a figure spooky enough to turn even the cow's heads.
Chapter Two
Pip has been raised "by hand," that is, he's kept in line by a hand that never hesitates to whack him when he gets out of line. His sister Mrs. Joe, is the primary hand-swinger. Twenty years his senior, not good-looking, and incredibly red-faced, Mrs. Joe keeps the house lively with her constant stomping and cleaning, made all the more frightening because she seems to resent having to raise Pip, being married to a blacksmith, and wearing an apron all day. Her husband Joe, on the other hand, the mild-mannered blacksmith, has a kindly, if not slightly stunned manner. Pip, having returned late from the churchyard, is warned by Joe that Mrs. Joe is currently off looking for him. Joe informs him that she's on a rampage and has got the "Tickler," a stick she uses to hit Pip when her hand doesn't seem punishment enough to fit the crime. Luckily, Joe shelters Pip from his sister, and after a little hemming and hawing, she puts the Tickler away and prepares supper--bread slathered with butter. Remembering the shackled man, Pip risks a good beating by shoving his supper down his pants leg when Mr. and Mrs. Joe aren't looking. Joe, who thinks Pip has swallowed his dinner in one mighty gulp, shakes his head in amazement and tells Pip that "bolting" his food is liable to get him sick. Mrs. Joe, who can't stand to be left in the dark, gets even angrier because Pip and Joe are having a conversation and leaving her out.
After a dose of tar-water, a nasty preventative medicine, Pip is ordered to do some chores in preparation for tomorrow, which is Christmas day. Just before he heads off to bed, Pip hears the blast of the town's warning guns, and Joe explains that a convict escaped one of the prison ships last night. This news arouses Pip's curiosity, and he almost gets another beating by Mrs. Joe for asking a few questions. She sends him off to bed, where he passes a fitful night of guilt and terror; guilt that he's going to have to rob Joe and Mrs. Joe to get food for the shackled man, and terror that if he doesn't do this, he'll suffer the revenge of being beaten by the prisoner's boy. Terror wins, however, and early the next morning Pip steals a small amount of whittles from the pantry and a file from Joe's shop, and heads off into the misty marshes.
Chapter Three
As Pip runs through the marshes with his stolen whittles and file, with the force of his guilt, he feels as if the scenery and cows are running toward him, pursuing the lowly thief that he's become. Finally, Pip sees a figure asleep by the river. But when he touches the man's shoulder, he suddenly realizes that he's got the wrong man. This second shackled man has the same haggard and creepy look as the one Pip met yesterday, and Pip immediately assumes that it's the young man about whom he's been warned. After taking a swing at Pip, this man disappears into the mist, and Pip runs on to the Battery, where he finds the shackled man looking about ready to drop dead from cold and hunger. The man tears into the food like a dog, and his state of hunger makes Pip momentarily forget his fear and feel a bit of pity.
As most of the food is making its way down the shackled man's throat, Pip ventures to ask whether the man intends to save any for his henchman, the young man. This makes the shackled man laugh a bit, but when Pip explains that he's actually seen another man out in the marshes, the shackled man gets suddenly attentive. He seems to recognize Pip's description, and he demands that Pip lead him to this other man so that he can tear him apart. Pip points in the right direction, and the man begins viciously filing his iron shackle, trying to break free. He's muttering impatiently the whole time, and Pip slips off toward home.
Pip's perceptions of his village are governed by youth and fear. The fear lying in the runaway prisoners threatening to eat him and from his sister, Mrs. Joe, who raised him "by hand." This technique of deep description can be taken from Wordsworth and Keats, but Dickens does so in prose. Therefore, the heavy description serves a double purpose--not only to provide an image for the reader but to show Pip's youthful depiction of the world around him.
