Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens
Table of Contents
Points To Ponder
- Pip changes throughout the novel, but in some ways, his journey is circular. How does Pip’s personality come back to the way it was when we first meet him on the marsh?
- In the novel, females are portrayed as coldly indifferent or wildly erratic. What might these characters indicate about the perception of women in the 19th century, or at least the author’s perception of them?
- Pip’s definition of “gentleman” shifts throughout the course of the novel. From the perspective of Pip at the end of the novel, how would you define a gentleman?
- At the close of Great Expectations, Pip does not believe that he and Estella will part. Why or why not is the ending of the novel appropriate?
- How do you think Great Expectations would be different if the story had been told from Estella’s perspective?
