Great Expectations (Maxnotes Literature Guides)

by English Literature Study Guides and Judy Clamon

REA's MAXnotes for Charles Dickens' Great Expectations The MAXnotes offers a comprehensive summary and analysis of Great Expectations and a biography of Charles Dickens. Places the events of the novel in historical context and discusses each section in detail. Includes study questions and answers along with topics for papers and sample outlines.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0878919546
• ISBN13: 9780878919543
• Release Date: July 1994
• Publisher: Research & Education Association
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.3" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 16 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 11 and higher

Customer Reviews

Expectations Met

Great Expectations is truly one of Dickens' best works. It is long but there is so much to offer - rich, memorable characters, universal themes, exciting adventure, unrequited love, murder, mystery, and revenge. The plot touches heavily upon social class distinctions, education, economics and crime and punishment. Issues that still resonate with the modern reader today. Great Expectations, famously, begins in a cemetery where the orphaned Pip is visiting the graves of his parents. There he encounters an escaped convict from a nearby prison ship who is to change his life though Pip will not understand fully how until many years later. As the book continues he meets many surreal characters with perhaps the most memorable being Miss Havisham, the crazed jilted bride, whose manipulations in regard to Pip and her adopted daughter,Estella, break Pip's heart and leave Estella a shallow, empty woman. Another one of Dickens more famous characters appearing in Great Expectations is Pip's guardian, Jaggers, the successful and possibly compulsive obsessive, attorney. Less well known but equally memorable appearances are made by Pip's loyal friend Herbert Pocket whose unusual family provide comic relief and social satire, Pip's brother-in-law the kind but uneducated Joe Gargory, Mrs. Joe, Pip's shrewish sister who is raising Pip "by hand", Jagger's assistant Wemmick who neatly divides his home life and his work life plus a host of others. Life in 19th century England - both London and it's small towns - are masterfully kept alive by Dickens' sure contemporary descriptions.

The BEST book i've ever read!

I am 15 and reading is my least favorite thing to do. If I ever read, it's only for a few minutes. Not with this book, I read it all day, and so far have read it several times. I don't know about this edition however, b/c it is for younger readers. I am also sure that whatever edition you get will be great. This book shows tons of emotions, and is guided by the narrator, Pip. It is a superb book, that once you pick up you will never put down. Pip is raised by his sister and brother-in-law, both named Joe, b/c of his parents being dead. Pip has many scary and shocking experiences throughout this novel. It really shows how much Pip changes throughout the novel, from being poor to being a gentlemen, and at last realizing what really matters. Pip is an interesting and exciting character, who really makes the best of this book!

Scathing, Complex, and Brilliantly Observant

Victorian society got a good spanking when Great Expectations was published, at the time Dickens's anger and frustration was at one of its highest points. Pip, the novel's protagonist - I hesitate to call him the hero - is at once likeable and recognizable as a powerful symbolic tool, though the former quality intentionally decreases as the novel progresses. Pip is joined by a cast of the most memorable characters in literature - the cold, ethereal Estella, the crazy, wounded Miss Havisham, loveable dullard Joe, whip-smart lawyer Jaggers - the list could, and possibly might, go on for pages. If there were literary awards for Best Ensemble, the characters in Great Expectations would clinch them all. The characters function as both political/social symbols and, though they exist in a time period far removed from us, identifiable and memorable figureheads that will - and should - be a literary hallmark forever.

Wow! Amazing!

I may be only a 6th grader, but you wouldn't believe how much I enjoyed this book. Charles Dickens having a poor childhood because of the little money his family earned, has written a miraculous book having to do with money. Charles Dickens makes his case for there being a potential for good and evil in everyone. I really enjoyed reading this book and if you are looking for a fabulous book to enjoy, I strongly reccomend you read this.