Charles Dickens' Great Expectations is the tale of Philip Pirrip and his longing to become a gentleman and not the commoner he is born as. Better known as Pip, he is the narrator of the story. It is told many years after the events have already happened, the tale is told in retrospect. The story itself is Dickens' way of taking a shot at the society of his time. The story uses juvenalian satire to point out the flaws of the upper class during his lifetime. Pip wants so badly to be a gentleman, but for all the wrong reasons. This story is a continuous evaluation of Victorian society up until the ending. The original ending is an unromantic one that is true to the rest of the novel. The real ending does not match up with the rest of the story, but it is a happy one. .
Pip's drive to become a gentleman stems from the wrong place. As a child he lived with his sister Mrs. Joe and her husband. Pip's Uncle Pumblechook takes him to Satis House, the home of an eccentric woman named Miss Havisham. While there, he meets and falls in love with a beautiful girl named Estella. His great expectation is to one day become a gentleman and marry Estella, hopefully under the support of Miss Havisham. He says, "The beautiful young lady at Miss Havisham's, and she's more beautiful than anybody ever was, and I admire her dreadfully, and I want to be a gentleman on her account."" He doesn't want to become a gentleman for any truly noble purpose; he only wants a chance to be with a girl, which is not a good reason. It also happened to be quite ironic, because Estella, before living with Miss Havisham, is the daughter of Magwitch, who is a criminal and of a lower social class then Pip anyway. " Dear Magwitch, I must tell you, now at last. You understand what I say?'A gentle pressure on my hand. You had a child once, whom you loved and lost. A stronger pressure on my hand. She lived and found powerful friends.
