Great Expectations

In a lonely churchyard, young Pip meets an escaped prisoner who demands food and a metal file.

Afraid of the prisoner and his cruel sister, Pip secretly steals food and a file before dawn.

Pip finds a second escaped prisoner before delivering the stolen food and file to the first man.

At Christmas dinner, Pip fears his theft will be discovered, but soldiers arrive before he can escape.

Pip and Joe join the soldiers’ search, and the captured prisoner protects Pip by taking the blame for the theft.

Pip returns home with Joe but keeps his secret because he fears losing Joe’s trust.

Pip learns about Joe’s difficult childhood and is sent to visit the wealthy Miss Havisham.

At Miss Havisham’s strange house, Estella makes Pip ashamed of his rough hands, boots, and poor background.

Pip invents stories about his visit, then admits his lies to Joe and explains his wish to be less common.

A stranger at the village pub shows Pip the stolen file and gives him money, bringing back his old fears.

Pip meets Miss Havisham’s greedy relatives, wins a fight with a pale boy, and receives a kiss from Estella.

Pip regularly helps Miss Havisham around her house until she asks him to bring Joe and his apprentice papers.

Miss Havisham gives money for Pip’s apprenticeship, but he feels ashamed of Joe and unhappy about his future.

Pip begins work at the forge, hiding his unhappiness from Joe while fearing Estella’s judgment.

After Orlick fights Joe and Pip learns that Estella is abroad, Pip returns to find his sister badly injured.

A filed leg-iron connects the attack to Pip’s secret, while Biddy comes to care for his changed sister.

Pip tells Biddy that he wants to become a gentleman for Estella, despite knowing how kind Biddy is.

The lawyer Jaggers announces that an unknown person will pay for Pip to become a gentleman in London.

Pip prepares for London, enjoys his new importance, and leaves Joe and Biddy with mixed feelings.

London disappoints Pip, who visits Jaggers’s frightening office before being sent to stay with Mr. Pocket.

Wemmick takes Pip to Barnard’s Inn, where his welcoming new companion turns out to be the boy he once fought.

Herbert becomes Pip’s friend, teaches him manners, and explains why Miss Havisham wants revenge on men.

Pip meets his fellow students and discovers the confusion caused by Mrs. Pocket’s pride and careless servants.

Pip begins serious studies and learns more about Jaggers, Wemmick, and the strange objects in the lawyer’s office.

At Wemmick’s tiny castle, Pip discovers a warm private life very different from the clerk’s cold office manner.

Dinner at Jaggers’s house reveals Molly’s scarred wrists, Drummle’s bad temper, and the lawyer’s interest in him.

Joe visits Pip in London with news of Estella, but Pip’s cold welcome makes their meeting painful.

On his journey home, Pip overhears how the prisoner arranged the gift of two pounds years earlier.

Pip finds Orlick working at Satis House and meets the grown Estella, while Miss Havisham urges him to love her.

Back in London, Pip discusses his love for Estella with Herbert, who reveals his own secret engagement.

Pip and Herbert watch Wopsle’s comic performance of Hamlet and kindly invite him home after the play.

While waiting for Estella’s coach, Pip visits Newgate Prison with Wemmick and feels troubled by his past.

Pip takes Estella to Richmond, where she will enter society, but her cold manner gives him little hope.

Pip and Herbert struggle with growing debts until a letter announces the death of Pip’s sister.

Pip returns for his sister’s funeral and promises to visit Joe often, although Biddy doubts he will.

On his twenty-first birthday, Pip receives a yearly income but learns nothing about his secret benefactor.

With Wemmick’s private help, Pip secretly pays to give Herbert a position and future partnership in a business.

Pip witnesses Estella’s argument with Miss Havisham and suffers when Drummle becomes one of her admirers.

The prisoner from the marshes returns and reveals that he, not Miss Havisham, paid for Pip’s new life.

Pip learns Magwitch’s name, tries to hide him, and asks Herbert to keep the dangerous visitor’s secret.

Pip and Herbert decide that they must get Magwitch out of England before Pip can refuse any more of his money.

Magwitch tells his life story, and Herbert identifies his enemy Compeyson as the man who abandoned Miss Havisham.

Pip travels to see Estella and Miss Havisham, but meeting Drummle at the inn increases his fears.

Pip confronts Miss Havisham, hears Estella’s marriage plans, and returns to London to find a warning from Wemmick.

Wemmick explains that Pip’s home is being watched and that Herbert has moved Magwitch to a safer hiding place.

Pip visits Magwitch near the river and begins rowing regularly to prepare for a secret escape.

After a play, Wopsle tells Pip that Compeyson was sitting behind him, confirming that the enemy is following him.

Pip hears that Estella has married Drummle and recognizes her mother in Jaggers’s housekeeper, Molly.

Miss Havisham funds Herbert’s future and asks for forgiveness before Pip saves her from a fire.

While caring for Pip’s burns, Herbert shares Magwitch’s story of his lost child, revealing Estella’s father.

Jaggers confirms how Estella was saved as a child and urges Pip to keep her parents’ identities secret.

As the escape date approaches, a mysterious letter draws Pip back to a lonely house on the marshes.

Orlick traps Pip and admits attacking his sister, but Herbert and his companions arrive in time to rescue him.

The river escape ends in disaster when police intercept the boat and Magwitch struggles with Compeyson.

Herbert offers Pip work abroad, and Wemmick invites him for a walk that turns into a surprise wedding.

Pip stays beside the dying Magwitch after his trial and tells him that his lost daughter is alive.

Joe nurses Pip through a serious illness and pays his debt, leaving Pip determined to return home.

Pip finds Joe and Biddy newly married, asks their forgiveness, and begins an honest working life abroad.

After eleven years, Pip visits Joe’s family and meets a changed Estella in the ruined garden of Satis House.