Great Expectations

An orphan boy living in Victorian England begins his life in extreme poverty and goes on to experience good fortune, love, rejection, wealth, and social challenges as he grows into adulthood.

Length: 59 chapters
Reading time: About 12 hr 55 min
Words: 184,352

Start reading Contents

Includes the Reader's Companion: recaps, who's who and words to know as you read.

Chapter 18 min
Chapter 214 min
Chapter 38 min
Chapter 414 min
Chapter 517 min
Chapter 63 min
Chapter 717 min
Chapter 820 min
Chapter 911 min
Chapter 1010 min
Chapter 1122 min
Chapter 129 min
Chapter 1312 min
Chapter 143 min
Chapter 1518 min
Chapter 168 min
Chapter 1714 min
Chapter 1821 min
Chapter 1924 min
Chapter 2013 min
Chapter 217 min
Chapter 2221 min
Chapter 2313 min
Chapter 2410 min
Chapter 2512 min
Chapter 2612 min
Chapter 2713 min
Chapter 2810 min
Chapter 2921 min
Chapter 3014 min
Chapter 319 min
Chapter 329 min
Chapter 3311 min
Chapter 3410 min
Chapter 3513 min
Chapter 3611 min
Chapter 3712 min
Chapter 3820 min
Chapter 3920 min
Chapter 4022 min
Chapter 419 min
Chapter 4213 min
Chapter 438 min
Chapter 4412 min
Chapter 4512 min
Chapter 4612 min
Chapter 4711 min
Chapter 4811 min
Chapter 4915 min
Chapter 506 min
Chapter 5112 min
Chapter 528 min
Chapter 5322 min
Chapter 5424 min
Chapter 5512 min
Chapter 569 min
Chapter 5720 min
Chapter 5813 min
Chapter 596 min

About the book

Charles Dickens was a British author, journalist, and editor whose work brought attention to the struggles of Victorian England’s lower classes. His writings provided a candid portrait of the era’s poor and served as inspiration for social change.

Great Expectations, Dickens’ thirteenth novel, was first published in serial form between 1860 and 1861 and is widely praised as the author’s greatest literary accomplishment.

The novel follows the life, relationships, and moral development of an orphan boy named Pip. The novel begins when Pip encounters an escaped convict whom he helps and fears in equal measure. Pip’s actions that day set off a sequence of events and interactions that shape Pip’s character as he matures into adulthood.

The vivid characters, engaging narrative style, and universal themes of Great Expectations establish this novel as a timeless literary classic, and an engaging portrait of Victorian life.

On these lists

GCSE set texts Victorian novels

This edition

Text from Standard Ebooks, who proofread and typeset it and dedicate their edition to the public domain. Charles Dickens died more than 70 years ago, so the work is out of copyright in the UK.