Charles Dickens' Great Expectations is at once a superbly constructed novel of spellbinding mystery and a profound examinatin of moral values. Written at a time when Dickens' view of Victorian society had grown especially dark, this novel is peopled by characters bearing the author's unmistakable stamp. The orphan Pip, the convict Magwitch, the beautiful Estella and her guardian, the embittered and vengeful Miss Havishman, the strangely ambiguous figure of the master lawyer Mr. Jaggers all play their part in a story whose very title reflects the deep irony that shaped Dickens' searching reappraisal of the Victorian middle class.
