Great Expectations Resources

Dickens as a boy in the blacking factory, as imagined by an illustrator from 1904.

The label of the boot-blacking product whose factory Dickens worked in at age 12.

The happy ending version of Pip and Estella's relationship.

The title page of the 3-volume edition.

Unlike most of Dickens' novels, Great Expectations didn't come with illustrations originally—but they did come along later. Here's the whole list.

All those words making you tired? Here's an audio version from Random House.

In an interview with National Public Radio, American novelist John Irving talks about Dickens' influence on him, and how Dickens would have been a great screenwriter.

All the Dickens you could want. Ever. This website is run by the Dickens Project at UC Santa Cruz.

Find out in this map of Dickens' London.

Can't keep the characters straight? Here's a comprehensive resource, if Shmoop isn't enough for you.

Learn more about the events in Dickens' life with this neat-o timeline.

This 1917 production is as silent as the grave.

This 1922 version is straight from Scandinavia. Apparently, "Store Forventninger" is Finnish for "Great Expectations."

… of the 1930s. This 1934 adaptation stars Phillips Holmes as Pip and Jane Wyatt as Estella.

Because this 1946 adaptation won two of them.

In 1975, someone had the brilliant idea to make Great Expectations into a musical—and then remove all the songs. Bummer!

This 1998 production stars Ethan Hawke as Pip and Gwyneth Paltrow as Estella—and was directed by Alfonso Cuarón, who was also responsible for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

You can count on Masterpiece Theater for class, and this 1999 production has it.

Helena Bonham Carter plays Miss Havisham in this 2012 adaptation. Seriously, it's like Dickens wrote the part for her.

Here's an original review of Great Expectations—pretty cool!

Dickens had 10 children and a mistress. Check out more tasty tidbits in this Atlantic Monthly article.

Here's an article from Psychology Today that asks if pursuing ideal love does more harm than good. We're pretty sure we'd know what Dickens would say… we think.

If you've got a spare two hours, check out the entire 1946 adaptation.

Everyone's favorite Gen-X heartthrob does it up as a tortured Pip in this trailer for the 1998 production.

Gillian Anderson creeps us out as Miss Havisham in this trailer for the BBC One production.

Here's the trailer for the 2012 version with Helena Bonham Carter.