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Great Expectations is, at one level, pulp fiction. Charles Dickens wrote it to capture—and keep—his audience’s attention, and he used every plot trick he could think of to make that happen. Yet Great Expectations continues to attract readers, more than 150 years after Dickens committed Pip’s great expectations to paper. What sets it apart from all the forgotten pulp fiction out there? The answer, in 60 seconds

Video Transcription:

What do Charles Dickens and Stephanie Meyer have in common? I knew that would get your attention. Stay tuned.

I’ve gotta to hand it to Dickens. The guy managed to write a story that appealed to the masses … and became one of the great works of literature.

I mean really. That’s like people reading the Twilight series in English classrooms two hundred years from now. Symbols and motifs in vampire fiction anyone?

Anyone?

OK, and so while you might not relate to Estella and Pip as much as you do to Bella and Edward, there’s a reason people still read Great Expectations today.

No, it’s not just to torment you.

Seriously. Isn’t Great Expectations all about desire—about the things we can’t have? Pip wants Estella, but he can’t have her. Pip wants to be a gentleman, but even when his money shows up, he still can’t really be one … especially not when he finds out that the money comes from a criminal.

So how does Pip deal? He discovers what it means to have character. To value the people who love him. To find happiness inside himself.

And don’t forget that his romance with Estella turns out well in the end, too. Maybe that’s the thing that really makes Great Expectations endure:

Everyone loves a happy ending.