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Charles Dickens wanted to revive his literary magazine, All the Year Round. So Dickens took some pages from his own life, bundled them up in a character he called Pip, and cooked up a tale of Pip’s wild ride to fortune. The result was Great Expectations. And Pip’s breathless story brought Great Expectations great success, while saving Dickens’ magazine, too.

Video Transcription:

One thing’s for sure: Charles Dickens never lacked for good plot ideas. We’ll cover all those and more—next.

Great Expectations was originally serialized, which means that it appeared in installments of two chapters at a time in a weekly literary magazine. Perhaps this helps explain why there are plot twists around every corner.

Let’s face it: Charles Dickens had to keep his readers reading!

Here are some of the things you’ll encounter in the 400-page story of Pip. In chronological order:

Escaped convicts
A jilted bride
A vicious attack by a vicious attacker
A mysterious benefactor
Life as a gentleman
Unrequited love
A funeral
The escaped convict is the benefactor!
The convict is pursued by his former accomplice!
His former accomplice helped jilt and swindle the bride!
Love is lost!
The jilted bride goes up in flames!
A wedding occurs!
The attacker tries to commit murder!
The convict tries to escape!
The convict is captured!
The fortune is lost!
The convict dies!
The jilted bride dies!
Pip falls ill, recovers, moves abroad … and years later, finally finds love.

Whew.