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Great Expectations - Key plot details

A timeline of the major events in the plot of Great Expectations
  1. The young Pip meets and assists the escaped convict Magwitch on the marshes near his home where he lives with his sister and Joe Gargery, the village blacksmith.
  2. Pip goes to Satis House where he meets the eccentric Miss Havisham and her adopted daughter Estella. He returns on several occasions.
  3. After working as a blacksmith's apprentice for a number of years, Pip grows up and is one day informed that he has come into a great deal of money. He assumes that this has come from Miss Havisham.
  4. Pip travels to London where he becomes a gentleman. He grows increasingly fond of Estella but neglects to maintain contact with his family.
  5. Magwitch illegally returns from abroad and announces that he is Pip's secret benefactor.
  6. Estella plans to marry Bentley Drummle and Miss Havisham is involved in a terrible fire.
  7. After Pip unsuccessfully tries to get Magwitch out of the country, Magwitch dies in prison and Pip loses his fortune.
  8. Pip, now older and wiser, returns to his family home and meets Estella once more.

Great Expectations is about Pip's journey from a poor childhood into privileged adulthood and the power that money and social class have to change him as he grows up.