A novel featuring a criminal lawyer.

Dickens expressed this theme through Pip's experience of pursuing so-called "great expectations". Therefore, ambition and the pursuit of personal development have become the central theme of this novel, and also become the psychological mechanism to promote Pip's development. Deep down, Pip is an idealist-as long as he finds something better than what he has, he will want it at once. When he saw Miss Havisham's Satis Manor, he expected to be a rich gentleman. When he discovers his moral defects, he hopes to be a good person; When he realized that he couldn't read, he was eager to know how to read. Pip's desire for self-pursuit is the main reason that determines the title of this novel. It is because Pip believes that life can be improved that he feels that his future is "promising".

[2] In Great Expectations, ambition and self-pursuit are manifested in three forms: moral, social and educational. It is these motives that drive Pip to make his best or worst performance in the novel. First of all, Pip is eager for moral self-improvement. When he does something immoral, he will severely blame himself; This strong sense of guilt will inspire him to do things well in the future. For example, when he left home for London, he experienced a fierce struggle in his heart and always felt that he was really sorry for Joe and Biddy. Secondly, Pip is eager to improve his social status. Out of love for Estella, Pip hopes to be a member of Estella's class. Encouraged by his sister and Pan Bo Trafigura, Pip indulged in a gentleman's dream all day. Realizing Pip's dream of being a gentleman has become the basic plot of this novel. This gave Dickens an opportunity to satirize the class system of his time and reveal its unpredictability. Obviously, compared with the life of a blacksmith's apprentice, Pip's life as a corpse gentleman is not so satisfactory and his morality is not so depraved. Thirdly, Pip is eager for a good education, which is bound to be related to Pip's desire to improve his social status and marry Estella. To be a gentleman, a good education is essential. If he is just an ignorant hillbilly, there is no hope of entering the upper class. However, through the examples of Joe, Biddy and Magwitch, Pip understands that a person's true value is not necessarily related to social status and education level, and love and conscience are far more important than erudition and lofty social status.

Social class