A short, accessible introduction to Charles Dickens's 'Great Expectations' in the Continuum Reader's Guides series
'Great Expectations' (1861) is not only one of the last great novels to be written by Dickens but is also one which centres around his primary themes: the importance of childhood in relationship to adult life, concepts of guilt and imprisonment and an analysis of individualism as opposed to the increasing bureaucracy of nineteenth-century England.
This guide is an ideal introduction to the text including its contexts, Dickens's style and imagery, its critical reception from the time of publication to the present, a guide to illustrated editions and film adaptations and a guide to further reading.
