Pip grows up an orphan in the Kent marshes, until a chance encounter with an escaped convict—and the arrival of a mysterious fortune—lifts him into the life of a London gentleman. Convinced his future is tied to the cold and captivating Estella, he eagerly leaves his old world behind. But as Pip acquires polish, he also acquires illusions about love, status, and the true source of his “great expectations.” What he must eventually learn is both simple and unsettling: that becoming a gentleman is far easier than becoming a good one.