Great Expectations

Author: Charles Dickens
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-02-01
Features: Easy Read Classics Series. To promote English learning among Chinese middle school students, cultivate their cultural literacy and literary appreciation, Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, after extensive deliberation and market research, decided to introduce a series of abridged literary classics from the British Macmillan Publishing Company to Chinese middle school students. From Macmillan's abridged literary classics, SFLP carefully selected 40 books, compiling them into the "Easy Read Classics Series," with difficulty levels spanning levels 3 to 8 of the "English Curriculum Standards." This series includes classic works by literary masters from the UK, the US, France, and other countries, featuring the works of renowned authors such as Shakespeare, Dickens, Mark Twain, Hardy, and Alexandre Dumas. To help middle school students better grasp the essence of the original works and the creative journey of the authors, SFLP has specially annotated the language difficulties in the reading materials and included an introduction on the background of the authors and their works. We sincerely hope that the "Easy Read Classics Series" will help improve the literary appreciation level of Chinese middle school students, cultivate their moral sentiments, enhance their English reading skills, and become the key to opening the door to English literary classics for middle school students.
Great Expectations is one of Dickens' most mature works, written in his later years. After experiencing a rich and varied life, Dickens gained profound insights into people, the surrounding environment, and his own life experiences, and all his mature thoughts and reflections are compiled in Great Expectations. The original title of the work is Great Expectations, which refers to an inheritance. In China, it is translated as Great Expectations. This translation gives readers the impression that the protagonist of the work has a great future. In reality, this "great future" is ironic, and it should be said that the theme of the work is far from merely telling the story of the orphan Pip's disillusioned dream of becoming an upper-class person. If understood in this way, one would miss the significance of Dickens' creation of this work. Pip lives with his aunt and lives a hard life. His ideal is to become a blacksmith like his uncle, and he never aspired to be an upper-class person. Later, he wanted to become an upper-class person because of changes in his environment. One of Dickens' philosophical ideas is the influence of the environment on people's thoughts. Different environments can shape different people. Pip's entire development process aligns with general theories of human nature. This work was not written arbitrarily but is based on the previous ten or more works by Dickens and is a summary of his thoughts. Dickens summarized his worldview, philosophy, and moral ideas into this creation.