Great Expectations – Crime and Punishment

A comprehensive and professionally structured resource exploring how Dickens presents crime, punishment, guilt and moral responsibility in Great Expectations.

This resource examines Magwitch’s criminal identity, Pip’s private guilt, Compeyson’s respectable appearance and the emotional punishments experienced by Miss Havisham and Estella. It considers how Dickens distinguishes legal judgement from moral justice and challenges class-based assumptions about criminality and human worth.

Key features:

• Clear analysis of Magwitch, Pip, Compeyson, Miss Havisham, Estella and Orlick in relation to crime, guilt, punishment and redemption
• Focus on the marshes, leg-iron, prison hulks, transportation, hidden violence and the unequal treatment of criminals from different social backgrounds
• Exploration of Gothic imagery, first-person narration, retrospective reflection, symbolic objects, delayed revelation and structural investigation
• Nine structured exercises covering retrieval, character, language, structure, context, thematic development, interpretation, creative writing and extended essay preparation
• Detailed answer key and a 28-slide supporting presentation with teaching content, activities, suggested answers, discussion tasks and summary material