Pip's encounter with Magwitch in the churchyard; life with the abusive Mrs. Joe and saintly Joe Gargery; first visit to Satis House and Miss Havisham; Pip's humiliation by Estella and the birth of his shame about his class origins.

Pip is apprenticed to Joe; his dissatisfaction grows. Miss Havisham gives him money; Pip helps the wounded Biddy teach Joe to read. Jaggers arrives with the news of Pip's 'great expectations.' Pip leaves for London.

Pip arrives in London and meets Herbert Pocket, Wemmick, and Jaggers. He and Herbert become fast friends; Herbert helps Pip understand his social errors. Pip falls deeper into debt and obsession with Estella. He is increasingly cold to Joe.

Estella comes to London; Pip escorts her and suffers her indifference. Miss Havisham is revealed as the engineer of Pip's heartbreak, not his romantic destiny. Magwitch arrives at Pip's rooms in a storm and reveals himself as the true benefactor.

Pip tries to manage Magwitch's presence in London; discovers the convict's full history. Pip investigates Estella's parentage and discovers she is Magwitch's daughter. Miss Havisham has a moment of remorse. Her dress catches fire.

Pip and Herbert plan to smuggle Magwitch out of England by boat. Pip is warned by Wemmick. Pip is lured to a warehouse by Orlick — who had been Mrs. Joe's attacker — and nearly killed before Herbert rescues him.

The boat escape fails: Compeyson is aboard the pursuing customs boat. He and Magwitch struggle in the river; Compeyson drowns, Magwitch is badly injured and recaptured. Magwitch is tried, sentenced to death, and dies in prison — with Pip beside him.

Pip falls ill; Joe nurses him back to health and quietly pays his debts. Pip returns to the forge, humbled. He goes abroad with Herbert and works honestly. Eleven years later, he visits the ruins of Satis House and finds Estella there. The ambiguous ending.