The Endings
Charles Dickens had originally wrote an ending for Great Expectations that is very different from the one that is available to us today. Dickens had decided to change his original ending to the one that we know of because of a suggestion from one of his friends, either Sir Edward D. G. Bulwer Lytton, John Forster or Wilkie Collins, as it is unclear who deserves the credit. The majority of books today contain the new ending but there are a select few who also include the original.
Dickens, about his revised version, writes, “I have put in as pretty a piece of writing as I could, and I have no doubt the story will be more acceptable through the alteration. Upon the whole I think it is for the better.”
Dickens, about his revised version, writes, “I have put in as pretty a piece of writing as I could, and I have no doubt the story will be more acceptable through the alteration. Upon the whole I think it is for the better.”
The Original Ending
Casual Meeting on the Streets
Pip and Estella meet on the streets while Estella reveals that her husband Drummle had died but she had remarried a doctor. They engage in brief but polite small talk while Pip tells her that he is glad that she has ended up with someone good even though it had not been himself. Pip remains single but is delighted in knowing that Estella is now a different person from the cruel and heartless girl that Miss Havisham had raised her to be. The last sentence has Pip saying he could now see that “suffering had been stronger than Miss Havisham's teaching and had given her a heart to understand what my heart used to be.”
The Revised Ending
Promise To Be Friends
Pip and Estella meet at the Satis House once again as they had done at their very first encounter. “ "We are friends," said I, rising and bending over her, as she rose from the bench. "And will continue friends apart," said Estella. I took her hand in mine, and we went out of the ruined place; and, as the morning mists had risen long ago when I first left the forge, so the evening mists were rising now, and in all the broad expanse of tranquil light they showed to me, I saw no shadow of another parting from her.”
This forshadows that they do end up married and living happily ever after together.
This forshadows that they do end up married and living happily ever after together.
Which Ending Was More Appropriate?
Throughout the years, there have been many critics who have argued about which one of the endings is better written and should be included to compliment the rest of the book. Each ending has their own benefits and they are listed below.
Benefits of the Original
- The story of Pip is never about marrying Estella or even being happy with her. The moral of his tale is only about his quest for her love and what he is willing to sacrifice for her approval. The story has nothing to do with the couple or their love as Dickens chooses to show Estella mostly as only a part of Pip’s thoughts but their interactions are kept at a minimum to keep the readers focused on the main plot at hand.
- The novel has an overall sad and melancholy theme to it and to keep the ending in the same perspective as the beginning and middle parts would require that it stick to the original ending. The revised almost feels like a cheap version to keep the book popular and the readers happy with the typical happy endings.
- In the way that this ending is written, we feel that Pip gets what he deserves and nothing more, unlike the revised ending. In that one, we no longer see and are even mislead based on the theme of the correlation between social status and moral qualities.
- In the revised ending, Dickens almost forgets about the logic behind Estella’s improved personality and forgives Miss Havisham of the way she raised Estella. Estella should remain the same heartless character who treats Pip with an air of superiority.
Benefits of the Revised
- It concludes in the exact same spot as their first encounter so it gives a sense of closure to the novel.
- It is a happy ending that satisfies the readers in knowing that the couple is finally reconciled and it only took Estella an abusive relationship to find out that she truly does have a heart, after all.
- Perhaps they deserve to be happy after all the pain they had suffered.
A Third Option
Finally, there are even a few critics who suggest that the end of the novel should never have brought Estella back into the frame of the novel as she is no longer a significant character because of her marriage to Drummle. The novel is mainly about Pip’s affection to Estella, and not the love itself.