This classic tale tells of an orphan, Pip, who through a series of strange circumstances first finds a trade as a blacksmith's apprentice and then learns that he has "great expectations" of a future inheritance from an anonymous benefactor.

He soon learns to live the profligate life of a gentleman as he gradually sheds his associations with the gentle souls of his past, Joe (the blacksmith) and Biddy (a level-headed young lady).

He throws his money at improving the prospects of his roommate and friend Herbert and his heart at an "ice princess" whose heart will never respond.

But then an escaped convict from his distant past comes calling, and all Pip's hopes dissolve.