Not Your Average Fairytale

    Very few people would classify Great Expectations by Charles Dickens as a fairytale, but it is hard to miss the similarities. In fact, Pip even believes that Miss Havisham intends for him to “do all the shining deeds of the young Knight of romance, and marry the Princess”. Of course he believes Estella to be his princess. There are other fairytale aspects, though. Young Pip is an orphan being raised by his sister and brother-in-law who is a blacksmith. Pip does not come from money until he receives his great expectations. He comes into money because he did a good deed. This money, though, seems to take our shining knight and turn him into a beast.

    Of all the fairy tales, I noticed a strong connection to “Beauty and the Beast”. When Pip receives his great expectations, he quickly becomes similar to Beast. At first Pip does not want to leave Joe, but as soon as he gets a taste of this new life, he becomes cold hearted. Pip does not start out as a selfish character, arguably, but he is very selfish when he comes into money. He becomes embarrassed of who he was and makes no effort to return home, unless it is to see Estella or Miss Havisham. He, like Beast, is not an easy character to like. They both seem incapable of being loved and do not seem like characters who should be forgiven. 

    Love, though, is what changes Beast to a human and reminds Pip of where he came from. Beast is changed by the love of Belle, the common princess; Pip is changed by the love of Joe. Joe is not a princess, and that is not an argument I wish to begin, but he is forgiving like Belle. Both Joe and Belle love their beasts through everything. This love breaks the actual spell cast on Beast and the spell of money that was cast upon Pip. Joe and Belle know who Pip and Beast can be, so they are able to see past the cold hearted appearance. 

    Great Expectations is not a fairytale at first glance, but looking for similarities does not require much effort. Pip may not be a prince, and Estella is not the average princess, but Pip does learn important lessons. The most important being that money is not important. Love changes both Pip and Beast, though it is a different kind of love. They both discover their selfish needs are not as important as they had once thought. It is not clearly stated if Pip lives happily ever after or not, but it’s nice to believe he does.