Great Expectations (1860-1861) had several similarities with the earlier David Copperfield (1849-1850). Both are first-person narratives that outline some aspects of Dickens's personality as well as his personal experiences.

The novel was published in installments, from December 1860 to August 1861 in the magazine All the Year Round, and then, in 1861, it was released in three volumes by the London publishing house Chapman & Hall. Very popular, it was translated into many languages, adapted for film and television, and became a source of inspiration for many other creators, mainly writers.

A novel of initiation and self-discovery, Great Expectations, in its first version, had a tragic ending. Later, upon suggestions from the author's friends Wilkie Collins and Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Dickens provided a more optimistic, romantic, and more acceptable ending for the reading public.