History YMMV / GreatExpectations

* ValuesDissonance: Estella is openly cruel to Pip and yet he falls for her anyway, with her beauty being the only explanation. With the rising awareness of the dangers of rushing into love, these aspects of the novels have raised eyebrows from readers.

** Gillian Anderson (Miss Haversham in the 2011 miniseries) previously played Lady Dedlock in ''Literature/BleakHouse'' (2005).
** Vanessa Kirby (Estella in 2011) and Gillian Anderson both appeared (though not at the same time) in ''Series/TheCrown2016'', as Princess Margaret and Margaret Thatcher.

%% All potential Complete Monsters should be run through the Complete Monster thread on the forums before adding.

* TheScrappy: Most readers did not like Estella, finding her cold and haughty persona intolerable. There is an in-universe reason for it which makes her a little more sympathetic, but they also felt that Creator/CharlesDickens got really carried away with the descriptions of her beauty, and Pip pretty much falls for her based on her beauty alone even though she treats him with indifference at best. It was the 19th century where young men weren't able to socialize with women like they can now, but this comes across as shallow now. She does go through some CharacterDevelopment that humbles her and makes her more friendly, but this happens at the very end. And off-screen.

* HilariousInHindsight: In the David Lean film, Estella's first scene (where she's played by Jean Simmons) has her saying "so this is young Pip?" - to which he should have responded "is this Film/YoungBess ?"

* HoYay: Pip and Herbert. Pip is very fond of Herbert, and Herbert refers to Pip as "my dear Handel", or "my dear boy" throughout the novel. Chapter 50 of the original text, when Herbert is tending to Pip's wounds, is ''swimming in this,'' especially at the end.

* FanPreferredCouple: The vast majority of readers want Pip and Estella to end up together. Even the adaptations swing heavily in this way. The revised ending, preferred by both Dickens and his friends, is the one used in modern printings of the book, while the original draft is sometimes the fans are probably correct.

* BrokenBase: Original ending or RevisedEnding?

* MagnumOpus: A strong contender for Dickens's best novel. Though these days, the consensus is shifting towards ''BleakHouse''.

* MagnumOpus: A strong contender for Dickens's best novel. Though these days, the consensus is shifting towards ''Bleak House''.

* MagnumOpus: A strong contender for Dickens's best novel.

* BaseBreaker: Original ending or RevisedEnding?

* TheWoobie: It's a ''Dickens'' novel! What do you [[IncrediblyLamePun expect]]?

* CompleteMonster: Orlick and Compeyson (especially Compeyson, who can be traced back to the source of ''all'' problems in the story.)
** Also, [[TheBully Drum]][[DomesticAbuser mle]]

* TheWoobie: It's a ''Dickens'' novel! [[WorldOfWoobie What do you]] [[IncrediblyLamePun expect]]?

* TearJerker: What happens to Magwitch in the end.

* TearJerker: What happens to Magwitch in the end.

* CompleteMonster: Orlick and Compeyson

* JerkassWoobie: Miss Havisham. After reading her backstory, her actions when it comes to raising Estella become understandable.

* TearJerker: What happens to Magwitch in the end.
* YourMilageMayVary: Depending on who you ask, this is either absolutely brilliant, Dickens's masterpiece, and extremely important to literature, or a [[BadWriting poorly-written, unrealistic]], [[{{Doorstopper}} bloated waste of a book]] that needs to be forgotten to make more room for Dickens's other, better works. There's a fair argument for both sides in this case.