Great Expectations (published in 1854) is considered one of Charles Dickens? (1812-1870) greatest and more sophisticated works. The novel narrates the story of Phillip Pirrip, an orphan blacksmith apprentice whose life aspiration is to become a gentleman and part of the nobility. Although the novel can be categorized as a coming-of-age story, the work also shows elements of satire, gothic novel, crime novel, comedy and melodrama. Dickens transcended the constraints of a determined style in almost all of his work, and Great Expectations was not the exception.