GREAT EXPECTATIONS as a BILDUNGSROMAN novel

• In form, Great Expectations fits a pattern, popular in the 19th century European Fiction -  

 The BILDUNGSROMAN

• A Novel depicting depicting growth and personal development, generally a transition from boyhood to manhood such as that experienced by Pip.
• Depicts a process of maturation and self discovery through experience as a protagonist moves from childhood to adulthood.
• The genre was popularized by Goethe with his book Wilhelm Meister (1794 - 1796)

Some examples of this genre:

• Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe
• Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre
• Charles Dickens - David Copperfield