The Use of Symbols to Portray Theme in Charles Dickens??™ Great Expectations The novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens portrays the unfulfilled quest for social status and wealth by the story??™s major characters, Philip Pirrip, Estella, and Miss Havisham. As the story??™s title suggests, the characters initially have great expectations and ambitions for their future. However, their lives take a different course from what they hoped as they all fail to achieve their dreams. One major aspect of Dicken??™s treatment of the theme of the quest for wealth and social status is that the characters with the most ambitions and expectations are the ones who get frustrated the most.