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Ever finish reading a classic novel and wonder what might have been if the story had taken a different turn? Well, here’s something that might surprise you. Some of the most beloved books in literary history actually do have alternate endings, and many readers have no idea these different versions even exist. Authors sometimes bow to pressure from publishers, friends, or the demands of the market, changing the fates of characters we thought we knew inside and out.
These aren’t just minor tweaks to a sentence or two. We’re talking about completely different destinies for protagonists, relationships that never bloom or marriages that never happen, and endings that shift the entire meaning of a story. Let’s dive into the fascinating world of literary what-ifs and discover the endings that almost were.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens initially envisioned a much sadder ending for Pip and Estella in Great Expectations, where they never reunite, but this bleak conclusion was altered thanks to the encouragement of his friend Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who urged him to provide a more hopeful resolution. The original ending had a heartbreaking finality to it. Pip meets Estella, but she has remarried after Drummle’s death, and thus there is no chance of a happy ending.
One of the most curious aspects of Great Expectations is the existence of alternative endings, whose relative merits and…
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Author : Matthias Binder
Publish date : 2026-02-17 10:16:00
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