Great Expectations

Magwitch describes most of his life experience as moving in and out of jail up to the point where he met Pip. He explains that he was an orphan who grew up poor and hungry, and that he turned to a combination of homelessness, begging, thieving, and occasional short-term work to feed himself.

Over 20 years ago, Magwitch met a man named Compeyson at a racetrack. Compeyson could pass for a gentleman, as he was good-looking and well-educated. Thus, Compeyson was adept in the art of manipulating rich people. Magwitch became Compeyson’s partner in the business of forging, swindling, and stealing. He describes a particularly sordid occasion involving Compeyson’s former partner, Arthur, whom Compeyson drove to alcoholism and madness. Before his death, Arthur rambled about a woman the two of them victimized. He describes her as dressed in white with white flowers in her hair, much like Miss Havisham.

Through manipulation, Compeyson made Magwitch a “slave” to his whims. He was always in debt to Compeyson, but Compeyson was too clever for Magwitch to outwit. Eventually, officials caught Magwitch and Compeyson and tried them for a felony. Jaggers served as his lawyer. In the courtroom, Compeyson looked the part of a well-mannered gentleman. The court gave a harsh sentence to Magwitch and let Compeyson go free, as it appeared that he was just in bad company. That day in court, Magwitch vowed that he would “smash” Compeyson’s face at the nearest opportunity.

Herbert writes a note and passes it to Pip. The note explains that Miss Havisham had a half-brother named Arthur, and Compeyson was Miss Havisham’s conman fiancé.

Distressed by the revelation of Compeyson’s connection to Miss Havisham, Pip goes to see Estella at Richmond. The maid tells him that Estella has gone to stay with Miss Havisham. That Estella has gone without him unsettles Pip. He leaves the next day to visit Miss Havisham. On his way, he stops at the Blue Boar Inn, and he sees Bentley Drummle. Drummle is condescending, as usual, and hints that he has also come to see Estella. As Drummle leaves, Pip notices him speaking to a man whose slouched shoulders remind him of Orlick. 

In Miss Havisham’s room, Pip finds Miss Havisham seated near the fire and Estella on a cushion near her feet, knitting. Miss Havisham asks Pip why he came, and he explains that he now knows the identity of his benefactor, and he is unhappy, as he believes Miss Havisham intended. He criticizes Miss Havisham for unkindly leading him to believe that she was his benefactor, and she angrily retorts that she isn’t kind.

Pip goes on to tell Miss Havisham that she was wrong for assuming Matthew Pocket wished her ill and explains that Matthew and Herbert are his friends, whereas Sarah Pocket, Miss Georgiana, and Mistress Camilla are not his friends. He urges Miss Havisham not to think the Pockets her enemies simply because they are related by blood. He then pleads for Miss Havisham to secretly donate money to Herbert’s business.

Pip tells Estella that he loves her, and for a long time, he thought that Miss Havisham intended them to marry. As he gives this speech, Estella maintains an expressionless face and coldly shakes her head. She responds that the words mean nothing to her, and Pip protests that Estella’s coldness is unnatural. She says it is her nature.

Pip then confirms that Bentley Drummle is in town with the hope of marrying Estella. He begs Estella not to marry him, and Estella responds that her marriage will not be a “blessing.” She tells she will soon be out of his thoughts. Pip protests that she is a part of him and that everything he has done or will ever do has been with her in mind: “Estella, to the last hour of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil” (815).

Unable to bear the idea of encountering Drummle at the inn, Pip walks all the way back to London. At the Whitefriars gate, Pip receives an urgent message. He recognizes Wemmick’s handwriting; It reads: “DON’T GO HOME” (818). 

Pip spends a miserable, anxious night at a seedy hotel called Hummums in Covent Garden. Unable to sleep, he repeats the phrase from the note in his head. To soothe himself, he even begins to conjugate phrase in a manner redolent of his early school lessons with Biddy: ““Imperative mood, present tense: Do not thou go home, let him not go home, let us not go home, do not ye or you go home, let not them go home” (822).

The next day, Pip finds Wemmick. Wemmick explains that he learned—through Jaggers’s office—that Compeyson is in London, and he is trying to hunt down Magwitch. Herbert has hidden Magwitch at Clara’s house. Wemmick stresses to Pip to get his hands on Magwitch’s portable property. 

That evening, Pip goes to meet Herbert at Clara’s. Herbert reassures him that all is well. Clara comes by the house with a basket of provisions, which she exchanges with Hebert in a warm way, and Pip approves of the couple. Pip also meets Clara’s father, Bill Barley, who is gruff-mannered and drunk.

Pip tells Magwitch that Compeyson is searching for him. As they ponder the best solution, Herbert points out that he and Pip are strong rowers, so they can take Magwitch down the river themselves. When it’s time to leave for the night, Pip feels overwhelmed with sadness: fearing for Magwitch, saddened by his presumed loss of Estella, and wondering what the future will bring. The next day, Pip buys a boat to transport Magwitch. As the sky darkens, Pip looks out over the river and feels a deep sense of dread.

For weeks, Pip nervously waits for Wemmick’s signal to transport Magwitch down the river. Pip reflects that if he had never become acquainted with Wemmick outside of Jaggers’s office, he might not have trusted him in this situation. Knowing Wemmick as he does, however, he does not doubt him.

Pip thinks of his rising debts, having ceased the spending of Magwitch’s money and of Estella’s probable marriage to Drummle. He attempts to distract himself by going to the theater to see Mr. Wopsle. When Pip speaks with Wopsle after the play, Wopsle tells him that he saw one of the convicts from the marsh in the audience, recalling the Christmas night search of Pip’s childhood. Pip is terror-stricken by the idea that Compeyson might be following him. He rushes away to alert Herbert. They discuss the incident together and decide the only thing they can do is tell Wemmick.

One evening shortly after the play incident, Jaggers runs into Pip and invites him to dinner. Pip initially considers declining due to his addled nerves, but when Jaggers announces that Wemmick is coming, he accepts the invitation. Before they head out for dinner, Jaggers makes a detour to his office, where Pip observes him performing his usual hand-washing ritual. Pip contemplates a row of dirty sheets hanging in the corner where Jaggers writes, comparing them to hanged clients.

At dinner, Jaggers asks Wemmick to hand Pip a note from Miss Havisham. The note is short and vague, requesting that Pip visit her concerning a business matter Pip had mentioned and Wemmick advises him to go right away. Pip tells Wemmick that he will visit Miss Havisham the next day. When he announces this plan, he notes that Wemmick looks at Jaggers with a “grimly satisfied air” (872) but does not look at Pip.

Jaggers talks about Drummle’s marriage to Estella, much to Pip’s chagrin. Jaggers proposes a toast and calls for his housekeeper, Molly. As Molly places the dishes on the table, Pip notices the motion of her fingers and recalls Estella as she was knitting when he visited Miss Havisham. Pip then notices many striking physical similarities between Molly and Estella, to the degree that he believes Molly is Estella’s mother.

After dinner, Pip walks home with Wemmick. He asks Wemmick about Molly, recalling Wemmick’s suggestion to look at the “wild beast tamed” (878) in Chapter 24. Wemmick explains that a little over 20 years ago, the court tried Molly for murder, and it acquitted because of Jaggers’s cunning defense. Wemmick suggests that Molly is almost definitely guilty of the murder.

The murdered woman was in a common-law marriage with a “tramping man.” Wemmick notes that the murdered woman was choked to death in a barn after a violent struggle. Molly had also tried to kill the girl child she had from her affair with the man. Pip thinks the girl must’ve been Estella.