Charles Dickenss

Great Expectations

Blooms GUIDES

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Charles Dickenss

GreatExpectations

Edited & with an Introduction by Harold Bloom

Blooms GUIDES

2005 by Chelsea House Publishers, a subsidiary of Haights CrossCommunications.

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Introduction 2005 by Harold Bloom.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataGreat expectations / [edited by] Harold Bloom.

p. cm. -- (Bloom's guides)Includes bibliographical references.ISBN 0-7910-8168-0 (alk. paper)

1. Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870. Great expectations. I. Bloom, Harold.II. Series. PR4560.G687 2004823'.8--dc22

2004015305

Every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyrighted material andsecure copyright permission. Articles appearing in this volume generallyappear much as they did in their original publication with little to noeditorial changes. Those interested in locating the original source will findbibliographic information in the bibliography and acknowledgments sections of this volume.

Contents

Introduction 7

Biographical Sketch 9The Story Behind the Story 12List of Characters 15Summary and Analysis 19Critical Views 47

George Bernard Shaw on the Unamiable Estella and Pip as Function of Class Snobbery 47

George Orwell on Magwitch and the Pantomime of the Wicked Uncle 51

Peter Brooks on the Beginning and Ending: Pip Before Plot and Beyond Plot 54

Dorothy Van Ghent on the Century of Progress, Dickenss Use of the Pathetic Fallacy, and Pips Identity of Things 59

Julian Moynahan on Pips Aggressive Ambition and the Dark Doubles Orlick and Drummle 65

Goldie Morgentaler on Darwin and Money as Determinant 72

Christopher D. Morris on Narration and Pips Moral Bad Faith 76

Joseph A. Hynes on Star, Garden, and Firelight Imagery 80Ann B. Dobie on Surrealism and Stream-of-Consciousness 84Nina Auerbach on Dickens and the Evolution

of the Eighteenth-Century Orphan 88Stephen Newman on Jaggers and Wemmick:

Two Windows on Little Britain 92Jay Clayton on Great Expectations as a Foreshadowing

of Postmodernism 97Edward W. Said on Australia, British Imperialism,

and Dickenss Victorian Businessmen 100Works by Charles Dickens 104Annotated Bibliography 105Contributors 110Acknowledgments 113Index 115

7Introduction

HAROLD BLOOM

Charles Dickens reread his autobiographical novel, DavidCopperfield, before he began to write Great Expectations. Hehoped thus not to repeat himself, and his hope was fulfilled:David and Pip are very different personages. Yet Dickenssanxiety was justified; both of these first-person narrators areversions of Dickens himself, and only acute self-awareness onthe novelists part kept Pip from becoming as autobiographicala figure as David had been. Still, one can wonder whether Pipis not a better representation of Dickenss innermost being thanDavid is. Compared to Pips incessant and excessive sense ofguilt, Davids consciousness seems much freer, or at least worksin a more unimpeded fashion to liberate itself, in part, from thepersonal past. Pip does not become a novelist, as David andDickens do, and Pip also does not submit to sentimentality, asDavid does. We are asked to believe that David Copperfieldconcludes the novel as a fully matured being, but we are leftwith considerable doubts. Pip, perhaps because he is moredistanced from Dickens, seems more worthy of Dickenssrespect and is endowed by the novelist with a more powerfulimagination than the novelist David Copperfield enjoys.

Why does Pip have so pervasive a sense of guilt? Severalcritics have remarked that, in Pip, love always emanates fromguilt, whether the love be for the father-substitutes Joe andMagwitch, or the overwhelming passion for the beautiful,mocking, and unattainable Estella. Dickenss best biographer,Edgar Johnson, relates this erotic aspiration to the novelistslove affair with Ellen Ternan, an actress quite young enough tohave been his daughter.

Since Estella actually is Magwitchs daughter, and Magwitchhas adopted Pip as a son, pragmatically speaking, there issomething of an incest barrier between Pip and Estella, thoughPip consciously cannot be aware of this. And yet he is consciousthat she is part of my existence, part of myself: there is as

8occult a connection between Pip and Estella as there is betweenHeathcliff and the first Catherine in Emily Bronts WutheringHeights. One critic, Shuli Barzilai, relates Pips self-laceratingtemperament to Freuds moral masochism, the guilty need tofail, and she traces the same self-punishing pattern in Estellasmarriage to the sadistic Bentley Drummle. Both Estella andPip seem doomed to go on expiating a guilt not truly theirown, whether or not it was truly Charles Dickenss.

Dickens originally ended the novel with a powerfulunhappiness: Pip and Estella meet by chance in London; shehas remarried, and each sees in the other a suffering thatcannot be redressed. Unfortunately, Dickens revised this intothe present conclusion, in which Pip prophesies that he andEstella will not be parted again. Though this is a littleambiguous and just evades sentimentality, it is highlyinappropriate to what is most wonderful about the novel: Thepurgation, through acceptance of loss, that has carried Pip intoan authentic maturity. What matters in that maturation is notthat guilt has been evaded or transcended, but that the readerhas come to understand it, however implicitly, as the cost ofPips confirmation as an achieved self. What Dickens could notbring himself to do in David Copperfield, he disciplined himselfinto doing in Great Expectations. Self-made, even self-fathered,Dickens disowns part of that psychic achievement when hecreates Pip, who is fatherless but keeps faith at last both withJoe and with the memory of Magwitch.

9Biographical Sketch

Charles John Huffam Dickens was born in Landport, Portsea,near Portsmouth, England, on February 7, 1812, the second ofeight children of John and Elizabeth Barrow Dickens. Thefamily moved to London in 1814, to Chatham in 1817, andthen back to London in 1822. By 1824 increasing financialdifficulties caused Dickenss father to be briefly imprisoned fordebt; Dickens himself was put to work for a few months at ashoe-blacking warehouse. Memories of this painful period inhis life were to influence much of his later writing, in particularthe early chapters of David Copperfield.

After studying at the Wellington House Academy in London(182427), Dickens worked as a solicitors clerk (182728), thenworked for various newspapers, first the True Sun (183234)and later as a political reporter for the Morning Chronicle(183436). In 1833 Dickens fell in love with Maria Beadnell,but her family opposed any contemplated marriage. Dickensnever forgot Maria, and she served as the model for Dora inDavid Copperfield.

In 1836 a collection of articles contributed to variousperiodicals appeared in two volumes as Sketches by Boz,Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People. This wasfollowed by the enormously popular Posthumous Papers of thePickwick Club (183637). Like many of Dickenss later novels,the Pickwick Papers first appeared in a series of monthlychapbooks or parts. Other novels were serialized inmagazines before appearing in book form. In 1836 Dickensmarried Catherine Hogarth, with whom he had ten childrenbefore their separation in 1858. At the beginning of hismarriage, Catherines sixteen-year-old sister Mary lived withthem, but she died after a few months. The shock of this lossaffected Dickens permanently, and Mary would be the modelfor many of the pure, saintly heroines in his novelssuch asLittle Nell in The Old Curiosity Shopwho die at an early age.

Between 1837 and 1839 Dickens published a second novel,Oliver Twist, in monthly installments in Bentleys Miscellany, a

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new periodical of which he was the first editor. This wasfollowed in 183839 by Nicholas Nickleby. Dickens thenfounded his own weekly, Master Humphreys Clock (184041), inwhich appeared his novels The Old Curiosity Shop and BarnabyRudge. In 1842 he and his wife visited the United States andCanada, and after returning Dickens published American Notes(1842), two volumes of impressions that caused much offensein the United States. He then wrote Martin Chuzzlewit(184344), a novel set partly in America.

In 1843 Dickens published A Christmas Carol, the first in aseries of Christmas books that included The Chimes (1845), TheCricket on the Hearth (1846), The Battle of Life (1846), and TheHaunted Man and the Ghosts Bargain (1848). Early in 1846 hewas for a brief time the editor of the Daily News, a paper of theRadical party to which he contributed Pictures of Italy aftervisiting Italy in 1844 and again in 1845. During a visit toSwitzerland in 1846 Dickens wrote his novel Dombey and Son,which appeared monthly between 1846 and 1848. In 1850 hestarted the periodical Household Words; in 1859 it wasincorporated into All the Year Round, which Dickens continuedto edit until his death. Much of his later work was published inthese two periodicals, including David Copperfield (184950),Bleak House (185253), Hard Times (1854), Little Dorrit(185557), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations(186061), and Our Mutual Friend (186465).

Throughout his life, Dickens threw himself vigorously into avariety of social and political crusades, such as prison reform,improvement of education, the status of workhouses, andreform of the copyright law (American publishers werenotorious for pirating his works and offering him nocompensation). These interests find their way also into hiswork, which is characterized by sympathy for the oppressed anda keen examination of class distinctions. His novels and storieshave been both praised and censured for their sentimentalityand their depiction of larger-than-life characters, such asPickwick or Mr. Micawber (in David Copperfield).

During the last twenty years of his life Dickens still foundtime to direct amateur theatrical productions, sometimes of his

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own plays. He also became involved in a variety ofphilanthropical activities, gave public readings, and in 186768visited America for a second time. Dickens died suddenly onJune 9, 1870, leaving unfinished his last novel, The Mystery ofEdwin Drood, which was first published later that same year.Several editions of his collected letters have been published.Despite his tremendous popularity during and after his ownlife, it was not until the twentieth century that serious criticalstudy of his work began to appear. Modern critical opinion hastended to favor the later, more somber and complex works overthe earlier ones characterized by boisterous humor and broadcaricature.

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The Story Behind the Story

Charles Dickens set out to compose what Bernard Shaw calledhis most compactly perfect book during a tumultuous time ofupheaval and change in his native England. During the secondhalf of the nineteenth century, when Dickenss career hadflowered, the worlds center of influence shifted from France toLondon, whose population tripled during the time of QueenVictorias reignand society shifted from one of ownershipand property to one of manufacture and trade. While thebeginning of the nineteenth century and the effects of theIndustrial Revolution brought poverty and persecution for thelaboring class, a series of reforms in the 1830s and 1840shelped to stabilize both the economy and the population.Factory acts restricted child labor and limited hours ofemployment, and the erection of the Crystal Palace in 1851celebrated the beautyrather than the strifeof theRevolutions technological innovation. Charles Darwinstreatise The Origin of Species, published in 1859, put thisprogress in the context of evolution and natural selection. Andso, in 1860, the story of a boys confusion-riddled rise fromimpoverished orphan to city gentleman grew slowly from a theseed of Dickenss letter to his friend John Forster, describing alittle piece I am writing ... Such a very fine, new, and grotesqueidea has opened upon me ... I can see the whole of a serialrevolving around it, in a most singular and comic matter.

Great Expectations is at once an elegy for the lost innocenceof lower-class rural populationwho, like the Gargerys ofRochester, toiled in the countryside of his childhoodand acritical analysis of the broadening gap between illusion andreality that came with the hopefulness of reform, socialmobility, and ever increasing commerce. In order tosuccessfully render this transformation, Dickenss scholarDavid Paroissien says the author needed to use first-personnarration and maintain a dual focus: Pip looks back to thoseevents of his life set in Regency England but tells them from apresent he belongs to, the now of the relating time. Through

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his protagonist, Pip, Dickens sought to define and question themotivations and forces behind a rise in social status and theprejudices surrounding the divide between high society and thebase criminal world. An advocate of free trade, Dickens wassickened by the cruelty overcrowded London inflicted upon itsinhabitants. His depictions of Smithfield market and Newgateprison serve as reminders of the filthy, teeming, bloody worldof questionable justice during this era. But since Pips storybegins not in the present time but rather in the early part of thecentury, Dickens appealed to readers by depicting Pip aslooking back from a current perspective, with some of theknowledge and maturity that wouldnt be available to a young,common labouring boy in the beginning of the century.

Reader faith and investment was necessary for a writer whoconstructed his plot as a series of bite-sized chunks. As theeditor of the weekly journal All the Year Round, Dickens had tocontend with the journals plummeting sales following thefailure of novelist Charles Levers serialized publication of his ADays Ride. Great Expectations appeared in weekly installments inboth All the Year Round and Harpers Weekly from December1860 to August 1861. This format, though challenging for thewriter, brought him a broad readership that only improved hiscareer. Dickens used the serial constraints as structural featuresin the novel, shaping plot around his need to have a continualseries of beginnings and endings and maintaining suspensethroughout the work. Great Expectations does not fall neatlyinto any particular genre. It does have aspects of domesticrealismwhich by 1860 was characteristic of Dickensscontemporaries such as Thackeray, Eliot, and Trollopebut indifferent moments also resembles a variety of Victoriansubgenres, including the historical novel; a silver-fork fictiondealing with high society; a Newgate sensationalist or crimenovel; and, perhaps most obviously, the Bildungsroman.

Seeing the autobiographical nature of Great Expectations iseasy with the knowledge that Dickens, like Pip, once lived inthe marsh country, was employed in a job he despised, andexperienced success in London at an early age. Thesesimilarities may be the reason why biographer Thomas Wright

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says that Great Expectations differs from Dickenss other novels,arguing that the hero and heroine are really live andinteresting characters with human faults and failings. Somecritics, including Wright, argue that Estella, in name and spirit,is an amalgam of Ellen Lawless Ternan, a 20-year-old actresswith whom Dickens had an affair following his divorce.Although like Pip and Estella, Dickens and Ternan were unitedin the end, Great Expectationss original ending was considerablymore melancholy. After finishing the last installment of thebook in June 1861, the exhausted Dickens brought the proofsto his friend, novelist Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Lyttonargued that the Dickenss first and considerably shorterendingin which Pip encounters Estella remarried andunambiguously leaves her foreverwould be too disappointingfor readers. In a letter to Forster, Dickens wrote, I have put inas pretty a little piece of writing as I could, and I have no doubtthat the story will be more acceptable through the alteration.

When the novel was published as a whole that July, criticshad differing opinions on the revised ending, but the novel wasa tremendous commercial success. A century and a half later,few remember that the novel once closed with a remarriedEstellas encounter with Pip on a Picadilly street and their final,unambiguous parting soon after. Today the novel is popularwell-read and widely taught. And Dickenss controversialdecisions in writing the serial have faded into the annals ofhistory. This was the authors last great work, wroteSwinburne. The defects in it are as nearly imperceptible asspots on the sun or shadow on a sunlit sea.

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List of Characters

Pip, the protagonist of the novel, is an orphan living with Mr.and Mrs. Joe Gargery, his sister and brother-in-law. Realizingwith disgust his commonness once he encounters MissHavisham and Estella, he is delighted when he learns he has asecret benefactor who wishes to make him a gentleman.

Estella, the adopted charge of Miss Havisham, has been raisedwith the intention of enacting her guardians revenge on men.Upon encountering Pip after she has been educated for alady, she tells him that I have no heart...no softness there,nosympathysentimentnonsense. (237). She endures anunhappy marriage to Bentley Drummle, who dies eleven yearslater.

An heiress and the owner of Satis house, Miss Havishamemploys young Pip and delights in watching him play withEstella. Soon she decides that Pip will suffer the wrongs thatshe herself endured when her marriage was called off onlyminutes before the ceremony.

Abel Magwitch, a convict who worked with and was laterbetrayed by Compeyson, first encounters young Pip in themarshes and then, threatening the boy, begs for food and a file.When Pip reminds him of a young daughter he lost, Magwitchaims to earn a fortune to repay the boy by making him agentleman through secret contribution.

An educated, gentlemanly criminal and former associate ofMagwitch, Compeyson uses his looks and his manners to shiftblame to Magwitch during a trial, sparking an eternal feud. Healso uses his wiles to attract Miss Havisham and eventually tojilt her. Compeyson is responsible for Magwitchs capture at theend of the novel.

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Joe Gargery is an honest, earnest blacksmith and Pips brother-in-law, who endures marriage to a shrill woman withoutcomplaint. Later, his pride and love for Pip supersede Pipscallous shunning of his former social status.

Mrs. Joe is Pips sister, more than twenty years his elder, whonever loses a chance to remind her charge that she broughthim up by hand. This effort is often conducted with the helpof a cane she calls Tickler. Dissatisfied with her station in life,and often shrill, jealous, and confrontational, she is silencedwhen Orlick strikes her in the back of the head.

Pips dark shadow throughout the book, Orlick first works as aday laborer in Joes forge and later works as a porter at Satishouse. He is responsible for the attack on Mrs. Joe, and henever forgives Pip for ruining his chances of wooing Biddy. Hedevelops an association with Compeyson; baiting Pip withmention of Magwitch, Orlick lures Pip to a sluice-house in themarshes and attempts to kill him.

Jaggers is an intimidating and prominent criminal lawyer inLondon who assumes the role of Pips legal guardian onceMagwitch decides to support him in secret. Jaggerssassociation with Miss Havisham leads Pip to believe that she isin fact his benefactor. Cold and cruel with his clients and frugalwith his emotions and lifestyle, Jaggers is involved with thedirty business of being an Old Bailey attorneytherefore hefrequently washes his hands with scented soap. He bringsEstella to be adopted by Miss Havisham.

Pip first encounters Herbert Pocketthe son of MissHavishams cousin, Matthew Pocketas a pale younggentleman lurking in the courtyard at Satis house. Once Pip isinformed of his intentions to be made a gentleman, he liveswith Herbert; the two become close companions and Herbertnicknames Pip Handel. Herbert wants to make a fortune as amerchant so that he can marry Clara Bailey.

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Educated at Harrow and Cambridge, Matthew Pocket is one ofPips tutors and a chief civilizing force from his life. He hasbecome estranged from his family because of his pragmatism ata time when Miss Havisham was giving large amounts ofmoney to the man who eventually jilted her.

Wemmick is Jaggerss middle-aged clerk, who divides his lifequite neatly into to compartments. The professional life, inwhich he maintains a post-office mouth and an obsessionwith portable property; and his personal life, which is housedin an imitation castle he shares with his aging father. His desireto help Pip out of certain predicaments is precluded by hisprofessional life, and Pip must seek him out at home in orderto get the advice for which he is looking. Wemmick is in lovewith the middle-aged Miss Skiffins.

One of Pips earliest confidantes, Biddy helps Pip with hislessons and he is put at ease by her simple, earnest, humility.When Mrs. Joe is attacked, Biddy moves in with the Gargerysto keep house.

Joes uncle, Pumblechook is a merchant obsessed with moneyand possessions. He first delivers Pip to Miss Havishamshouse. After Pips is educated to be a gentleman by thegenerosity of Magwitch, Pumblechook advertises that he wasPips earliest benefactor.

Powerful though inarticulate, Drummle is one of Pipsclassmates and an old-looking young man of a heavy order ofarchitecture. (190) When Jaggers encounters Drummle he isimpressed by the mans mannerisms and nicknames himSpider. To Pips horror, Drummle courts Estella andeventually marries her.

Startop is Pips other classmate, who has younger, moredelicate features and mannerisms and is extremely devoted tohis mother. Pip and Herbert solicit Startops help in attemptingto smuggle Magwitch out of London.

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Magwitchs former lover, Molly bore his daughter, who is laterrevealed to be Estella. She is acquitted of murder, at whichpoint Estella is placed in the care of Miss Havisham and Mollybecomes Jaggerss housekeeper.

Mr. Wopsle is a church clerk and frustrated preacher who fallsinto playacting and moves to London shortly after Pip does,assuming the stage name of Waldengarver. When Pip comes tosee one of his productions, Wopsle is startled to see a manlurking behind PipCompeyson.

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Summary and Analysis

Volume One

Pip introduces himself to readers as Philip Pirrip, but qualifiesthat with the statement that he calls himself Pip. He begins histale at the moment he first has an impression of the identity ofthingsas a seven-year-old child standing among the nettlesin the marshy Cooling churchyard. Pip stands on ChristmasEve, reflecting on the tombstones of his parentswhom henever knewand his five brothers. He comments that hisbrothers gave up trying to get a living, exceedingly early inthat universal struggle, which, Goldie Morgenthaler says,seems to be taken directly from the third chapter of DarwinsThe Origin of Species, published a year before GreatExpectations. Morgenthalers observations of Darwins effecton this work will surface later in the plot.

A hero such as Pip, argues critic Peter Brooks, is essentiallyunauthoredand unencumbered by authority figures.Christopher D. Morris contends that Pips insistence uponnaming himself reflects his inability to be ruled by the past ofhis parents headstones. This could be Dickens way ofillustrating, as Brooks says, a life that is for the momentprecedent to plot, and indeed necessarily in search of plot.This plot begins to unfold when into Pips reverie bursts thevoice of a rough-looking, gray uniformed man. He has spottedPip in the churchyard and demands, threatening death, thatPip bring to him some food and a file the next morning. Pipscurries back to the home of his sister and brother-in-law, JoeGargery, only to be met with his sisters rebukes for hisimpudence and a reminder of the fact that she brought him upby hand. After supper, Pip schemes to bring part ofChristmas dinner to the convict, when the sound of gunfireresounds, indicating another escape from the Hulks prisonships. Pip trips off to bed, afraid to sleep for fear of waking thenext mornings plan. Nevertheless, at the first hint of dawn, heescapes with some morsels, including brandy and a pork pie.

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On his way to the planned meeting spot, Pip stumbles uponanother man, dressed in a like gray uniform, with a badlybruised face and an iron chain encircling his leg. He strikes Pipand runs into the mist, allowing Pip to continue toward hisconvict. When they meet, the man ravenously east his food,while Pip mentions the other man and the fact that he heardcannons in the middle of the night. Pip indicates which way theman with the badly bruised face traveled and leaves his friendin the mist, filing away at his iron. Though Pips fear and guiltbegins here, with his being very much afraid of him again ...and likewise very much afraid from being away from home anylonger, (21) Dorothy Van Ghent argues that its genesisoccurred before he committed any ill action. Pip is received byhis sister as a criminal; this guilt is only compounded after hecommits theft and first realized as he watches the convict limpinto the distance.

When Pip returns home, half-expecting an awaitingconstable, he finds his sister busy with Christmas preparations.When attending church with Joe, he completely ignores theliturgy and is preoccupied instead with the question of whetherhe will be apprehended for his theft or saved from the wrath ofthe convict. The Gargerys and Pip later share dinner with thechurch clerk, Mr. Wopsle, the wheelwright Mr. Hubble and hiswife, and Joes Uncle Pumblechook. The adults pester Pip, whois overcome with worry about the realization of the missingfood. When Mrs. Joe announces the pork pie, Pip dashes away,only to run into a party of soldiers.

Though Pip is frightened, the soldiers simply want Joes helpin repairing handcuffs for the escaped convicts. Upon finishinghis task, Joe proposes that he, Pip, and Mr. Wopsle join thesoldiers search. They set out into the dismal marshes, Pipwondering whether the convicts will think he brought theauthorities. After a mad chase, the convicts are found at thebottom of the ditch, and with Pip hiding behind Joe during thespectacle, the badly bruised convict accuses the other ofmurder. When the sergeants stop the conversation and lightthe torches, Pip is revealed and is startled to be caught in theconvicts sight. He reminisces, If he had looked at me for an

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hour or for a day, I could not have remembered his face evenafterwards, as having been more attentive. (38) After an hourof travel, the convict apologizes to Joe for taking food from hishome; Joe promptly forgives him. Critics make much of thisexchange, noting both Joes genuine humanity and thefoundation of Pips kindness toward the convict. Noting abizarre clicking the convicts throat, Pip watches intently as thetwo men are loaded back onto the ship. On the way home, Joecarries his exhausted young charge back, and they deliver newsof the convicts confession to the awaiting visitors.

One evening, Pip, who is being taught to write by Mr.Wopsles great aunt, practices his script by writing Joe a letter.Joe says that he has never been to school; that he lived in thehouse until he met Pips sister, whom he describes as a finefigure of a woman, in part for her efforts raising Pip. Joeallows, however, that his lack of formal schooling could beattributed to his wifes disinterest in education. Pip declaresthat from that moment forward, he saw Joe as his equal.During a market day shortly thereafter, Pumblechookannounces that Pip is to play at the home of Miss Havisham, awoman known throughout town for being an immensely richand grim lady who lived in a large and dismal house barricadedagainst robbers, and who led a life of seclusion. (51) So thenext morning, a scrubbed and linen-bedecked Pip is deliveredto Pumblechooks shop. They arrive at Miss Havishamstogether, and a window is raised; Pumblechook responds to aprompt that Pip indeed stands downstairs, learns that he isunwanted on the premises, and leaves Pip in the hands of ayoung lady who meets him at the gate.

Pips young escort informs him that the name of the house isSatisor enoughand leads him to a dressing room, where alady dressed in full wedding regalia awaits. Pip soon noticesthat everything meant to be white is faded and that thewomans skin seems to hang off her bones. Miss Havishamcommands Pip to play, and when his response is a confusedstare, turns her eyes to her reflection in the looking glass andbids Pip to call the girl, Estella. At Miss Havishams behest Pipplays beggar my neighbour with Estella, who labels him a

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common labouring boy. (60) When they are finished, MissHavisham requests his return and Estella brings him into thecourtyard and contemptuously offers him food. After Estellaleaves, Pip observes his commonness with contempt, alleviatinghis frustrations by kicking the brewery wall. Estella soon letshim out, wondering aloud why he doesnt cry when he seems asthough hed like to. Gratefully finding Pumblechook awayfrom his office, Pip continues the four miles back to the forge,ruminating on his status as a common labouring boy.

Pip returns home to find his sister and Pumblechookawaiting his arrival. In response to their ceaseless queries hespins a web of elaborate lies, bearing in mind thatPumblechook has himself never laid eyes on Miss Havisham.Only when Pip sees Joe does he begin to feel remorse. Hequickly confesses, expressing his disdain about hiscommonness, and Joeincredulous that neither a group ofdogs nor a game involving flags comprised Pips visitexplainsthat the only sure way to becoming a gentleman is throughtruthfulness. The next morning, Pip resolves to ask Biddy totell him everything she knows. But before their plannedmeeting, Pip is sent by his sister to call on Joe at the publichouse, The Three Jolly Bargemen. Joe is seated with Mr.Wopsle and a secret-looking man (75) Pip doesnt recognize.This man inquires after Pips origins; the three converse untilthe rum-and-water is brought to the table and the strange manstirs his drink with a file. Only Pip notices this aberration, andin doing so realizes that the strange man is, in fact, his convict.The convict presents a fistful of change to Pip when Pip andJoe rise to leave. The wad is proclaimed to be two one-poundnotes, which Mrs. Joe binds and stores under an ornamental teapot. Pips sleep is fitful that night, his mind on the commonnature of an association with convicts.

Many critics write that Pips experience of Satis house is thatof living in a daydream; Miss Havisham represents in his hopesa sort of fairy godmother. Dorothy Van Ghent suggests thatMiss Havishams commanding Pip to play is an illustration ofDickenss response to societys increasing commodification ofpeople. At the appointed time, Pip returns, and Estella leads

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him into a gloomy, low-ceilinged room and instructs Pip towait until he is called upon. Pip gazes out at a neglected gardenuntil he realizes he is under scrutiny. He observes these strangepeople called Camilla, Cousin Raymond, Miss Sarah Pocket,until Estella summons him with a bell; she asks him, as theywalk, if he finds her pretty. When he assents, Estella slaps himforcefully and asks why he does not cry. Pip solemnly declaresthat he will never cry for her again. At the top of the stairs theyencounter a burly soap-scented man who inquires, biting theside of his forefinger, as to Pips purpose. Remarking that boysare a bad set of fellows, the man reminds Pip to behavehimself. Miss Havisham suggests that Estella and Pip play cardsagain, but then she directs Pip to a neighboring room.Standing there, Pip observes a long table set for a feast butriddled with mold, dust, and insects. When Miss Havishamenters, she explains that she shall be laid on the table when sheis dead, and points out that the object buried under cobwebs isactually a wedding cake. Pips task, he learns, is to walk MissHavisham around the room; he complies, until he is instructedto call for Estella. Estella enters with the adults Pipencountered downstairs. Miss Havisham declares that upon herdeath all of these peoplefamily membersshall surround thetable and feast upon me. Mentioning that her absent brother,Matthew Pocket, shall sit at the head of the table, she instructsPip to continue walking her around the table. When the adultsleave, Miss Havisham summons Pip and Estella and says,when they lay me dead, in my brides dress on the bridestablewhich shall be done, and which will be the finishedcurse upon himso much better if it is done on this day! (89)Pip and Estella then play cards, and Pip is led back to the yardand fed in the same manner as before. When Pip is left alonehe encounters a pale young gentleman, who implores him tofight. When Pip prevails, the pale young gentleman bids himgood afternoon. Meeting Estella in the courtyard, he honorsher request for a kiss on the cheek.

Fitful about the incident with the pale young gentleman, Pipreturns to the scene of the deed of violence (94) withtrepidation, only to find the struggle unmentioned. Seated in a

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garden chair, which Pip is instructed to push, Miss Havishamengages Pip in a discussion about his education and his futureas Joes apprentice. Pip visits again and again, and thoughEstella never asks for another kiss, Miss Havisham seems todelight in Pips attraction to her young charge. One eveningPumblechook comes to the Gargerys with the intention ofdiscussing Pips prospects. He begins by suggesting howgrateful Pip should be for the work that his sister has done, andthen engages Mrs. Joe in a discussion about Miss Havishamsinfluence. One day Miss Havisham again inquires the name ofthe blacksmith to whom Pip is to be apprenticed. MissHavisham requests that Joe comes to visit her soon, and alonewith Pip.

Mrs. Joe is offended by her lack of invitation; she suggeststhat she will travel with them and stay at Pumblechooks. Joeand Pip continue straight on to Miss Havishams and are metby a nonplussed Estella, who leads them in. Miss Havishamasks Joe a series of questions, beginning with, You are thehusband of the sister of this boy? Instead of responding toMiss Havisham directly, the bumbling, nervous blacksmithaddresses Pip. Joes foibles, Van Ghent suggests, are commonin Great Expectations, where language is unique to character.When characters such as Joe or Magwitch speak in soliloquy,they suggest a world of colliding fragmented existences. WhenJoe responds that Pip has earned no premium with him, MissHavisham presents Pip with 25 guineas. Miss Havisham bidsthem goodbye and remarks that Pip may not return, as Joe isnow his master. They return to Pumblechooks with the news.Pumblechook insists that hell take Pip to Town Hall to havehim officially bound to Joe. Mrs. Pip insists that some ofPips windfall be used to finance a celebration dinner at theBlue Boar. Pip returns to his bedroom that night, ashamed ofhis status and convinced that he shall never like Joes trade.

As Pips education continues, he soaks up all he can fromBiddy and Mr. Wopsle. Using the Battery as a study place, Pipimparts his knowledge to Joe. All the while, Pip thinks of MissHavisham and Estella. When he asks Joe if he should payanother visit to Miss Havisham, to formerly thank her, Joe

25

agrees, after some deliberation, to give Pip a half-holiday forhis visit. When Joes journeyman, Orlick, hears this news, heprotests until Joe grants a half-holiday to everyone. Mrs. Joe,upset by this decision, exchanges harsh words with Orlick;when Mrs. Joe dissolves into an angry fit, Joe and Orlick beginto struggle. Pip disappears upstairs to dress, and when hereturns, he finds Joe and his journeymen sweeping up asthough nothing has happened.

At Miss Havishams house Pip is greeted by Miss SarahPocket and the news that Estella has gone abroad, educatingfor a lady. (116) When Miss Havisham seems to delight inPips feeling of loss, Pip remains silent until Miss Havishamdismisses him. On his way home Pip runs into Mr. Wopsle,who invites him to take tea in Pumblechooks parlor and toengage in a reading of a popular tragic play. As under the coverof darkness the two walk home, they run into Orlick, who tellshim the Hulks cannons are firing again. On the way, the threemen are surprised to find a commotion at the Three JollyBargemen; when Mr. Wopsle seeks out the cause of the ruckus,he is told that something violent has happened at Pips place.When they finally reach home, they see through the crowd toPips sister, lying senseless on the floorboards because of a blowto the head.

The details of the evening emerge: Joe had been at theThree Jolly Bargemen since eight oclock, and when he arrivedhome at five minutes before ten, he found Mrs. Joe stricken, aconvicts leg iron beside her. Pip imagines that either Orlick orhis convict could be responsible for a tragedy of thismagnitude; considering the implications of the convictsactions, Pip is overcome by guilt, to think that I had providedthe weapon. (121) In giving the convict the file, Pip thinks hehas essentially killed his sister himself. He has overtaken hisdestiny, Van Ghent argues, just as George Barnwell, thecharacter in the play he read that night with Wopslehe hasmurdered his nearest relative.Though the incident rendersMrs. Joe an invalid, her temperament improves greatly. About amonth later, Biddy comes to work in the kitchen, and beginsinvestigating the curious T-shape Mrs. Joe helplessly draws on

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a piece of slate. Finally, Biddy realizes that unable to spellOrlicks name, Mrs. Joe is signifying his hammer. Still, whenOrlick was brought before Mrs. Joe, she is gracious to him.

Pip falls into the routine of life as an apprentice until thearrival of his birthday, when he is scheduled to pay another visitto Miss Havisham. He again meets Sarah Pocket at the gate,hears that Estella remains abroad, and acceptsafter somedeliberationa guinea and another invitation for his nextbirthday. At home, Pip begins to notice a change in Biddy and,admiring her persistence and her intellect, seeks her out as aconfidante. He tells her one Sunday afternoon that he wants tobe a gentleman, insisting that he will be miserable if hecontinues to lead the type of life to which he has been bound.He laments the occasion of being called coarse and common,and confesses that Estella planted such ideas. Biddy asks if Pipwould like to become a gentleman to spite Estella or to winher; she suggests that he might achieve his goal of spiting her ifhe stops caring about her words. As they walk and talk, Piplaments his inability to fall in love with Biddy, and Biddy insiststhat he never will. Nearing the churchyard, the two run intoOrlick; after, Biddy admits that Orlick has always had thewrong intentions for her. Contemplating this, Pip attempts torid himself of his disaffection for Jo and to sustain a desire forBiddy; all the while, he is haunted by Miss Havisham andEstella.

Four years later, Pip assembles with a group of men at theThree Jolly Bargemen to hear news of a popular murder. Asthey sit, Pip notices a strange gentleman opposite him, bitingthe side of his forefinger. The stranger asks the crowd if theyknow whether any of the witnesses have been cross-examinedand whether they feel a mans conscience can rest, knowingthat hes convicted a man who has not yet been heard. Thenthe strange man asks after Joe Gargery and his apprentice, andwhen they come forward, he introduces himself as Mr. Jaggers,a lawyer in London. Joe says he bears an offer to relieve Pipfrom his indentures to Joe, and Joe insists both that he wouldnever stand in Pips way and that he doesnt need compensationfor his loss. Jaggers says that part of the offers stipulations are

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that Pip always bears the name Pip and that the name of theperson who is his benefactor may not be revealed until a timeof his benefactors choosing. Next the details of arrangementare laid out, including the money set aside for Pips lodging andeducation and the fact that Jaggers should be considered Pipsguardian. Matthew Pocketthe man, Pip remembers, MissHavisham said should be at the head of the table when she islaid to restshould be his tutor, and twenty guineas shall belaid aside for Pips work-clothes. Additionally, Jaggers says Joeis to be compensated for the loss of Pips services, while Joeprotests, insisting that no monetary compensation could sufficefor the loss of a child.

Biddy attempts to explain the news to Mrs. Joe, and Pip feelssheepish when he hears Biddy and Joe discuss his pendingabsence. He suggests that the tailor send his new clothes toPumblechooks so he is not made into a spectacle. Biddy and Joeinsist that theyas well as Wopsle and the Hubblesmight liketo see Pips new gen-teel figure. Joe burns Pips documents ofindenture, and after an early dinner, strolls out to meet him inthe marshes. Later Pip speaks to Biddy, and when she makeshim uncomfortable by suggesting that Joe was not simplybackward and confused but proud, Pip accuses her of beingenvious of his good fortune. Visiting the tailor, Mr. Trabb, Pipdelivers the news of his good fortune; Mr. Trabbs reactionconvinces Pip of the power of money. Once hats, boots, andstockings have been ordered, Pip approaches Pumblechook,who receives him festively. They eat and drink to Pips sistershealth, and Pumblechook pledges to keep Joe up to the mark.On Friday Pip puts on his new clothes and pays a visit to MissHavisham, who says she has heard from Jaggers that Pip hasbeen adopted by an unnamed rich person. As she bids himgoodbye, she encourages him to always keep the name of Pip.As their time together dwindles, Pip grows more appreciative ofJoe and Biddys company. On his last night, he dresses himselfin his new clothes and feels melancholy despite their attempts toseem festive. Early the next morning Pip dresses, eats a hurriedbreakfast, and walks away. He lays his hand down on the fingerpost of the village and says goodbye.

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Volume Two

Pip makes the five-hour journey to London and discovers adirty city full of narrow streets. He takes a coach to LittleBritain, just outside Smithfield, and arrives at Jaggerss officeonly to find his guardian still in court. Mike, a one-eyed client,is asked to leave so that Pip can sit inside the office. While Pipwaits, he stares around the office, wondering about the oddobjects inside, such as a pistol, a sword, and two casts of faces.He sits until he cannot bear the heat and the menacing looks ofthe two casts; then, informing the clerk that hed like to take awalk, enters Smithfield, asmear with filth and fat and bloodand foam. (165) Beyond he enters Newgate Prison and seesthe Debtors door, where a drunk minister of justice informshim four people are scheduled to be hung the following day.Checking back in at Jaggerss office and finding him still gone,Pip heads toward a square in the opposite direction. There hefinds a group of people also awaiting Jaggerss arrival. Jaggersappears and addresses all of the people, including a group ofpoor Jews, and eventually rebukes or casts them aside so that heand Pip can return to the office. Jaggerss purpose in life,according to Steven Newman, is to extort the worst ineverybody. In this first glimpse of his typical day at work, it isobvious that the man is incapable of discussing or considering.Like the objects in his office, the man himself seems anamalgam of mystery and violence.

Finally, Jaggers brings Pip into his office and, whilelunching, informs him that he is to stay at Barnards Inn withyoung Mr. Pocket until Monday, at which point he shouldaccompany young Mr. Pocket to his father Matthews house.After receiving details of his credit and allowance, Pip makes hisway toward Barnards Inn with Jaggerss clerk, Wemmick.Barnards Inn is a shabby group of buildings, and Wemmickleads Pip up a flight of stairs which appeared to be slowlycollapsing into sawdust. (173) Bidding him farewell, Wemmickis surprised when Pip commits the social error of inviting asuperior to shake his hand. After more than half an hour, youngMr. Pocket emerges with an apology and a cone-shaped wicker

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basket of strawberries. He pushes through the sticking door toshow Pip around the meager apartmentas he points outfurniture, Pip notices that the man before him is none otherthan the pale young gentleman whom he fought at MissHavishams. And you, young Mr. Pocket says, are theprowling boy. After they share a laugh, young Mr. Pocketintroduces himself as Herbert and discloses that at one time hemay have been intended for Estella. He expresses no remorse,however, declaring the girl hard and haughty and capricious tothe last degree, and has been brought up my Miss Havisham towreak revenge on all the male sex. (177) Herbert explains thatMr. Jaggers is Miss Havishams businessman and solicitor andthat his own father is Miss Havishams cousin. Charmed byHerberts easy manner, the two settle in to an easyconversation. Herbert nicknames Pip Handel, after thecomposers piece called the Harmonious Blacksmith.

As they eat dinner, Herbert instructs Pip on proper Londontable manners and shares what he knows about Miss Havisham.He explains that Miss Havisham comes from a rich, proudfamily; she had a half-brother from her fathers secondmarriage to a cook. Once her father passed away, she was leftan heiress, and she was later pursued by a showy, passionateman to whom she gave great sums of money for businessventures. When Herberts father, Miss Havishams cousin,warned that she was doing too much for the man, MissHavisham was so upset she ordered him out of her houseforever. The day she was to marry the man, at twenty minutesto nine, she received a letter which canceled the entire thing.At that point, she stopped all the clocks. All that is known,Herbert says, is that her intended acted somehow in concertwith her scorned half-brother, and that the two men shared theprofits. Herbert confesses that he does not know Estellasorigins, saying only that she is adopted and that There hasalways been an Estella, since I have heard of a Miss Havisham.(183) He explains that he works in a counting house anddreams of making a great fortune through trading.

On Monday morning Herbert brings Pip to his fathershouse, in Hammersmith. They encounter Mrs. Pocket,

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surrounded by a chaos of children and nursemaids. Mr. Pocketemerges, stresses how happy he is to see Pip, and introduceshim to two young men named Drummle and Startop. Afterdinnerwhich includes the Pockets seven children as well astheir widowed neighbor, Mrs. Colierthe boys practicedrowing on the Thames. A few days later, once Pip has settledin, he has a long conversation with Mr. Pocket. Pip asks if hemight continue living in Barnards Inn with Herbert, and Mr.Pocket agrees. Pip goes to Jaggers to ask for money to buy afew additional things, and after the two settle on an amount,Wemmick pays him twenty pounds. Pip remarks to Wemmickthat hes not sure how to understand Jaggers demeanor, andWemmick assures him that its not personal; its professional:only professional. (198) He explains that the casts that hauntPip are the faces of famous clients who were executed. Wemmickinvites him to stay at his home in Walworth and inquireswhether or not Pip has yet dined with Jaggers. When Pip saysno, Wemmick suggests that when he does so soon, he shall besure to look at Jaggerss housekeeper to see a wild beast tamed.(202) After, they walk to a police court to watch Jaggers work.

One day Pip proposes to go home with Wemmick for theevening. As they walk toward Walworth, Wemmick instructsPip to look at Jaggerss expensive gold watch, explaining thatthere are seven hundred thieves in this town who know allabout that watch. (206) They arrive at Wemmicks house,which looks like a miniature castle. Wemmick explains thathidden in the back are farm animals and crops, so that if theplace was besieged, they would survive. Inside they meet a veryold man whom Wemmick addresses as Aged Parent. As theysit down first to punch in the arbour and then to supper,Wemmick explains that he got hold of his property little bylittle, but that its all his now; he remarks upon beingquestioned that Jaggers had never seen the place, as he believesstrongly in the separation of personal and professional matters.In fact, the next morning, as the two returned to work,Wemmick grew more pragmatic and distant with each step.Indeed, he addresses the problem of reconciling the dark,criminal world with a higher world by compartmentalizing. His

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Walworth character, says Newman, is an attractive one, butonly by dehumanizing himself is Wemmick able to survive theoffice. Whereas Jaggers might view life as evil, Wemmick seesit in certain ways as checks and balances.

Soon after, Pip and his fellow students accompany Jaggers tohis set of rooms in a stately yet poorly kempt house. Jaggerssays that he owns the entire house, but rarely uses more thanwhat they see; as they eat, Pips guardian takes a peculiarinterest in Drummle. Pip notices the housekeeper, especiallythe way she keeps her eyes attentively on Jaggers. As they talkof the boys rowing and their strengths, Jaggers imploresMolly, the housekeeper, to show the boys her wrist. Sheprotests, but finally is forced to reveal a wrist scarred anddisfigured. Jaggers remarks that few men have the power ofwrist that Molly does. As the hours pass, Jaggers prepares todismiss them, first drinking to Drummle; he later warns Pip toavoid him, proclaiming his classmate one of the true sort andnicknaming him Spider. A month later, Drummle finishes hisstudies with the Pockets and returns to his family.

Pip receives a letter from Biddy which says that Joe intendsto visit London in the company of Mr. Wopsle, that his sister ismuch the same, and that Pips absence is felt, and discussed, inthe kitchen nightly. Realizing that Joes visit is scheduled forthe next day, Pip thinks that if I could have kept him away bypaying money, I certainly would have paid money. (218)Herbert offers moral support by suggesting a breakfast thatmight please Joe. The next morning, Pip listens with dread toJoes heavy boots on the stairs. They greet one another, andthough Pip offers to take Joes hat, he holds it carefully, like abirds-nest with eggs in it. With his fractured speech, Joecomments on Pips maturity and describes Mr. Wopsles play.Emphasizing his hope that he was somehow useful to Pip, Joesays that its an honor to eat in the company of gentlemen.Then he mentions that a few nights earlier, Miss Havishamsummoned him, asking Joe to relay a message that Estella hascome home and would be glad to see him. He then insists thathe must go, that he and Pip are not compatible to be seentogether in London.

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The next day Pip sets off for his Satis house, thinking firstwith remorse that he should stay with Joe, but eventuallydeciding to stay at the Blue Boar. Leaving by the afternooncoach, Pip realizes that he was traveling with his convict, who isshackled to another. Though their eyes meet, the convictdoesnt recognize Pip; as they continue toward London, afeeling of coincidence tingles in the base of Pips spine. As hesits in the Blue Boars empty coffee-room, he picks up a localnewspaper that includes an article about him, attributing hisearliest fortunes to Pumblechook.

Brooks argues that this return home from London is the firstin a series of repetitionsof attempted reparations for Joe, ofknowledge seeking at Satis house. It seems, in fact, to be aharbinger of repressed thoughts and actions when the convictis seated on Pips coach. Immediately before falling asleep onthe coach, Pip considers whether he should return the two-pound notes to the convict. When he awakens, the first wordshe hears are Two-pound notes. Its as though hopes of Pipsprogress are subverted by the reappearance of the convict. Hehopes that he will never be able to go home again. Thesethoughts, Morgenthaler contends, suggest that Pip representsthe evolution of the human species away from its primitiveorigins. Pip feels great guilt about his own developingprejudices and the excuses he gives himself for being unable tostay with Joe. All other swindlers upon earth are nothing tothe self-swindlers.... that I should innocently take a bad half-crown of somebody elses manufacture is reasonable enough;but that I should knowingly reckon the spurious coin of myown make, as good money! (225)

When Pip arrives at Miss Havishams the next morning, heis shocked when Orlick opens the door. Commentinginsolently that he has left the forge, Orlick leads Pip into thehall. Pip then meets Miss Sarah Pocket, who brings him toMiss Havisham and an elegant lady. Pip realizes that the lady isEstella, and each proclaims the other to be much changed.When they are left alone in the garden, Estella discloses thatshe saw the fight break out between Herbert and Pip longbefore, and that she was gratified by it. Discussing their

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prospects of being groomed for one another, Estella says evenlythat she has not bestowed my tenderness anywhere. I havenever had any such thing. (238) They return, and Pip issurprised to learn that Jaggers will join them for dinner. Pip iscaptivated by the act of pushing Miss Havishams chair onceagain, feeling as though the action is transporting him back intime. Estella leaves the room to dress, and Miss Havishameagerly asks if Pip finds her beautiful and then implores that helove her, describing love as blind devotion, unquestioning self-humiliation, utter submission ... giving up your whole heartand soul to the smiteras I did. (240) Jaggers arrives fordinner and asks Pip how many times he has encountered MissEstella. As they eat dinner, Jaggers scarcely looks at Estella,even when she addresses him. Afterwards it is arranged thatwhen Estella comes to London, Pip should meet her at thecoach. After Pip and Jaggers return to the Blue Boar, Pip saysinto his pillow I love her, I love her, I love her!

The next morning Jaggers answers Pips concern aboutOrlicks new position with the dismissing comment that theright sort of man never fills a post of trust. Nervous aboutrunning into Pumblechook at the Blue Boar, Pip walks into themarshes and runs into Trabbs boy, who circles and taunts him.When Pip returns to London, he sends oysters and codfish toJoe as an act of repentance; he then returns to Barnards Inn.Seeing Herbert, Pip confesses that he is in love with Estella;Herbert replies that he knew all along and that Pip should havepatience in the absence of knowing Estellas feelings for him.He also insists that Estella cannot be a condition of Pipsinheritance and suggests, especially upon hearing of Jaggerssreaction to Estella at dinner, that Pip detach himself from her.When Pip deems such an action impossible, Herbert venturesto make himself agreeable again. He confesses that he issecretly engaged to a woman named Clara who is below hismothers notions of acceptability and whose father is an invalid.Pip insists that he would like to meet Clara, and the two friendsset off to watch Mr. Wopsles performance of Macbeth.

Wopsle has adopted the stage name of Waldengarver, andhis performance of Macbeth is so poor that throughout he is

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greeted by peals of laughter. Pip suggests to Herbert that theysneak out, but they are greeted at the door by a Jewish manwho addresses Pip by name and suggests that Waldengarverwould be delighted to see Pip. When they meet in the dressingroom Pip consults with Herbert and then invites Wopsle backto Barnards Inn for supper. When Wopsle finally leaves at twoin the morning, Pip dreams that his expectations are canceled,that he is promised to Herberts Clara, that he plays Hamlet toMiss Havishams ghost.

One day Pip receives a note from Estella which explains thatshe is London-bound. Pip waits for her at the coach-office,where he runs into Wemmick, on his way to Newgate toconsult with a client. As they walk through the prison, Pip isstruck by Wemmicks stiff manner, so unlike when he is athome among the Aged. Pip tries to rid himself of prison dust ashe waits for Estella. This prison dust is yet anothermanifestation of the guilt and distain Pip feels for being soclosely linked to a world of crime. From his acceptance of thetwo-pound notes at the Three Jolly Bargemen to hisassociation with Jaggers and his proximity to Smithfield andNewgate, Pip is tied to violence and crime. Julian Moynahanargues that Dickens has entrapped his protagonist. He writes:Regardless of the fact that Pips association with crimes andcriminals is purely adventitious and that he evidently bears noresponsibility for any act or intention of criminal violence, hemust be condemned on the principle of guilt by association.These coincidences are ties that bind characters to one another,regardless of reason.

When Pip sees Estellas face, he notices a nameless shadow(264) hovering between them. Estella informs Pip that he is totake her to Richmond, in Surrey, where she is to live. As theytalk, Pip observes aloud that Estella speaks of herself as thoughshe were someone else. She talks resignedly about MissHavishams wiles and about their own status as mere pawns ofher plan. They travel by coach to Estellas new lodgings,passing through Newgate-street and then Hammersmith,where Pip points out the Pocket residence. When Pip expressessurprise that Miss Havisham might part with Estella so soon

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after her return from the Continent, Estella insists that itssimply part of the plan. After dropping her off in Richmond,Pip returns to Hammersmith with a heavy heart, consideringairing his woes to Mr. Pocket, and soon deciding against it.

As he has grown accustomed to London, Pip has becomeused to an extravagant lifestyle which includes the employmentof a servant (called the Avenger) and inclusion in a club calledThe Finches of the Grove, whose members dine expensivelyonce every two weeks and quarrel among themselves. WhenPip and Herbert realize they have plummeted deeply into debt,they sit down at the table and calculate their affairs. Theseefforts, for Pip, include the act of leaving a Margin, (276) toround the amount of their debt up to the nearest wholenumber. Pip is enjoying his busywork one evening when aletter, signed Trabb & Co., arrives bearing the news of hissisters death. Pip returns home, realizing with great shock thatMrs. Joes is the first death through which he has lived. Whenhe arrives, he finds the funeral an ostentatious affair and Joecrippled with grief. Biddy is very helpful, and Trabb conductsthe entire ceremony with a pomp that pains Joe, who says hewould have preferred to carry his wife to the church himself.Pumblechook and the Hubbles seem to relish the parade to thechurchyard. When everyone finally leaves, Pip and Biddydiscuss her prospects now that she is no longer saddled withthe responsibility of Mrs. Joe. Biddy suggests that she mightenjoy taking a teaching job. When Pip asks about the specificsof his sisters final hours, Biddy tells him that her last wordswere Joe, then Pardon, and then Pip. Biddy admits thatshe is still being pursued by Orlick, and Pip is disturbed by thisnotion as well as the realization that Biddy has acquired a habitof repeating everything he says. Pip asks to spend the night inhis childhood room, and the next morning he sets off early,promising that hell visit soon.

When Pips twenty-first birthday arrives, Jaggers summonshim to his office, calls him Mr. Pip, and inquires after his lackof financial stability. When Pip asks whether his benefactor willbe revealed to him on this day, Jaggers says no. He does,however, present Pip with a 500-pound note, with the news

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that he will be presented with the same amount every year, onhis birthday. Pip again inquires after his benefactor, and Jaggersis curt about his inability to answer such questions; he says thatwhen the person comes forward, Jaggerss responsibilities willbe finished. Pip seeks Wemmicks advice on how to helpHerbert financially. Wemmick, being at the office and in hispragmatic mind frame, lists the names of the bridges inLondon and advises that Pip would be better off throwing hismoney from one of them. Realizing that he might get adifferent answer at Walworth, Pip resolves to visit Wemmickthere. Jaggers joins Herbert and Pip for dinner, and when heleaves, Herbert remarks that Jaggerss presence made him feelas though he had committed a felony.

That Sunday Pip sets out for Walworth in order to obtainadvice about Herbert. He makes pleasant conversation with theAged until he is surprised by tumbling wooden flaps markedJohn, and Miss Skiffins, which Wemmick has rigged toamuse his father. Miss Skiffins is a wooden, middle-agedwoman upon whom Wemmick seems to dote. Pip once againbeseeches Wemmick about Herbertgiving more details thistimeand the clerk is much more responsive. The four sharetea and toast and listen to the Aged read; Pip observesWemmicks attempts to sneak an arm around Miss Skiffins. Bythe end of the week, Pip receives a note from Wemmick whichdetails the plan for HerbertPip will donate 100 poundsyearly to a merchant named Clarriker, who will hire Herbertand make him a partner without mentioning that hes beingpaid to do so.

Estella stays with a widow named Mrs. Brandley who knewMiss Havisham before her seclusion. Pip is summoned to visit,and Estella mentions her worries that Pip will not heed thewarnings she gives against his attraction to her. She then saysthat Miss Havisham wishes for Pip to accompany Estella toSatis house the day after next. When they arrive, again MissHavisham prods Pip about the way Estella uses him. Pip seesmore clearly the way Estella has been groomed to wreak MissHavishams revenge on men. As the three sit by the fire, MissHavishams arm linked through Estellas, Estella slowly begins

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to detach herself. When Estella is reproached, she accuses herguardian of making her proud and hard. When Miss Havishamlaments Estellas inability to return her love, Estella insistsagain that all of her failings are the result of her being taught toturn against the daylight. Pip escapes into the courtyard for anhour, and when he returns, Estella is seated at Miss Havishamsknee. Disturbed, Pip cannot sleep through the night, and attwo oclock in the morning he awakes to find Miss Havishamwalking around the house, clutching a candle, and moaningquietly. The next day and upon subsequent visits, Pip can seeno evidence of the harsh words exchanged between Estella andMiss Havisham. Soon after, at a meeting of the Finches of theGrove, Drummle mentions that he has been keeping companywith a woman named Estella. Upset, Pip demands evidence,and the next day Drummle produces a note in Estellas hand,which says that she danced with him several times. Pipconfronts Estella at a ball in Richmond, insisting that sheshould not associate with characters such as Drummle. Shedefends herself by explaining that she deceives and entrapsmany othersall of them but you. (312)

By the time Pip turns 23, he has moved with Herbert theTemple, one of the Inns of the court. Though Pip hadterminated his official lessons with Mr. Pocket, they remain ongood terms, and Pip remains interested in reading. When, aweek after Pips birthday, Herbert travels to Marseilles onbusiness, Pip, overcome by a feeling of loneliness, hears afootstep on the stairs. Pip lets in the man, who looks aboutsixty, and asks his business. After the man makes some strangecomments about Pips appearance, Pip realizes that he is staringat his convict. Feeling threatened and confused by the convictsoutpouring of affection and appreciation, Pip insists that hehopes the convicts gratitude for his actions as a young childwill be repaid in the convicts resolution to rebuild his life. Theconvict explains that he has traveled the world and worked atmany trades; he asks Pip how he has come to his fortune andthen begins to make correct guesses as to the logistics, one byone, finishing with Wemmicks name.

As Pip braces himself with shock, the convict gleefully

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relishes the fact that he has created a gentleman, suggestingthat even love can be Pips, as long as money can buy it.Thinking sadly of Estella, Pip asks whether anyone else isresponsible for his fortune; the convicts proud dissent upsetsPip. When the convict asks for a place to stay, Pip gives himHerberts room. The storms and the shock install in Pip aprofound sense of despair; worried about footsteps on the stairsand the convict nearby, he locks the convict in his room andfalls asleep in a chair. Van Ghent suggests that the convict isinside Pip as the negative potential for his greatexpectationsDickens explores extensively that power thatbrings people together, as binding as the convicts shackles. It isthe effect of the original encounter that propels Magwitch backfrom across the world to Pip.

Volume Three

Pip is troubled by the thought of an unexpected visitor lurkingoutside on the stairs, and the task of keeping his benefactoraway from the prying eyes of his old neighbor woman and herniece seems arduous. He informs the watchman that the manwho asked for him was his uncle and inquires after otherunknown visitors. The watchman says that he thought anotherperson was with his unclea working person, wearing dust-colored clothes. As the clock strikes six in the morning Piplights the fire; shortly thereafter, he tells the old woman andher niece to modify breakfast, as his uncle had arrived duringthe night. When the convict awakens, he tells Pip that his realname is Abel Magwitch, but that he came to call himself Provisduring his travels. He said that he hopes he is not known inLondon, though he was tried there most recently, and that hewould not advertise the fact that he had returned fromAustralia. Pip concludes that he must offer the man lodgingand that hell have to confide in Herbert, although Provisinsists upon studying Herberts physiognomy before disclosure.

Pip secures a lodging house for his so-called uncle, and thengoes to see Jaggers, who, after confirming that his benefactorwas indeed Abel Magwitch of New South Wales, says that he

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doesnt want to hear any more about the situation. Jaggers saysthat when Magwitch gave a distant hint of wanting to return toEngland, he was discouraged and told that he would unlikelybe granted a pardon. Then he allows that Wemmick received aletter from a colonist named Provis interested in Pips address.After that disclosure, the conversation is terminated. Thisadmission, says Morgenthaler, is the revelation of the fairy taleturns inside outthe happy ending is provided by a member oflow society, proving, perhaps, Darwins idea of interdependenceof all things. With Pips revelation and Jaggerss confirmation,moral distinctions between categories are forever blurred.

Since Wemmick is out, Pip returns home to find Magwitchdrinking rum. Even after his clothes are replaced, the convictstill seems untamed and mysterious, and Pip is haunted by thefact that the man can be hanged on his account. Herbertreturns and is halted by the sight of Magwitch; the three mensit by the fire as Pip explains the entire situation. Magwitchassures the two young men that hell always have a gen-teelmuzzle on. (341) Herbert and Pip discuss the situation, andHerbert says that although he understands Pips impulse toseparate himself from Magwitchs funding and friendship, hesees danger in Pips renunciation of this stubborn andpassionate man who for so long has had such a fixed idea tohelp him. They decide that the only thing to do is to convinceMagwitch to leave England.

Magwitch sits down to tell the boys the story of his life,including mention of the other convict Pip encountered in themarshes, a man named Compeyson. This man, whomMagwitch met twenty years earlier, was good-looking andeducated, and he soon took in Magwitch to be his partner inswindling. Compeysons other partner was a dying man namedArthur who lived upstairs; one evening Arthur, who wasperpetually haunted by the image of a mad woman dressed allin white, saw the woman coming toward him with a shroud,and promptly died. During his employment with CompeysonMagwitch was tried and convicted of misdemeanor; soon afterthe two men were together tried for felony. At the trial,Compeysons character was celebrated, while Magwitch was

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implicated. For this, after a series of trials and escapes, the twomen became mortal enemies. As Magwitch stands smoking bythe fire, Herbert pencils in the cover of a book, YoungHavishams name was Arthur. Compeyson is the man whoprofessed to be Miss Havishams lover. Fearful and vowingnot to mention Estella to Provis, Pip sets off to find Estella thenext day. He is told he can find her at Satis house, and as hepasses the Blue Boar for breakfast and to clean up, he seesBentley Drummle. They meet and exchange tense pleasantriesuntil a waiter informs Drummle that the lady will not ride.Before Pip leaves he thinks he spots Orlick.

Miss Havisham and Estella are surprised to greet Pip, and hetells them that hes discovered the secret of his patronage. Inresponse to Pips query, Miss Havisham says that she broughthim to Satis house as she might have any other chance boy, andthat her association with Jaggers has nothing to do with Pipsexpectations. Pip expresses disdain that she has misled Herbertand Matthew Pocket as well as himself, and begs MissHavisham do the lasting service for Herbert that he himselfbegan. He then professes his love for Estella, who replies inkind that she doesnt understand such a thing. She admits thatshe is to be married to Bentley Drummle. Pip begs her tobestow herself at the very least on someone more worthy, andexplains that she will never leave his heart. He moves throughthe gate and toward London and finds a note from Wemmickawaiting him at the Temple, urging him not to go home.

After spending the night at a rooming house in CoventGarden, Pip sets off for Walworth. Wemmick tells Pip thatCompeyson is living in London. Herbert, instructed byWemmick to hide Magwitch until a plan can be constructed forhis safe escape, has brought the convict to live with the fatherof his intended, Clara. Pip leaves Wemmicknoting from thetea service the imminent arrival of Miss Skiffinsand findsHerbert at the house Wemmick indicated. Herbert says thatthe housekeeper is happy to have the company of Magwitchupstairs from Claras father, the surly, noisy, drunk Mr. Barley.Herbert, Pip, and Magwitch construct a planthey will takeMagwitch down the river by boat, when the time is right.

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Weeks pass without change and Pip begins to realize thatEstella is married. He begins rowing regularly, so as toestablish himself and his boat as a presence on the river. Hekeeps a nervous and distanced watch over Magwitch. Oneevening Pip dines alone and then takes in a Christmaspantomime in which Wopsle is featured. When he greets hisformer neighbor afterwards, he is shocked when Wopsleindicates that he recognized a man to have been sitting behindPip, describing him as one of the two convicts they found inthe ditch many years earlier. Pip is shocked that Compeysonwas behind him, like a ghost. (386) Pip returns home andholds council with Herbert by the fire. One day soon after, Pipruns into Jaggers, who invites him to lunch with Wemmick.Jaggers says over lunch that Miss Havisham wishes to settle amatter of business with Pip; he then gleefully mentions thatour friend the Spider has won the contest of Estellas heart.When Jaggers summons his housekeeper, Molly, Pip issurprised to notice that the hands and eyes of the housekeeperwere so familiar; that, in fact, she is doubtlessly Estellasmother. After the meal Pip asks Wemmick if he has ever seenMiss Havishams adopted daughter. When Wemmick says no,Pip reminds him of the time he was instructed to take notice ofJaggerss housekeeper. Wemmick says that many years earlier,the housekeeper was tried and acquitted for murder. It was acase of jealously, Wemmick says, as both Molly and the murdervictim were tramps. He says that the woman was also understrong suspicion of having destroyed her three-year-old child asrevenge upon the man, but Jaggers argued against that,insisting that the marks on her hands were not those offingernails but brambles. The sex of the child, Wemmick says,was female.

Pip returns to Satis house, and Miss Havisham begs Pip toexplain the history behind his secret partnership with Herbert.She says that if she gives him the money900 poundsPipmust agree to keep her secret as she has kept his own. Heagrees, and she asks if there is nothing she might do to servePip as she has his friend. They sign papers on their agreementand Miss Havisham begs him to write under her name, I

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forgive her. (398) Pip insists that he has forgiven her, and MissHavisham cries despairingly and repeatedly, What have Idone! Pip asks after Estella, and Miss Havisham says that shedoesnt know whose child she was but that Jaggers brought herwhen she was two or three. They part, and Pip walks throughthe brewery, taking stock of the places where he felt suchchildish hope and pain. As he looks into the window, he seemsMiss Havisham throw herself onto the fire. He rushes in andattempting to smother the flames with his coat and his hands,he burns himself. A surgeon arrives and pronounces herwounds serious and her shock potentially more fatal. Thesurgeon promises to write to Estella, who is in Paris. Pip setsoff to notify the family personally.

Back at Barleys house, Herbert dresses Pips wounds andspeaks of a discussion he had with Magwitch in whichMagwitch mentions a woman with whom he had a child andmany struggles. Magwitch told Herbert that the woman wasvengeful to the point of murder, and that though she wasacquitted, the woman swore that she would destroy the child.Fearful that he would be the cause of the childs death,Magwitch hid himself. Herbert says that when Pip was sevenand ran into Magwitch in the churchyard, Magwitch wasreminded of the little girl. Pip asks Herbert to confirm that hehas no feverthat he is in the right frame of mindand thenexplains patiently that the man they have in hiding is Estellasfather.

Pip goes to Little Britain and makes the arrangements withJaggers and Wemmick for Herberts future. Pip mentions thathe engaged Miss Havisham in a discussion of Estellas origins,saying later that he, unlike Miss Havisham, knew Estellasmother. Jaggers is startled, and Pip says he has seen Estellasmother in the past three days, and that he knows her father:Provis, from New South Wales. Then Pip discloses all that heknows, leaving Jaggers to infer that some information wasimparted by Miss Havisham rather than by Wemmick. Jaggersabruptly changes the subject, and Pip implores Wemmickinvoking his pleasant home and aging fatherto urge hissuperior to be more forthright. Jaggers maps out the story for

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Pip and asks for whose benefit the secret should be revealed.When Pip fails to provide an answer, Jaggers returns onceagain to his work. When a client appears, sniveling, shortlythereafter, Jaggers dismisses him, insisting Ill have no feelingshere. (415)

Pip settles Herberts affairs, and Herbert tells Pip that hiscareer is progressing such that he might establish a branch-house in Cairo, where he and Clara hope to live. A few dayslater, they receive a post from Walworth which tells them theescape should be plotted for Wednesday. Herbert suggests theyengage Startop in the plan, and they begin to construct adetailed scheme which provides for Pips injured hands. Pipreceives an anonymous note which summons him to the oldmarshes in order to receive information about his uncle Provis.Pip leaves immediately, stopping at Satis house to inquire afterMiss Havisham, and then taking dinner in an inn. He engagesthe landlord in a unwitting conversation about his own history,with Pumblechook cited as his earliest benefactor. As Piplistens, he realizes how much of an impostor Pumblechook was,and how good, honest, and uncomplaining Joe was.

Pip walks through the marshes and seeing a light in the oldsluice house, walks in. He calls out to see if anyone is nearby,and is captured, he realizes, by Orlick. Orlick says that he isgoing to kill Pipas he did his sisterand that he knows aboutProvis and Pips plans to smuggle him away. Stopping first todrink, he picks up a hammer. Pip shouts and struggles with allhis might, hears voices, and sees Orlick emerge from thestruggle and run into the night. It is Herbert and Startop cometo his rescue, and they assure Pip that he has the next day torest before the journey. They say that in Pips haste he droppedthe letter, and so they tried to find him at Miss Havishams.Finding Pip nowhere they retired to the Blue Boar, which Piphad often mentioned, and heard from Trabbs boy that Pip hadbeen seen going in the direction of the sluice house. It isOrlick, Moynahan argues, not Magwitch, who represents thetrue criminal in Great Expectations, for his origins aremysterious and he has no regret for any of his actions. Theywork side by side, and in some ways, Orlick represents the

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shadow of Pipthey are both ambitious, and in many ways,they want the same things. When he confronts him in thesluice-house, he wants to take his life both literally andfiguratively. But with this parallel drawn, Moynahan says, thereader may be compelled to see Pip more harshly than Pipmight ever see himself.

The next morning a bright sunrise inspires the men to begintheir journey. They set off and stop at Claras house forMagwitch, who seems grateful and relaxed. As they begin torow, he mentions the delights of freedom and compares lifesfleetingness and fluidity to the rivers. They stop that night at arundown inn, dragging the boat up, and the landlord mentionsa seeing a four-oared galley. That night Pip notices two menlooking into their boat, and the next morning it is decided thatPip and Magwitch will set off early. They see a Rotterdamsteamer that will take them away, but then, in the earlyafternoon, Pip notices the galley. Soon they hear a policemancall for the arrest of Abel Magwitch. Noticing the face ofCompeyson onboard, Magwitch dives into the river to attackhim. After a struggle, only Magwitch surfaces, injured badly,and he is immediately placed in shackles. He claims that therehad been a struggle underwater, but that he didnt drownCompeysonhe simply disengaged and swam away. Pippromises to stand by his benefactor. Brooks argues that thefact that Magwitchs return is played out on a Thames estuarydraws a line back to Pips childhood and his first encounterwith Magwitch on the marshes. It was like my own marshcountry, Pip thinks, flat and monotonous, and with a dimhorizon. (438) Ghent argues that the river is one of the mostprominent demonic symbols in Dickensit unites classes,reveals evidence, unites victim and criminal, and swallowspeople whole.

At Police Court the next day, Jaggers is convinced Magwitchwill be found guilty. Pip is not bothered by news that hisinheritance shall be appropriated by the state. At this timeHerbert explains that he and Clara must leave for Cairo.Herbert offers Pip a clerkship, and Pip says that he must leavethe question open for a little while. On Saturday Pip returns to

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his lonely home and finds Wemmick on the stairs, looking forhim. He asks if Pip will meet him at the Castle on Mondaymorning, and when he does, the two take a little walk and find,inside a church, Miss Skiffins and a wedding party. The two aremarried, and Pip promises not to mention a word of thefestivities in Little Britain.

Pip goes to visits the ailing Magwitch in prison. ThoughJaggers put in an application for a trial postponement giventhe state of his client, Magwitch is found guilty and sentencedto death. In response, Magwitch says, I have received mysentence of Death from the Almighty, but I bow to yours.(458) As the days wear on, Pip knows the end is near. Whenwords fail his benefactor, Pip tells him, immediately beforedeath, that he knows of Magwitchs child, that she was stillalive, and that he loves her. Brooks argues that Magwitchsstatement before the court is Dickens way of contrastinghuman plots, such as the law, with the laws of the universe,which render futile both actions and attempts atinterpretation. The shaft of light that falls onto all the courtsattendants eliminates the distinction between the judge andthe judged and the guilty and the innocent. Pips evolution isapparent in his observation of the broad shaft of light ...linking both together, and perhaps reminding some amongthe audience, how both were passing on, with absoluteequality, to the greater Judgment that knoweth all things andcannot err. (458)

Pip falls ill himself after Magwitchs death, and his debt is sogreat that he is arrested and carried off to prison. In his abjectstate he begins hallucinating, seeing Miss Havisham and Orlickand finally Joe. Pip finally snaps out of his feverish haze andrealizes that Joe actually is sitting at his bedside, having cometo nurse him back to health. When Joe composes a note toBiddy, telling of Pips recovery, Pip realizes that Biddy hastaught Joe to write. Joe says that Miss Havisham died about aweek after Pip took ill, and that she distributed her wealthamong the Pockets, including four thousand pounds toMatthew. He also tells Pip Orlick was arrested and thrown intothe county jail for robbing Pumblechook. One Sunday, the

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still-weak Pip and Joe go for an outing, and Pip tries to tell Joethe story of MagwitchJoe, however, is not interested inrevisiting painful memories. Upon rising the next morning, Piprealizes that Joe is gone. He has left only a note and a receiptindicating that he had paid all of Pips debt.

In some ways, Pips emergence from brainfever finds him achild againin the care of Joe, absolved of all his mistakes.Still, innocence is lost, and Pip must address his lost innocencehead on. He returns to find Satis House in a state of disarray,readying for an auction. Stopping at the Blue Boar, Pipencounters Pumblechook, who is very rude to him. Finally, hegoes back to his old home, discovering, upon meeting Joe andBiddy, that he arrived on their wedding day. Pip is surprisedas his own slight hopes of a happy marriage with Biddy aredashedyet he expresses nothing but happiness for the couple.Returning to London, Pip sells his few possessions and takes apartnership with Herbert. Eleven years later he returns to Joeand Biddy, and finds a young childthat theyve named Pipsitting before the hearth. Biddy insists that Pip must marry, butPip tells her that hes already an old bachelor.

After admitting to Biddy that he has not forgotten Estella,Pip goes to revisit the site of Satis house one last time. Hewalks through the overgrown garden in the mist and thinks ofEstella, about her unhappy life and the news that her cruelhusband, Bentley Drummle, died two years earlier. As hecontinues to stroll pensively, Estellas figure appears in thedistance. She declares herself greatly changed and admits thatexcluding the grounds, she has lost everything, little by little.She says she has often thought of Pip and that she neverimagined that in taking leave of Satis house that shed also takeleave of him. She says that she has been bent and broken, butthat she is, she hopes, in better shape. They take hands andwalk out of the ruins together.

Work CitedMitchell, Charlotte, ed. Great Expectations. Penguin Classics, 1996.

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Critical Views

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW ON THE UNAMIABLEESTELLA AND PIP AS FUNCTION OF CLASS SNOBBERY

Estella is a curious addition to the gallery of unamiable womenpainted by Dickens. In my youth it was commonly said thatDickens could not draw women. The people who said thiswere thinking of Agnes Wickfield and Esther Summerson, ofLittle Dorrit and Florence Dombey, and thinking of them asridiculous idealizations of their sex.1 Gissing put a stop to thatby asking whether shrews like Mrs. Raddle, Mrs. Macstinger,Mrs. Gargery, fools like Mrs. Nickleby and Flora Finching,warped spinsters like Rosa Dartle and Miss Wade, were notmasterpieces of woman drawing.2 And they are all unamiable.* * * Of course Dickens with his imagination could inventamiable women by the dozen; but somehow he could not orwould not bring them to life as he brought the others. Wedoubt whether he ever knew a little Dorrit; but Fanny Dorrit3is from the life unmistakably. So is Estella. She is a much moreelaborate study than Fanny, and, I should guess, a recent one.

Dickens, when he let himself go in Great Expectations, wasseparated from his wife and free to make more intimateacquaintances with women than a domesticated man can. * * *It is not necessary to suggest a love affair; for Dickens could getfrom a passing glance a hint which he could expand into a full-grown character. The point concerns us here only because it isthe point on which the ending of Great Expectations turns:namely, that Estella is a born tormentor. She deliberatelytorments Pip all through for the fun of it; and in the little wehear of her intercourse with others there is no suggestion of amoment of kindness: in fact her tormenting of Pip is almostaffectionate in contrast to the cold disdain of her attitudetowards the people who were not worth tormenting. It is notsurprising that the unfortunate Bentley Drummle, whom shemarries in the stupidity of sheer perversity, is obliged to defendhimself from her clever malice with his fists: a consolation to us

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for Pips broken heart, but not altogether a credible one; forthe real Estellas can usually intimidate the real BentleyDrummles. At all events the final sugary suggestion of Estellaredeemed by Bentleys thrashings and waste of her money, andliving happily with Pip for ever after, provoked even Dickensseldest son to rebel against it, most justly.4

Apart from this the story is the most perfect of Dickenssworks. In it he does not muddle himself with the ridiculousplots that appear like vestiges of the stone age in many of hisbooks, from Oliver Twist to the end. The story is built round asingle and simple catastrophe: the revelation to Pip of thesource of his great expectations. There is, it is true, a trace ofthe old plot superstition in Estella turning out to beMagwitchs daughter; but it provides a touchingly happyending for that heroic Warmint. Who could have the heart togrudge it to him?

As our social conscience expands and makes the intense classsnobbery of the nineteenth century seem less natural to us, thetragedy of Great Expectations will lose some of its appeal. I havealready wondered whether Dickens himself ever came to seethat his agonizing sensitiveness about the blacking bottles andhis resentment of his mothers opposition to his escape fromthem was not too snobbish to deserve all the sympathy heclaimed for it. Compare the case of H.G. Wells, our nearest toa twentieth-century Dickens. Wells hated being a drapersassistant as much as Dickens hated being a warehouse boy; buthe was not in the least ashamed of it, and did not blame hismother for regarding it as the summit of her ambition forhim.5 Fate having imposed on that engaging cricketer Mr.Wellss father an incongruous means of livelihood in the shapeof a small shop, shopkeeping did not present itself to the youngWells as beneath him, whereas to the genteel Dickens being awarehouse boy was an unbearable comedown. Still, I cannothelp speculatin