Great Expectations

Wemmick walks Pip to Barnard’s Inn. As they walk, Pip observes that Wemmick is wearing several odd trinkets. Wemmick remarks that he was also new to London long ago. He cautions that many people steal from each other to get ahead in life rather than to spite their victim. Pip thinks that makes the act worse.

Pip waits at the dreary inn half an hour for Herbert. Herbert is hospitable despite the “musty” condition of his apartment. As he welcomes Pip in, the two men suddenly realize where they’ve seen one another before: When they were both children at Miss Havisham’s. Herbert declares, “you’re the prowling boy!” and Pip likewise declares, “you’re the pale young gentleman!” (393).

Herbert explains that Miss Havisham had invited him to play at her house as a child also, and Miss Havisham didn’t like him. He supposes that if she had, he might have become engaged to Estella, but he feels no loss because Miss Havisham has raised Estella to seek revenge on men. Pip learns that Miss Havisham adopted Estella, Jaggers is Miss Havisham’s trusted solicitor, and Matthew Pocket is Miss Havisham's cousin.

Pip feels very comfortable around Herbert and shares his story. Pip asks Herbert to let him know when he behaves low-class. When Pip tells Herbert that his full given name is Philip Pirrip, Herbert decides to call Pip Handel instead after a musical piece called “The Harmonious Blacksmith” by George Frideric Handel.

The men enjoy a nice dinner together. As they eat and drink, Herbert politely corrects Pip about the way he uses utensils and the way he sips from his glass. Herbert also explains that Miss Havisham’s father, a country gentleman and brewer, spoiled her. In her youth, Miss Havisham fell in love a man who extorted great sums of money from her. At this time, Miss Havisham’s relations would usually use her for money, and Herbert’s father, Matthew, was one of the few trustworthy people in her life. Matthew warned young Miss Havisham about her lover, and Miss Havisham cut ties with Matthew, accusing him of jealousy.

On the day of Miss Havisham’s wedding, the groom never showed. Instead, he sent a letter calling off the marriage, which she received in her wedding dress. At that moment—twenty minutes to nine—Miss Havisham stopped all the clocks in the house. Ever since, she has stayed in her house. The conman fiancé acted with Miss Havisham’s half-brother. Herbert closes his story by reassuring Pip that they are not competitors, and he will never ask any questions about Pip’s benefactor. With this statement, Pip feels affirmed in his suspicion that Miss Havisham must be his secret benefactor.

The conversation then turns to Herbert’s trade. He works to provide insurance for ships, but he speaks of his goals to trade with the East Indies, citing “tremendous” possible profits.

Later that week, Herbert brings Pip to visit the home of his parents and siblings. The house is rife with little children tumbling around, and Matthew Pocket has a perplexed expression and gray, disorderly hair. 

Mr. Matthew Pocket and Mrs. Belinda Pocket are both kind but absent-minded, leaving their servants to run the household. Mrs. Pocket comes from a noble background, but Mr. Pocket is not well-off. The couple provides housing and education to several other young gentlemen, including Bentley Drummle and Startop. In addition to studying with Mr. Pocket, the young men spend most evenings rowing on the river.

Drummle is next in line for a baronetcy. Pip overhears Drummle and Mrs. Pocket in conversation, noting that Drummle speaks well and recognizes Mrs. Pocket as a member of his elite class. Mrs. Pocket becomes so absorbed by this conversation that she fails to notice the baby in her lap has picked up a nutcracker and is about to harm himself with it. Fortunately, the baby is rescued from harm by a watchful servant.

A servant complains to Mrs. Pocket about an incident with the cook, and Mrs. Pocket is annoyed that the servant addressed her so boldly, and Mrs. Pocket dismisses the servant. When Mr. Pocket discovers that the drunk cook is passed out on the kitchen floor, Mrs. Pocket defends the cook, citing a time when the cook had stroked her vanity. 

After Pip has settled into his new life, Mr. Pocket converses with him about his prospects. Mr. Pocket tells Pip that Mr. Jaggers advised him not the train Pip for any profession, explaining that Pip should be able to hold his own with other wealthy gentlemen.

Jaggers gives Pip some money for furniture, and Wemmick tells Pip not to take Jaggers’s gruff communications personally. Wemmick shows Pip a collection of morbid objects he has acquired from previous clients over the years, including death masks, jewelry, and other personal memorabilia. Wemmick invites Pip over for dinner, then asks if Pip has dined with Mr. Jaggers, advising him to look at Jaggers’s housekeeper, “a wild beast tamed” (453).

Chapter 25 opens with Pip’s impressions of Bentley Drummle, whom he describes as “idle, proud, [lazy], reserved, and suspicious” (456). These qualities were enabled by Drummle’s parents, who spoiled him throughout his childhood. Realizing that he is ungentlemanly, Drummle’s parents sent him to Mr. Pocket. Bentley Drummle is very rich, but not very intelligent or courteous. Startop was also spoiled by his wealthy mother, though he is decidedly gentler in behavior and appearance.

After Pip has been with the Pockets for a month, Mr. Pocket’s sister Camilla, Camilla’s husband, and Georgiana, visit the Pocket household. Pip reflects that these people don’t seem to like him very much, though they pretend to.  

A few weeks later, Pip stops by Jaggers’s office to see Wemmick. Wemmick asks Pip if he’d like to have dinner with him and his father. Wemmick explains that Jaggers will have Pip and Matthew Pocket’s other students over for dinner tomorrow. He further elaborates on Jaggers’s eccentricities, including the fact that he never locks the doors and windows of his house. According to Wemmick, Jaggers believes thieves should fear him, not the other way around.

Wemmick lives in an odd little cottage amid garden plots. He is proud of his house, which he’s built himself with a draw bridge and a gun that goes off at nine o’clock every night. Wemmick, Pip, and the elderly father have a pleasant dinner together.

Pip finds Jaggers washing his hands with his signature strongly scented soap. He suggests that Jaggers compulsively washes his hands from a guilty conscience. Jaggers invites Pip and the others over for dinner, just as Wemmick said he would. He leads them to a stately, but not particularly well-kept, house in Soho. Dinner is served in the dining room with a wide range of liquors on a dumbwaiter by Jaggers’s chair. Pip notices that through the whole dinner, Jaggers is careful of where everything goes and puts the food out himself.

When the housekeeper brings a dish to the table, Pip gets a good look at her, as Wemmick suggested. He observes that she is a pale woman of about 40 with a “disturbed” look to her face, much like the witches in Macbeth. Later in the evening, the conversation turns to the sport of rowing, and the men compare their muscles. Prompted by this display, Mr. Jaggers orders his housekeeper, Molly, to show the men her wrists. Both of Molly’s wrists bare deep slash scars. Jaggers ominously declares that Molly’s wrists have power beyond what most men have.

The young men are drunk, and Pip calls Drummle out on a comment he makes about money, pointing out that he still owes Startop money. A fight escalates, and Drummle is about to throw a glass when Jaggers re-enters the room and coolly tells them to leave. Afterward, Pip attempts to apologize to Jaggers on Drummle’s behalf. Jaggers responds that he likes Drummle, but Pip admits that he doesn’t. Jaggers agrees that Pip should keep away from him, but he adds a mysterious comment about Drummle’s future connection to Pip.