Phase 2 Review – Part 1

 When Pip arrives in London, his first impression is that it is “ugly, crooked, narrow, and dirty.”  Although it is the setting for Pip’s great expectations, he finds the new environment unnatural and uncomfortable…may foreshadow future events  Pip meets with Jaggers, who tells him he will be boarding with Matthew Pocket  Pip meets Wemmick, Jaggers' clerk

 Wemmick brings Pip to Barnard's Inn, where he will be staying in town  The inn appears to be run-down  Here he meets his guide and roommate for the next few days, Matthew Pocket's son, Herbert  He is the pale, young gentleman from long ago at Miss Havisham's house  This appears to be the one positive aspect of Pip's new home

 Herbert prepares a meal for them (finally reflects human companionship for Pip) and explains his relationship to Miss Havisham  His father is Miss Havisham's cousin  Matthew Pocket  Pip’s tutor

Miss Havisham’s Story  She was doted on by her father her whole life  Shared only with her half brother, the son of her father and the cook  She ended up falling in love with a swindler and Matthew had tried to warn her of him  She demanded that Matthew leave the house and never return  She is then jilted on the day of her wedding; her fiancé left her only a letter  A rumor started that the fiancé conspired with her half brother, who may have wanted revenge on Miss Havisham for being favored by their father  Miss Havisham adopts Estella and raises her to get revenge on the male gender by making them fall in love with her and then jilting them

 The next day Herbert brings Pip to meet his father and his seven siblings in the area outside of Hammersmith  Relationship between Pip and Herbert is an interesting one  Herbert may have lost favor in Miss Havisham's eyes when Pip showed up  Pip may have gotten the inheritance that Herbert thought was meant for him  However, Herbert is honest and has no capacity for bitterness

Click Here Click Here to View Video

 The Pocket household is one of comedy with a large number of children, nurses, and boarders - everything is loosely held together by Matthew  Mrs. Pocket spends her days doing nothing but reading  She's disappointed by her life, yet she seems to have no household duties and has a good man as a husband  She's caught up in the class system and is out of touch with what is actually happening in her home  She is raised to be completely useless and to be taken care of

THEME: The abuse of children (Remember: Dickens’ Childhood)  Children in the Pocket family are not necessarily physically abused; however, they are:  In danger sometimes from lack of supervision  Under fed  Made to work  Psychological abuse by just the number of them  Matthew and Mrs. Pocket have little to no time for child rearing

 Pip finds Matthew to be serious, honest and good  Because Matthew shows interest in teaching Pip, Pip is interested in learning and progressing  Pip becomes drawn to the city life in London and he asks Jaggers if he may live permanently at Barnards Inn with Herbert, instead of boarding at Hammersmith  Jaggers agrees

 Wemmick brings Pip to watch Jaggers in court  May be Dickens' criticism of the judicial system and lawyers in general  Jaggers is never concerned about who is actually innocent or guilty in the cases he tries  He is simply concerned with eliciting the appropriate verdict, which will benefit him - he just wants to be paid…he's all business

 While staying with the Pockets, Pip becomes more familiar with Camilla (Matthew's sister), Georgiana (a cousin), and of course, Herbert  Pip is invited to dinner at Wemmick's house  It has become clear to Pip that Wemmick lives by a certain slogan “Office is one thing, private life is another.”  Wemmick can conform in order to fit the society that is common to Jaggers' office  At the office - dry callousness, grim  At home - imaginative, caring, generous

 Wemmick lives in a small cottage, which has been modified to look like a castle (has a moat, drawbridge, and firing cannon)  Pip finds Wemmick to be a very entertaining host, which is far different than the Wemmick Pip knows from Jaggers' office

THEME  People are not always what they seem.  So far Pip has been wrong about both Herbert and Wemmick

 The next day, Jaggers invites Pip and his friends to dinner  Herbert  Startop  Drummle (an insulting young man who irritates the others)  Of all the guests at his house, for some reason, Jaggers is particularly pleased and interested in the unfriendly Drummle  This is very strange to the others and to the readers…perhaps this will reveal itself later in the novel

 Jaggers seems to be revealing himself only as a mechanical rationalist, with a cold scientific fascination for the psychology of people  has a complete lack of emotional involvement with others  The arguing that goes on between his guests seems to entertain him more than a peaceful meal would

 As Wemmick had earlier suggested, Pip looks carefully at Jaggers' servant  She is a woman of about forty and seems to regard Jaggers with a mix of fear and duty  Jaggers’ proud presentation of her scarred wrists will likely resurface later

 Biddy writes to Pip telling him that Joe is coming to visit him in London  Pip does not look upon this visit happily  Joe shows up for breakfast and tells Pip that Miss Havisham wants him to know that Estella is back at Satis House  Joe addresses Pip as “sir” and stays for only a few minutes  Tells Pip that he is out of his element and that if he would like to sit down and talk to him like in old days, Pip should come visit him at the forge  Joe doesn't feel comfortable in a place that is so unnatural to him - he can't be himself

Click Here Click Here to View Video

 Pip journeys back to his hometown to see Estella  On the way he shares a carriage with two convicts who sit behind him  Pip recognizes one of them as the man he met in the pub years before, who stirred his drink with the file and gave Pip a one pound note  The convict doesn't recognize him  Pip overhears him telling the other convict about a note that a stranger had given him to bring to Pip

 It is clear now that other than being a fellow convict, this man has no real relationship to Pip's convict  This encounter makes Pip feel uneasy THEME  Pip realizes the way his past seems to cling to him

 Pip imagines that Miss Havisham has adopted both he and Estella to raise them to be with each other  Imagines them living at the old Satis House and opening the windows to let the sun in that has been shut out for so many years.  Pip encounters Orlick at the gate to Satis House and learns he is now working for Miss Havisham

 Pip goes to meet Estella who is now older and more beautiful than ever  In her presence now, Pip reverts back into the course, common boy he used to be and Estella resumes treating him like the boy he used to be.  Estella has come from France and is going to live in London

 The talk about his new and old friends  Estella says, “Who is fit for you then is not fit for you now.”  Pip agrees and decides not to go see Biddy and Joe  During their conversation, there is something strikingly familiar in Estella's face, but Pip can't seem to place it.  Later they all have dinner with Jaggers, who, strangely, doesn't look at Estella through the whole meal

MISS HAVISHAM AND ESTELLAJOE AND PIP  Miss Havisham raised Estella not as an individual, but as an extension of herself to fulfill what she did not have in her own life  Not to find love, but to revenge love - this is a selfish love  Joe raised Pip out of generosity and love

 Pip and Jaggers return to the inn in town  Pip mentions to Jaggers that Orlick may not be the most trustworthy assistant to Miss Havisham  Jaggers tells Pip that he will see to it that he is fired

 Pip stays away from Joe and Biddy at the forge, but continues to walk around town as he is admired by passing former neighbors  This walk is disturbed when Trabb's boy makes fun of Pip by imitating the snobbish way he walks

 Even though Pip is making decisions based on the way society would want him to act, he feels guilt and shame in these same decisions - his  feelings of guilt are proof that he is acting against his nature

 Pip returns to London and talks to Herbert about Estella  He tells Herbert that he cannot let go of Estella, regardless of how she treats him  During this conversation Herbert reveals that he is in love with a woman named Clara  However this must be kept secret because his mother would believe that he is marrying below his station

Great Books: Great Expectations. Discovery Channel School unitedstreaming. 17 July 2008