Summary Great Expectations Full Chapter Summaries, Quotations and Analysis
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Course
English
Institution
GCSE
A 49-page comprehensive guide to Great Expectations, including summaries, relevant quotations and in-depth analysis for every chapter (1-59). This also includes information about the alternative ending. I achieved a Grade 9 in English Literature at GCSE with these notes.
As an infant, Philip Pirrip was unable to pronounce his name, so he called
himself “Pip” and the name stuck. Now, Pip is a young orphan living in his sister’s
house in the marsh country in southeast England.
One evening, Pip sits in the isolated village churchyard, staring at his parents’
tombstones and imagining what they were like. Suddenly, a horrific man, dressed
in rags and with his leg in chains, springs out from behind the gravestones
and seizes Pip. The escaped convict questions Pip harshly and demands that Pip
bring him food and a file with which he can saw off his leg irons.
When the convict questions him about his parents’ names, Pip recites them exactly
as they appear on the tombstones, indicating his youthful innocence while
simultaneously allowing Dickens to lessen the dramatic tension of the novel’s
opening.
“I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip”
“I drew a childish conclusion”
“Bleak place overgrown with nettles”
● Suggests that the graveyard is not well-kept
● The lower class in society was a bleak position to be in
● Nettles sting people - foreshadows something bad
“Distance savage lair from which the wind was rushing”
● Bad weather - ominous
● “Savage lair” - pathetic fallacy allows Dickens to describe the sea as
untamable and associates it with later events in the novel
Weather and nature seem to control and set the atmosphere more than Pip
does. He has little control over his life when he is young and living at the forge,
which can be attributed to the lack of social mobility when the novel was set.
Dickens uses pathetic fallacy, personification and character dialogue to show
that there is an ominous and menacing atmosphere. The bad weather builds tension
and foreshadows the presence of the convict.
“Keep still, you little devil, or I’ll cut your throat”
● Aggressive and menacing
● Imperative language
, ● “Little devil” hints at an affectionate or close relationship between Magwitch
and Pip - it’s not all bleak
Magwitch appears to be a terrifying monster to Pip. He is an escaped convict,
desperate to avoid capture and will do anything to keep his freedom. Magwitch’s first
words to Pip are a deadly threat, and the scene takes place in a graveyard which
adds to the sinister feeling.
Chapter Two
Pip runs home and steals some food, but is forced to stir the holiday pudding all
evening. Mrs Joe thunders about, threatening Pip and Joe with her cane, which is
called the “Tickler.” The next morning, Pip steals some brandy and a pork pie for the
convict as well as a file from Joe’s forge. He heads back to the marshes to meet the
convict and give him the food.
“Brought me up by hand”
“I supposed that Joe Gargery and I were both brought up by hand”
“Joe and I being fellow-sufferers”
Chapter Three
The first man Pip finds hiding in the marshes is actually a second, different convict,
who tries to strike Pip and then flees. Pip finally comes upon his original convict, who
is cold, wet and hungry. Pip is kind to the man, but the convict becomes violent
again when Pip mentions the second convict he encountered in the marsh, as
though the news troubles him greatly.
As the convict scrapes at his leg irons with the file, Pip slips away through the mists
and returns home.
“The man took strong, sharp, sudden bites, just like the dog”
● Animalistic behaviour
● Use of simile
● Magwitch is desperate
● He is dependent on Pip for his food like an animal would be
“Thankee, my boy. I do”
● Magwitch’s nice side
● Contrasts with his aggressive former persona
● Perhaps Pip is the first person to help him
● He is already fond and appreciative of Pip
,Pip and the convict already have some level of affection for each other, with both of
them using possessive pronouns to refer to each other.
Pip is horrified by the convict, yet treats him with compassion and kindness. It
would have been easy for Pip to run to Joe or the police for help, but he honours his
promise to the suffering man and worries for his safety.
In this section, Pip’s self-commentary mostly emphasises his negative qualities: his
dishonesty and his guilt. Self-criticism is a characteristic of Pip as a narrator
throughout Great Expectations. Despite his many admirable qualities, Pip chooses to
focus on his failures and shortcomings.
When Pip ventures out alone onto the marshes, he leaves the sanctuary of home for
vague, murky churchyards and the danger of a different world. This sense of
embarking alone into the unknown becomes a recurrent motif throughout the
novel, as Pip grows up and leaves his childhood home behind.
Chapter Four
As he returns home, Pip is overwhelmed by a sense of guilt for having helped the
convict. He even expects to find a policeman waiting for him at Joe’s house. When
Pip gets home, he only finds Mrs Joe busy in the kitchen cooking Christmas dinner.
Pip eats breakfast with Joe and they go to church together.
Pip has Christmas dinner with Mr Hubble, Mrs Hubble, Mr Wopsle and Mr
Pumblechook. He nearly panics when Pumblechook asks for the brandy and finds
the bottle filled with tar water. His panic increases when several police officers
burst into the house with a pair of handcuffs.
Chapter Five
“My convict looked round him for the first time, and saw me…”
● Possessive pronoun
● Pip feels possessive and protective of the convict already
● Foreshadows Magwitch’s role later in the novel
Pip is sure that the policemen have come to arrest him, but all they want is for Joe to
fix their handcuffs. The policemen tell Pip and Joe that they are searching for a pair
, of escaped convicts, and the two agree to participate in the manhunt. Pip feels a
surge of worry for “his” convict.
The two convicts are discovered together, fighting furiously with one another in the
marsh. Pip’s convict protects Pip by claiming to have stolen the food and file himself.
The convict is taken away to a prison ship and out of Pip’s life.
“Water was splashing and mud was flying, and others were being sworn, and
blows were being struck, when some more men went down into the ditch to
help the sergeant, and dragged out, separately, my convict and the other one.
Both were bleeding and panting.”
● “Blows”, “dragged”, “bleeding” are all associated with violence
● Present participle verbs (ending in ing) make the scene more dramatic
● Long sentence heightens the sense of action
● The short sentence at the end highlights how serious the situation is
Chapter Six
Joe carries Pip home, and they finish their Christmas dinner. Pip goes to bed while
Joe narrates the scene of the capture to Mrs Joe and the guests.
Pip continues to feel guilty about the incident because he has not told the whole truth
to Joe. He struggles with internal conflict because he wants to be honest but doesn’t
want to lose Joe’s friendship, which is all he has.
“But I loved Joe - perhaps for no better reason in those early days than
because the dear fellow let me love him - and, as to him, my inner self was not
so easily composed”
● Pip really values Joe and doesn’t want him to be angry
● He is dependent on Joe, as his only friend
● Pip feels isolated and alone
Chapter Seven
Pip lives with his guilty secret and struggles to learn reading and writing at Mrs
Wopsle’s school, where he befriends Biddy.
One day, Mrs Joe bursts in with Pumblechook as Joe and Pip are talking. They
reveal that Pumblechook has arranged for Pip to play at the house of Miss
Havisham, a rich spinster who lives nearby. Mrs Joe and Pumblechook hope that
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