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Chapters
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Chapters
Chapters at a glance
Great Expectations has 59 chapters.
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Chapters59 items
Chapter 1
Pip, a young orphan boy, is visiting his parents' graves in a bleak churchyard on the marshes when a terrifying escaped convict grabs him.
Chapter 2
Pip sneaks home after the graveyard encounter and lies awake terrified. His sister, Mrs.
Chapter 3
Pip crosses the misty marshes at dawn to deliver the stolen food and file. He accidentally approaches the wrong convict first, a stranger who flinches at the sight of him and runs…
Chapter 4
Pip returns home and gets through Christmas dinner at the Gargerys' house with a group of self-important local adults who treat him as a nuisance.
Chapter 5
The soldiers need Joe to fix the handcuffs, then a group including Joe, Pip, and Mr. Wopsle joins the soldiers hunting the escaped convicts on the marshes.
Chapter 6
Pip returns home after the convict encounter and the stolen goods are discovered missing, but Pip says nothing to Joe about his role in helping the escaped man.
Chapter 7
Pip is now a few years older and working in Joe's forge. He's getting a rough education from Biddy at the village school, and it becomes clear his learning is limited.
Chapter 8
Pip visits Satis House for the first time. He meets Miss Havisham, who stopped all the clocks at the moment she was jilted on her wedding day and has never left the house since.
Chapter 9
Pip comes home and is immediately interrogated by Mrs. Joe and Pumblechook about what happened at Satis House.
Chapter 10
Pip goes to the pub, the Three Jolly Bargemen, to fetch Joe. There he encounters a mysterious stranger who stirs his drink with a file.
Chapter 11
Pip returns to Satis House and meets a group of odd relatives fawning over Miss Havisham. He also encounters a pale young gentleman in the garden who challenges him to a fight.
Chapter 12
Pip continues his visits to Satis House and begins pushing Miss Havisham's wheelchair around the rotting wedding cake table.
Chapter 13
Joe accompanies Pip to Satis House so Miss Havisham can officially approve Pip's apprenticeship. Joe is completely out of place and speaks to Miss Havisham through Pip rather than…
Chapter 14
Pip reflects on how much he has come to hate the forge and his life as an apprentice. He is ashamed of his home, ashamed of Joe, and ashamed of himself for feeling that way.
Chapter 15
Pip tries to teach Joe to read and write, partly out of genuine affection and partly to make Joe more presentable. He also asks permission to visit Miss Havisham, which Joe grants.
Chapter 16
The investigation into Mrs. Joe's attack hits a dead end.
Chapter 17
Pip continues his visits to Miss Havisham and his lessons with Biddy. He confides in Biddy about his feelings for Estella, and Biddy responds with quiet honesty, pointing out that…
Chapter 18
Everything changes in this chapter. A lawyer named Jaggers arrives at the forge and announces that Pip has come into a large fortune from an anonymous benefactor.
Chapter 19
Pip prepares to leave for London. He gets new clothes, visits Miss Havisham to say goodbye, and she plays along with the implication that she is his benefactor without confirming…
Chapter 20
Pip arrives in London for the first time and is immediately overwhelmed. The city is loud, dirty, and nothing like he imagined.
Chapter 21
Pip arrives in London for the first time and is immediately underwhelmed. The city is grimy and crowded, nothing like the grand place he imagined.
Chapter 22
Herbert Pocket and Pip finally meet properly, and it turns out they've met before: Herbert was the pale young gentleman Pip fought at Miss Havisham's years ago.
Chapter 23
Pip visits the Pocket family home and meets Herbert's father Matthew Pocket, who is Pip's new tutor, along with Mrs. Pocket and their chaotic household.
Chapter 24
Pip begins his education with Matthew Pocket and settles into London life. He visits Jaggers's office with Wemmick and gets a closer look at how Jaggers operates: clients fear him…
Chapter 25
Pip continues settling into London life and gets to know Wemmick better. He visits Wemmick's home in Walworth for the first time and discovers that Wemmick lives in a small castle…
Chapter 26
Pip and his friends are invited to dine at Jaggers's house in Gerrard Street. The evening is strange and uncomfortable.
Chapter 27
Joe Gargery visits Pip in London. The visit is painful for both of them.
Chapter 28
Pip travels to Satis House to see Estella. On the coach, he ends up sitting near two convicts being transported, one of whom he recognizes as the man who stirred his drink in the…
Chapter 29
Pip visits Satis House and sees Estella again. She is now a poised, beautiful young woman, and Pip is completely in love with her.
Chapter 30
Back in London, Pip tells Herbert about his feelings for Estella. Herbert gently warns him that Estella seems dangerous and that loving her will bring him pain.
Chapter 31
Pip and Herbert go to see Mr. Wopsle perform in a London theater.
Chapter 32
Pip receives a note from Estella saying she is coming to London and asking him to meet her at Newgate Prison, where she'll be passing through.
Chapter 33
Pip escorts Estella across London to Richmond, where she is to stay with a wealthy woman and be introduced into society.
Chapter 34
Pip reflects on how his expensive lifestyle is dragging Herbert into debt alongside him. The two friends have fallen into a habit of spending freely and then sitting down together…
Chapter 35
Pip returns home for Mrs. Joe's funeral.
Chapter 36
Pip turns twenty-one and finally gets a meeting with Jaggers about his finances. The news is both clarifying and frustrating: Pip will receive five hundred pounds a year, but Jagg…
Chapter 37
Pip visits Wemmick at Walworth to discuss the plan for Herbert. Wemmick is warm and helpful at home in a way he never is at the office.
Chapter 38
Pip continues visiting Satis House and watches Estella's cold treatment of Drummle, who keeps pursuing her despite it.
Chapter 39
This is the chapter that breaks everything open. Pip is twenty-three and living in London when a stranger arrives at his apartment in a storm.
Chapter 40
The morning after Magwitch's arrival, Pip tries to figure out what to do. He discovers a stranger on the staircase and can't identify him.
Chapter 41
Pip and Herbert talk through what to do about Magwitch now that they know the truth. Pip feels trapped: he can't take the convict's money anymore, but he also can't just throw him…
Chapter 42
Magwitch tells his life story. He grew up with nothing, fell into crime young, and eventually got tangled up with a man named Compeyson.
Chapter 43
Pip goes to see Estella and Miss Havisham at Satis House, but first he runs into Bentley Drummle at an inn. The two men have a tense, hostile exchange — they despise each other an…
Chapter 44
Pip confronts Miss Havisham and Estella directly. He tells Miss Havisham she let him believe she was his benefactress and that she was raising Estella for him.
Chapter 45
Pip follows Wemmick's warning and spends the night at a run-down hotel rather than going home. The next morning he meets Wemmick, who explains what happened.
Chapter 46
Pip visits Wemmick's Walworth home and gets instructions for hiding Magwitch. Wemmick advises Pip to move the convict to a riverside location, specifically a room at the house of…
Chapter 47
Pip goes to the theater and sees Wopsle performing in a play. Afterward, Wopsle tells Pip something unsettling: he spotted a man sitting directly behind Pip during the performance…
Chapter 48
Pip has dinner with Jaggers and Wemmick. During the meal, Pip studies Molly, Jaggers's housekeeper, and becomes convinced he has seen her face somewhere before.
Chapter 49
Pip visits Miss Havisham, who has written asking to see him. She wants to help Herbert financially as Pip had requested, and she signs over the money needed to complete Herbert's…
Chapter 50
Pip recovers from his burns at Herbert's place. While he heals, Herbert tells him the full story of Magwitch's past as Magwitch himself had shared it with Herbert.
Chapter 51
Pip confronts Mr. Jaggers about Estella's true parentage, demanding to know the full story.
Chapter 52
Pip receives an anonymous letter telling him to come to the marshes alone if he wants information about Provis. He goes, despite suspecting a trap, partly because he feels he owes…
Chapter 53
This chapter is the immediate aftermath of the Orlick attack. Pip is injured and shaken, but he pushes himself to recover quickly because the plan to get Magwitch out of England i…
Chapter 54
The escape attempt takes place. Pip, Herbert, and Startop row Magwitch down the Thames toward a steamer that will carry him out of England.
Chapter 55
In the aftermath of the failed escape, several threads close quickly. Herbert tells Pip he is leaving for Cairo to manage a branch of his firm, and he offers Pip a position there.
Chapter 56
Magwitch's trial takes place, and he is convicted along with thirty-two other prisoners. The judge delivers a long, formal speech before sentencing Magwitch to death.
Chapter 57
Pip falls seriously ill and is arrested for debt at the same time. He collapses and loses weeks to fever and delirium.
Chapter 58
Pip travels back to the forge to propose to Biddy, having decided that a quiet life with her is what he actually wants.
Chapter 59
Eleven years after leaving England, Pip returns and visits the forge. Joe and Biddy have a son named Pip, and the sight moves him.
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