Pip (Philip Pirrip)
The narrator and main character. Pip starts as a decent, frightened boy and becomes a self-important social climber before losing everything and slowly recovering his decency. His arc is the spine of the novel.
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Characters
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Contents
Characters
Who matters and what they help you prove.
Abel Magwitch
The escaped convict Pip helps as a child. He becomes Pip's secret benefactor after making a fortune in Australia. His return to England forces Pip to face the truth about his money and his own snobbery.
Miss Havisham
A wealthy recluse who was jilted on her wedding day and stopped time in her house as a result. She raises Estella as a weapon against men and encourages Pip's delusions. She eventually recognizes the harm she has done.
Estella
Miss Havisham's ward, raised to be beautiful and emotionally closed off. Pip loves her obsessively. She warns him repeatedly that she cannot love him back. Her suffering in a bad marriage eventually cracks her open.
Joe Gargery
Pip's brother-in-law and the village blacksmith. Joe is kind, loyal, and completely without pretension. Dickens uses him as the novel's moral standard. Pip's treatment of Joe measures exactly how lost Pip has become.
Herbert Pocket
Pip's closest friend in London. Herbert is cheerful, honest, and genuinely fond of Pip. He helps Pip plan Magwitch's escape and gives Pip a job abroad when everything falls apart.
Jaggers
The lawyer who manages Pip's affairs and Miss Havisham's legal business. He is hard, precise, and deliberately unknowable. He knows more than he says about almost every character in the novel.
Biddy
A kind, intelligent girl from Pip's village who loves him honestly. Pip overlooks her because he is fixated on Estella. By the time he recognizes her worth, she has moved on and married Joe.
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This guide is built from the original text to help you get oriented fast. It is designed for recall, paper planning, and getting unstuck, but it is still a paraphrased guide, not a substitute for the reading itself. Double-check anything important before you turn in formal work.