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Deep Analysis of Great Expectations, Part Two: London Calling (Chapters 20-39) (Patreon)

Published:
2021-12-20 17:23:30
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

In the second stage of Great Expectations, Dickens takes us to London along with Pip.

We meet even more delightful characters, but find ourselves looking on aghast as Pip drifts further and further away from his true self.

And, in true Dickens style, we are left with an incredible cliffhanger.

As usual, we have timestamps indicating chapters and topics of discussion, so feel free to jump to anything that most interests you or we can make our way through the next nineteen chapters together.

Video Timestamps:

  • 0:00 how Dickens describes London
  • 3:30 fog, smog, dirt, mud, and grime
  • 5:00 Darwinian descriptions
  • 7:30 recurrent locales (Newgate, Old Bailey, Holborn)
  • 8:30 moving from part one to two
  • 10:30 Dickens’ letter to a budding writer
  • 12:00 the relatability of Pip
  • 13:00 the formula for Dickensian humour
  • 16:00 six things a novel does

Chapters 20-21

  • 18:00 meeting Jaggers & Wemmick
  • 19:00 how to read Dickensian symbolism
  • 21:00 Little Britain
  • 26:00 where characters draw their metaphors from
  • 27:00 Pip writing his name in a dirty window

Chapters 22-24

  • 28:00 Herbert naming Pip “Handel”
  • 32:00 "a public-house may keep a gentleman"
  • 33:00 the little Pockets tumbling up
  • 34:00 Jaggers and the personal-professional divide

Chapters 25-26

  • 37:00 Wemmick’s Walworth castle (and the Aged)
  • 41:00 Jaggers vs Wemmick’s home
  • 42:50 the different representations of home life

Chapters 27-28

  • 43:00 Joe comes to London
  • 47:00 “I’m wrong out of the forge”
  • 50:30 Pip’s (brief) return home

Chapters 29-30

  • 54:00 Pip and Estella
  • 56:30 “Do this look like a forge?”
  • 59:00 pain, memory, heart
  • 1:07:00 Pip’s and Trabb’s boy (the inner trickster)

Chapters 31-33

  • 1:10:00 delusional Mr Wopsle’s Hamlet
  • 1:11:00 the gothic atmosphere of Great Expectations
  • 1:13:00 Dickens and the School of Life
  • 1:15:00 A Christmas Carol
  • 1:18:00 when Hamlet becomes a pantomime

Chapters 34-36

  • 1:21:00 a hilarious scene between Herbert and Pip
  • 1:25:00 Pip’s debts and “leaving a margin”
  • 1:26:00 the funeral of Mrs Joe
  • 1:29:00 Pip chiding Biddy

Chapters 37-39

  • 1:32:00 “Walworth sentiments”
  • 1:33:00 the virtue of generosity
  • 1:34:00 Miss Havisham and Estella argue
  • 1:38:00 meeting the convict again
  • 1:41:00 George Orwell on Pip

Question to Consider:

1) What do you think Dickens was aiming for with Great Expectations? We spoke about novels being substitute experience, wide-angle consciousness, and thought experiment, but how far does that apply with this work?

2) Do you find any reflections of yourself in the novel? If so, where? And to what degree?

3) Do you like the novel so far? If so, why? This is a deceptively difficult question because it may ask us to pull complicated unconscious feelings into focus. 

Let us know your reaction to the second part of Great Expectations. Share anything that delights you, frights you, or excites you.

Happy reading!

Files

Previews only

Deep Analysis of Great Expectations, Part Two: London Calling (Chapters 20-39)

0:00 how Dickens describes London 3:30 fog, smog, dirt, mud, and grime 5:00 Darwinian descriptions 7:30 recurrent locales (Newgate, Old Bailey, Holborn) 8:30 moving from part one to two 10:30 Dickens’ letter to a budding writer 12:00 the relatability of Pip 13:00 the formula for Dickensian humour 16:00 six things a novel does 18:00 meeting Jaggers & Wemmick 19:00 how to read Dickensian symbolism 21:00 Little Britain 26:00 where characters draw their metaphors from 27:00 Pip writing his name in a dirty window 28:00 Herbert naming Pip “Handel” 32:00 "a public-house may keep a gentleman" 33:00 the little Pockets tumbling up 34:00 Jaggers and the personal-professional divide 37:00 Wemmick’s Walworth castle (and the Aged) 41:00 Jaggers vs Wemmick’s home 42:50 the different representations of home life 43:00 Joe comes to London 47:00 “I’m wrong out of the forge” 50:30 Pip’s (brief) return home 54:00 Pip and Estella 56:30 “Do this look like a forge?” 59:00 pain, memory, heart 1:07:00 Pip’s and Trabb’s boy (the inner trickster) 1:10:00 delusional Mr Wopsle’s Hamlet 1:11:00 the gothic atmosphere of Great Expectations 1:13:00 Dickens and the School of Life 1:15:00 A Christmas Carol 1:18:00 when Hamlet becomes a pantomime 1:21:00 a hilarious scene between Herbert and Pip 1:25:00 Pip’s debts and “leaving a margin” 1:26:00 the funeral of Mrs Joe 1:29:00 Pip chiding Biddy 1:32:00 “Walworth sentiments” 1:33:00 the virtue of generosity 1:34:00 Miss Havisham and Estella argue 1:38:00 meeting the convict again 1:41:00 George Orwell on Pip

Comments

Jonathon Glover

An excellent end to Part 2 with a clever plot twist. Has me primed for Part 3.

Marilyn

Thank you for explaining this section for us! I was definitely confused, especially with not knowing how the culture was during the victorian era in London. I love Herbert, and reading their adventures throughout the city. I have to admit I had to pause my reading because I got in a bit of a stump during the Pockets chapters. I was like “Where is this story going..?!” Haha. But the cliffhanger at the end when Magwitch is revealed to be his benefactor!! 🤯🫣 hahaha so good!

Gonzalo Broto

What a surprise the revelation of Pip’s benefactor has been to me! In retrospect, I can see that Dickens had been leaving hints here and there (more openly at the end of chapter XIII) about the identity of the unknown patron, yet I had disregarded them completely, so, when the convict entered the scene drenched and ominous in the last chapter, I was as shocked as Pip was! The discovery was a real epiphany for Pip, who, all at once, realized how foolish he had been regarding his “expectations”, how mean and unfair towards Joe and Biddy, whom he had deserted following a chimera, how gullible and vain with regards to Miss Havisham and Estella! All Pip’s dreams and hopes crashed down in a moment, and his illusory prospects became tainted and unworthy. I guess Volume III will revolve around Pip trying to make amends to Joe and reconciling himself with his family, his roots and his own feelings, but we shall see! I’m thankful to Herbert (a wonderful character) for bringing out Pip’s best qualities (compassion and fraternity among them), to soften, to a certain degree, our anger at him for his mistreatment of Joe and Biddy during these formative years. One element that I found very interesting was Wemmick’s “castle” at Walworth. Contrary to Pip, he fulfilled his dream and built his own Utopia but he did so on his own terms, without anyone’s help or interference, and keeping it totally separate from his public life. In a way, this idyllic home represents the need in anyone’s life to keep our private, intimate life out of the public eye, to maintain a healthy privacy (mentally as well as physically) away from society, as a shelter and a counterbalance to social influences and sways. Pip should learn this lesson, for his life has been so far molded by external forces, and he has always been exposed to scrutiny from others, so he has never enjoyed any privacy or has achieved anything by himself, for he has always depended on others for help, advice or even instruction. I suppose that in the next leg of his journey he will finally take things into his own hands and he will start shaping his life according to his own wishes. A passage that has stuck with me and that I find remarkable is the beginning of ch. IX, when Pip, facing his return home for his sister’s burial, recognizes his own self deception and the extent to which he is kidding himself about his own feelings. It’s a deeply perceptive and poignant paragraph about the inner works of the mind, and it shows how psychologically acute Dickens’ characters can be (despite most of them being round, following E. M. Forster’s categorization). Contrary to Pip, Joe knows who he is and accepts his limitations, he does not kid himself and his dignity comes from his contentment with his own station. There is one point in which I differ from your opinion, Ben: you said that Mr Jaggers is immune to Estella’s charm (so deadly to all other men who know her), though to me it seems that he purposefully avoided looking at her, as if there was a temptation or danger latent in her that he wanted to avoid.

Anonymous

I just finished Stage II, and what a way to end it! I want to go on to Stage III of Pip's Expectations but I'll wait a little bit to build some suspense... Dickens would have approved :) I have to say, I share everyone's opinion on how insufferable Pip is becoming, but it says something about the older Pip who is narrating this story and his sheer honesty in being able to recount these awkward, ungrateful moments and tendencies he has, and yet what moments of kindness he can have (as with helping out Herbert, or the genuine moments he has with Wemmick and the Aged). Among all the changes of fortune Pip experiences in this book, one thing he is lucky to have is the influence of good people around him, even in London (even if he tends to get them into trouble, like Herbert!) And as for Estella, whether or not Pip ends up with her, one thing is for certain - his expectations have led her to become as proud and as insulting as he first saw her to be, that first day at Miss Havisham's... It's been a long time since I read GE - when I was around 8-9 I first read one of those abridged illustrated editions for children, and then the full version in middle school a few years later. Now that I am in my mid-twenties and rereading this book, I recall Pip's childhood scenes in Stage 1 the most. (Especially those with Miss Havisham - though this novel is full of unforgettable characters, no one tops her!) My experience reading this novel is as someone close to Pip in age by the end of Part 2 (he says he is 23 by Chapter 39), and in my first "reads" of GE, I imagine I was close to Pip's age back in Part 1. In a way, rereading this book now makes me feel as if I've grown up with Pip, especially as I also left home for college. It's very interesting and it's something I'll continue to watch for in Part 3, how Pip changes and how his reuniting with Magwitch will affect his maturity and passage of time.