Miss Havisham asks that she is not revealed as Herbert’s benefactor.

Pip forgives Miss Havisham because he understands her heartbreak.

Miss Havisham means it when she tells Pip that she ‘meant to save her from misery like my own’. She believed that her intentions were good. There is also an element of revenge and spite here too that she was perhaps unaware of till later, and realises that Estella blocks her out sometimes too.

When Pip says that he is stuck in the ‘vanities of sorrow… unworthiness [and] penitence’ he is basically talking about how self-pity and wallowing in your sorrows is a bad thing to do. You never move forward from it. Pip, Miss Havisham and Estella all suffer from these vanities.

Own opinion as to whether Miss Havisham purposefully sets herself on fire.

Pip shows real courage and character in this scene as he rushes to Miss Havisham’s rescue and stays with her through the doctor’s visit. He only leaves because he needs to get back to London to protect Magwitch.

Pip deduces that Estella is Magwitch’s daughter.

Pip describes his primary concern as a ‘high mountain above a range of mountains’ – this concern is that Magwitch will be caught.

Pip returns Magwitch’s unopened pocketbook because he does not wish to spend any more of his money. Especially as the money is needed to pay for Magwitch’s escape and Pip is in debt to a lot of people.

Pip runs into Wopsle and is scared by what Wopsle says. Wopsle says there was a man with Pip when Pip wasn’t with anyone. This tells Pip he is being followed.

Pip finds out that Estella has been married . Jaggers suggests that Drummle will make a poor husband. He will either ‘beat or growl’ at Estella. Jagger’s predicts a bad ending for one of them, with Drummle’s weapon his strength and Estella’s her intellect.

At Hounslow Heath 20+ years ago a woman had been found strangled to death. Mr Jagger’s housekeeper, Molly, was accused (she wasn’t his housekeeper yet) and Mr Jagger’s defended her. She was let off. We discover that she had a daughter who went missing.

Jagger’s defended Molly and won the case. He referred to her strong hands in front of Pip as she strangled the woman to death, even though the woman was physically stronger and bigger than her. Pip deduces that Molly is Estella’s mum as she has the same eyes and hands as her.

The mood at the Hummums is very dismal. The Hummums is a hostel that is open 24 hours a day. Pip has to go here because his home is being watched for Magwitch.

Pip receives news from Wemmick that Compeyson is in London and that he knows that Magwitch has returned to London. This news shows us that Wemmick is a true friend. He is not obliged to tell Pip anything as a clerk at Jaggers. He shares this information because he is Pip’s friend.

Clara’s house is neat and tidy and well-kept. The house has a nervous edge to it, as Clara is constantly waiting on her bed-ridden father who gets angry if kept waiting, and shouts and stamps a stick off the floor.

Pip tells Magwitch (who is being kept at Clara’s) that people in London know he is there and that they need to get him out the country. Pip doesn’t tell him about Compeyson as he knows this will make Magwitch want to stay and revenge himself.

They have a plan for Pip to buy a boat and create the impression that Pip goes out rowing. They will then take Magwitch out to a ship that is going abroad.

Pip and Herbert realise that Magwitch is in danger of being recognised or discovered by someone he knows. This information may find its way to Compeyson, and Compeyson may seek to destroy Magwitch.

Pip believes that now he knows the truth about his money he can no longr be associated with Estella.

He goes to Satis House to tell Estella that he can no longer see her. He must go to Satis House for this conversation as Estella has taken herself back there.

Pip returns to his home-town and stays at the Blue Boar. Whilst there he sees Bentley Drummle. This makes him suspicious that Drummle is courting Estella.

Pip speaks to Miss Havisham at the house and she explains that she let Pip believe Estella was intended for him because it meant that her relatives believed it too, and got upset and angry about it because they believed they wouldn’t see any of her money.

Estella never deceives Pip. She treats him differently from the other men who court her. She is her true self in front of Pip. She also warns him repeatedly that she will only break his heart if he falls in love with her.

Pip acts virtuously in his conversation with Miss Havisham and Estella by asking that monetary help be given to Herbert who is Miss Havisham’s relative. It shows that he has given up his pretensions of grandeur.

Pip shows he is feeling desolate after this visit to Satis House as he says “All done, all gone!” and the weather has darkened to match his dark mood.

It was important to Magwitch that Pip always bear that name because it is a reminder of where Pip came from. If Pip changed his name he might forget the essence of who he is.

Pip feels like he cannot accept any more money from Magwitch because he does not like that it comes from Magwitch. He knows Magwitch was a convict and that makes the money seem tainted.

Herbert gives advice on the Magwitch situation saying that if he wants to stop taking Magwitch’s money then he should, but he will have to think of a sensible way to repay the debt. Herbert tells Pip to wait in telling Magwitch that he doesn’t want to take his money anymore as Magwitch might react violently.

Magwitch accuses Compeyson of being the reason he was sent to jail. Compeyson took him on as his right-hand man to help him swindle people out of their money. We have already heard Compeyson mentioned as the man who assisted Miss Havisham’s half-brother in cheating her out of a small fortune and breaking her heart.

Magwitch was brought up by no-one. He spent his time begging and stealing and getting into trouble. As a young man he was constantly in and out of prison. When he was taken up by Compeyson he became a skivvy to him.

Abel Magwitch, the convict, resembles Joe as he is a big man. He also thinks in terms of common sense rather than academic smarts. He eats without manners, but enjoys his food. He is a pipe smoker.

Magwitch says he will get pleasure from seeing Pip spend his money as this is what he wanted for Pip. His dream was to turn him into a gentleman.

Magwitch talks to Pip about money and then apologises for being low. The talking about money in public is regarded as being ‘low’. This shows that people thought it was uncouth to talk about money. Magwitch gets violently excited when he discusses Australia and then apologises for it. Magwitch knows it is bad manners to show aggression.

Pip needs to disguise Magwitch if he is to be safe in London. This is difficult though because there are people in London who would recognise Magwitch. Also he needs a place to live as he cannot stay with Pip as there are too many servants and tradespeople that pass through his home. There is also the issue of agreeing on a disguise as Magwitch has already decided on an outfit which Pip thinks would actually draw attention to him.

Magwitch makes Herbert swear to secrecy on a bible. He makes him do it as this means he has sworn an oath. It seems less to do with a religious belief and more to do with creating a word of trust between Magwitch and Herbert.

At the end of Chapter 38 Pip tells the story of an Eastern Sultan who is crushed to death by a heavy slab of stone that he has had quarried. This is a metaphor for Pip discovering that Estella has chosen Drummel to be her victim/husband.

The weather in this chapter is stormy and dark. The land has become a thick mud soup and this mirrors Pip’s inability to find work for himself or do anything even though he is now 23. The storm foreshadows that troubled times are ahead.

Pip receives a visitor in the middle of the night. Pip’s initial reaction to his visitor is to be agitated that his night has been interrupted. He also feels put out because the man seems to recognise him yet Pip does not recognise the man.

Pip quickly realizes that the visitor is actually the convict from the graveyard all those years ago.

The man has returned to England to see Pip and see the gentleman he has made.

Pip is upset and disgusted by the visitor by the end of the chapter.

Pip’s physical expectations have not changed as he still has the convict’s fortune. However, Pip feelings right now is that because the money comes from the convict it is some how no longer great. He only thought it was great because Miss Havisham was the one giving him it.

Suspense is added to this section of the novel as we are told by the convict that he shouldn’t be in the country and that to be caught in Britain would mean execution for him. Pip starts to hear things in the night that he thinks are people hunting for the convict.

Miss Havisham is described as being a ghost.

Miss Havisham is pleased with Estella’s behaviour because Estella’s behaviour is having the exact effect on men that Miss Havisham desired. All men seem to fall in love, or are attracted to, Estella and then they become jealous as they see her with other men and feel they can’t have her entirely.

Pip finally realises what we have known all along – that Estella “was set to wreak Miss Havisham’s revenge on men, and that she was not to be given to [Pip] until she had gratified it full term.” He finally becomes aware that Estella is Miss Havisham’s tool to hurt all men and was never destined to marry him.

Pip learns that Estella is incapable of love whilst at Satis house visiting.

Pip is infatuated with Estella. He will take any form of attention from her, even when it drives him mad with jealousy. He knows she is playing him and her other suitors off one another, but he would rather take any form of attention at all from her than none.