Flashcards for Great Expectations

Abel Magwitch

Abel Magwitch is the unseen architect of Pip's "great expectations" and stands out as one of Victorian fiction's most morally intricate characters.

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Biddy

Biddy is a quietly crucial character in Great Expectations, acting as the moral compass against which Pip's social ambitions are constantly weighed.

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Compeyson

Compeyson is the novel's shadow villain—a smooth-talking fraudster whose actions impact nearly every major plotline.

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Estella

Estella is the adopted ward of Miss Havisham and the focus of Pip's lifelong romantic obsession in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations.

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Herbert Pocket

Herbert Pocket is Pip's closest and most loyal friend in Great Expectations, acting as both a moral guide and a humorous contrast to the novel's larger themes.

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Joe Gargery

Joe Gargery is the blacksmith married to Pip's fearsome sister, Mrs. Joe, and he serves as the moral backbone of Great Expectations.

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John Wemmick

John Wemmick is Mr. Jaggers's loyal clerk at Walworth and a key secondary character in Great Expectations.

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Miss Havisham

Miss Havisham is the wealthy, eccentric recluse of Satis House, and her frozen grief drives much of the novel's emotional and moral core.

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Mr. Jaggers

Mr. Jaggers is the imposing London lawyer who connects nearly every significant plot thread in Great Expectations.

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Pip (Philip Pirrip)

Pip (Philip Pirrip) narrates his own story in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, serving as its moral compass.

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“Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but — I hope — into a better shape.”

This line is spoken by Estella to Pip near the end of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, during their final meeting.

Estella · Chapter 59 (revised ending)

“No varnish can hide the grain of the wood; and that the more varnish you put on, the more the grain will express itself.”

This line is delivered by Herbert Pocket to Pip in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens during one of their honest discussions about character and social pretension.

Herbert Pocket

“There was a long hard time when I kept far from me the remembrance of what I had thrown away when I was quite ignorant of its worth.”

This reflective confession comes from Pip (Philip Pirrip), the narrator and protagonist of the novel, as he reflects on how he treated Biddy and, more broadly, his disregard for the humble, honest life at Joe Gargery's forge.

Pip (Philip Pirrip) · Chapter 59 (closing retrospective narration)

“Pip, dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together.”

This tender line comes from Joe Gargery, the kind-hearted blacksmith and Pip's brother-in-law, during one of his visits to Pip in London.

Joe Gargery · Chapter 27

“It is a most miserable thing to feel ashamed of home.”

This line is spoken by Pip, the narrator and main character of the novel, as he reflects on the painful self-awareness that has taken hold of him after visiting Satis House and experiencing Estella's disdain for his common background.

Pip (Philip Pirrip) · Chapter 14

“I am what you designed me to be. I am your blade. You cannot now complain if you also feel the hurt.”

This line is delivered by Estella to Miss Havisham in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, during the crucial scene where Miss Havisham faces the emotional fallout of her own actions.

Estella · Chapter 38

“I took her hand in mine, and we went out of the ruined place; and, as the morning mists had risen long ago when I first left the forge, so the evening mists were rising now, and in all the broad expanse of tranquil light they showed to me, I saw no shadow of another parting from her.”

This closing line of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations (1861) comes from the narrator, Pip (Philip Pirrip), as he meets Estella again among the ruins of Satis House years after their painful separation.

Pip (Philip Pirrip, narrator) · Chapter 59 (final chapter)

“We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us.”

This wryly comic line comes from Pip, the novel's first-person narrator, as he reflects on the reckless lifestyle he and his friend Herbert Pocket embrace during Pip's time as a young "gentleman" in London.

Pip (Philip Pirrip, narrator) · Chapter 34

“I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.”

This confession comes from Pip, the narrator and main character of the novel, as he reflects on his overwhelming and irrational love for Estella.

Pip (Philip Pirrip) · Chapter 29

“Once for all; I knew to my sorrow, often and often, if not always, that I loved her against reason.”

This confession comes from Pip, the narrator and main character of the novel, as he reflects on his enduring and irrational love for Estella, the beautiful yet distant ward of the quirky Miss Havisham.

Pip (Philip Pirrip) · Chapter 29

“In a word, I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong.”

This confession comes from Pip, the narrator and main character of the novel, as he reflects on a moment when he failed morally — namely, his ongoing neglect of his loyal friend Joe Gargery after rising to the gentlemanly class with his "great expectations."

Pip (Philip Pirrip) · Chapter 27

“Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule.”

This practical saying comes from Mr. Jaggers, the tough London lawyer who is Pip's legal guardian and represents his mysterious benefactor in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations.

Mr. Jaggers · Chapter 40

Chains and Shackles

In Great Expectations, chains and shackles represent the unbreakable ties of guilt, class, and obligation that trap each character.

Miss Havisham's Wedding Dress

In Great Expectations, Miss Havisham's decaying wedding dress reflects the damaging effects of clinging to loss and trapping oneself in the past.

Satis House

In Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, Satis House reflects the damaging effects of time standing still and relentless sorrow.

The Forge

In Great Expectations, the forge where Joe Gargery works embodies honest work, moral integrity, and the warmth of real human connection.

The Marshes

In Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, the marshes of the Kent countryside reflect Pip's background, moral struggles, and the unavoidable connection to his true self.

The Stopped Clocks

In Great Expectations, the stopped clocks at Satis House represent a conscious halt in time, reflecting a refusal to confront loss, change, or mortality.

Irony

The title of the novel embodies its central irony: Pip's 'great expectations' — the wealth, the gentleman's education, and his dreams of Estella — turn out to be empty, relying on the criminal efforts of Magwitch instead of the refined support Pip envisions.

Symbolism

Dickens fills the novel with objects and settings that represent deeper moral meanings beyond their basic purposes.

Dramatic Monologue

The novel is told from the perspective of an older Pip reflecting on his younger self, creating a dramatic monologue in prose form.

Imagery

Dickens shapes the novel's moral landscape with vivid, physical imagery.

Motif

Hands appear throughout the novel as a powerful motif that conveys themes of class, labor, guilt, and tenderness.

Metaphor

Dickens uses metaphor to connect the novel's social critique with physical experience.

Pathetic Fallacy

Dickens often uses weather and landscapes to reflect or foreshadow the emotional and moral states of his characters.

Allusion

The novel is rich with allusions that enhance its social and moral themes.

Juxtaposition

Dickens organizes the novel around ongoing contrasts that convey its social message without needing any editorial commentary.

Extended Metaphor

The legal and criminal world serves as a powerful metaphor for the corruption present in respectable English society.

Narrative Poem

Great Expectations showcases Dickens's skillful use of first-person retrospective narrative.

coarse

Rough and of low quality; here used to describe Pip's hands and clothing as signs of his working-class status, marking him as socially inferior in the eyes of the wealthy.

adjective · Chapter 1

smothered

Completely covered or buried under something; here describing the convict as having been submerged and coated in mud or water from the marshes.

verb · Chapter 1

darn me

A mild oath used as an exclamation, a softened form of 'damn me,' expressing strong feeling without using outright profanity.

phrase · Chapter 1

han't

Dialect contraction of 'have not,' used in the speech of uneducated or rural characters to show their non-standard English.

Chapter 1

horizontal

Flat and level, running parallel to the ground; here describing the flat, featureless landscape of the marshes as seen from a distance.

adjective · Chapter 1

marsh mist

A thick, low-lying fog that forms over wet, boggy ground; in this novel it creates an atmosphere of danger, concealment, and mystery on the Kent marshes.

noun · Chapter 2

mincemeat

A sweet, spiced mixture of dried fruits, suet, and sometimes meat, used as a pie filling; a traditional British food that Pip steals to give to the convict.

noun · Chapter 2

alonger

Dialect form of 'along of' or 'alongside,' meaning 'because of' or 'together with'; used here in the convict's rough speech to mean suspicion falling on others because of him.

adverb · Chapter 3

committed for trial

A legal term meaning formally sent by a magistrate to stand trial in a higher court; the convict was about to be officially charged and sent to court.

phrase · Chapter 3

lock-up

A small local jail or holding cell where people are kept temporarily after arrest, before being brought before a court.

noun · Chapter 3

brain fever

A nineteenth-century term for a serious illness involving high fever and delirium, often brought on by extreme stress or exposure; now understood as conditions such as meningitis or encephalitis.

noun · Chapter 3

indecent communication

An embarrassing or improper disclosure; Pip fears the convict will blurt out something shameful about him in front of the dinner guests.

phrase · Chapter 4

brought up by hand

Raised without a mother's nursing, fed by spoon or bottle rather than breastfed; in this novel it also carries the ironic suggestion of being raised with physical discipline.

phrase · Chapter 4

apprehension

Anxious fear or dread about something that might happen; a worried anticipation of trouble or embarrassment.

noun · Chapter 4

dependent

Hanging down from something; here describing the long bridal veil that falls from Miss Havisham's hair.

adjective · Chapter 5

knaves

The playing cards also called Jacks; an older, more formal name for the card bearing the image of a male servant or soldier, ranked below the Queen.

noun · Chapter 5

contempt

A strong feeling that someone or something is worthless and beneath one's regard; scornful dismissal of a person as inferior.

noun · Chapter 7

chronic

Constant and long-lasting, persisting without relief; here describing a state of discomfort that never goes away rather than one that comes and goes.

adjective · Chapter 7

sober reality

Plain, undeniable fact as opposed to wishful imagination; the actual truth of a situation stripped of fantasy or illusion.

phrase · Chapter 9

disembodied spirit

A ghost or purely imaginary being with no physical body; here Pip uses it to say that 'Barnard' is not a real person but merely a name on a sign.

phrase · Chapter 11

public-house

A British inn or tavern open to the general public, serving food and drink; a step below a proper hotel in social standing.

noun · Chapter 11

premium

A sum of money paid to a master craftsman or professional in exchange for taking on an apprentice and teaching them a trade.

noun · Chapter 13

meantersay

Joe's dialect rendering of 'mean to say,' run together as one word to capture his uneducated, halting manner of speaking.

Chapter 13

brazen

Shamelessly bold and unashamed; here describing Pumblechook as an impudent fraud who takes credit that does not belong to him.

adjective · Chapter 13

impostor

A person who deceives others by pretending to be something they are not, or by falsely claiming credit or an identity that is not theirs.

noun · Chapter 13

sentiment

Tender feeling or emotional warmth toward others; here used dismissively by Estella to deny that she has any capacity for affection or sympathy.

noun · Chapter 14

wash my hands of

To refuse any further involvement or responsibility in a matter; to declare oneself completely done with something and free of blame for its outcome.

phrase · Chapter 12