It’s MAGWITCH Time!

1. It’sMAGWITCH Time! Will Pip prove to be an ungrateful snob, again?! Will he look down on Provis (his Provider) and refuse to take any more of his money because he is a dirty, repulsive, revolting convict?

2. STAGE III

3. The heart of Pip’s dream is ripped out! “Miss Havisham’s intentions towards me, all a dream; Estella nit designed for me; I only suffered in Satis House as a convenience, a sting for greedy relations, a model with a mechanical heart to practice on when no other practice was at hand;…” (253-54) His delusions are gutted! His pretenses are exploded! His snobbish attitude is undermined! He suffers a horrible PSYCHIC trauma and loss!

4. Because Magwitch tried to escape to get out of his 14-year prison sentence, he was made “a Lifer” in Australia, i.e., he was ordered by the English court never to return to England on penalty of Death if he did. In spite of this order, Magwitch has returned to England to see “his gentleman” that he has made and owns.Although Pip is repulsed by Magwitch, he immediately feels obligated to shelter him from harm.  Australia

5. Pip must keep Magwitch from being hanged outside the Old Bailey door.

6. The next morning “Provis”/Abel Magwitch gets “low”: When he talks about making Pip a gentleman, it is clear from what he says that one of his motives is to get revenge on other people—court judges, “gentleman” like Compeyson, wealthy colonists who have always looked down upon him and made his life miserable—by making a gentleman who is superior to them in gentility, learning, and material wealth. When Magwitch says, “What I said was low. . . . Look’ee here, Pip. . . . I ain’t a going to be low.” (259), he means that he won’t let his bitter, angry self out anymore. He won’t be vengeful and hateful. He won’t let his hate for people and his deep bitterness out anymore.

7. Pip will pretend that “his convict” is his uncle come from the country for an unexpected visit. While the convict is sleeping in Herbert’s room, Pip goes down the dark staircase in search a flame to light his candles by. On this staircase, he trips over a man who was crouching in the corner. The man does not answer Pip when asked what he is doing there, then he disappears before Pip returns with a watchman to investigate. Did someone follow “Provis” to Pip’s apartment at “the Temple”? A watchman later tells Pip that he did see someone in “a dust-colored kind of clothes” come in at the same time as Pip’s “uncle”!

8. Because Pip believes Magwitch is being followed by an enemy who wants to get him hanged… Pip secures an apartment in a lodging house on Essex-street. He can see the back of Magwitch’s apartment house from the Temple.

9. Pip goes to Jaggers’ office to confirm with him that what Magwitch has told him is true. Being careful that neither he nor Pip says anything in any definite way, he confirms Magwitch’s claim. Without accusing Jaggers of misleading him, Pip states that he had always assumed that Miss Havisham was his benefactress. Jaggers says, “Not a particle of evidence. . . . Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule.” (262)

10. Herbert comes home to the Temple. Pip introduces Herbert to Abel Magwitch (Provis), and fills him in on the situation. Magwitch immediately makes Herbert swear on his “greasy little clasped black testament” (New Testament) that he will not talk about his presence in England to anyone. (Magwitch takes oaths very seriously. He is an honorable man.) He commands Herbert to kiss the testament. (end of Chapter XLI) Pip takes Magwitch to his apartment on Essex-Street (near Garden-Court), then returns to the Temple. Herbert is flabbergasted, but ready to help Pip deal with this surprising and disturbing revelation. Herbert is also repulsed by Magwitch. He won’t even sit in a chair which Magwitch has sat in.

11. Pip tells Herbert that he will not take any more money from a convict. And, since he has been wasting the last several years living a genteel life on his mystery benefactors money with no need for a paying job, he has learned no way of making a living. Pip is considering becoming a soldier! (267) (like the French Foreign Legion). Herbert offers Pip a job in Clarriker’s house once he establishes a partnership there. Little does Herbert know that the money he has been receiving in helping him to achieve that goal ultimately has ultimately come from Magwitch.

12. Pip and Herbert discuss how best to handle Magwitch. Pip cannot refuse to take Magwitch’s money and give up on becoming a gentleman. If he does, Magwitch—who has had this “fixed idea” or fantasy of making Pip a gentleman for so long, and put so much work into earning Pip the money, and is now risking his life to see “his gentleman “ in action—might be so deeply disappointed that he will do something desperate like hurting someone, or turning himself in to the authorities. He won’t have anything worth living for anymore. Pip should get Magwitch out of England as soon as possible. (268)

13. In the morning, Magwitch comes to the Temple for breakfast at the appointed time. Magwitch starts talking about Pip spending lots of cash on a new apartment in Hyde Park, a carriage and horses, and other luxuries needed for Pip to become a top-notch fancy gentleman. Pip lets Magwitch know that he told Herbert about Magwitch fighting another man in the mud on the marshes years ago. Pip and Herbert want Magwitch to tell them about that other convict and about his own life. Magwitch reminds them that they are under oath not to give him away and that whatever crimes he committed he has paid for in full. (269-270)

14. Chapter XLII

15. Magwitch tells Pip and Herbert about his childhood and adult life. “I’ve been carted here and carted there, and put out of this town and out of that town, and stuck in stocks, and whipped and worried and drove.” (270) He had know idea where he was born or who his parents were; he was an orphan like Pip. He had been living with a poor man, a tinker, but the man ran way from him “and he’d took the fire with him” [and the food cooked on the fire]. Magwitch was left hungry and alone. He was caught “thieving turnips” for a living, and that was the beginning of his criminal career and his trouble with the law. Whereas Pip was raised “by hand,” and the Pocket children are “tumbling up,” Magwitch was constantly being “took up,” picked up by the police, being labeled a hardened criminal for repeatedly stealing food as a kid and being glum and rough in jail. Magwitch was even studied by criminologists and scientists, having his head measured by phrenologists in an attempt (to discover what features of the skull cause criminal behavior). In and out of jails his whole life. Magwitch tells about his relationship with Compeyson—how Compeyson used Magwitch to do the dirty work of committing crimes (forgery, passing stolen bank notes, etc.) which left Magwitch vulnerable to identification, while Compeyson kept himself behind the scenes and less likely to be caught or prosecuted. They were caught and put on trial together for fraud, but Compeyson made Magwitch out to be the hardened criminal who took advantage of the down-and-out desperate gentleman. While Magwitch was sentenced to 14 years in prison, Compeyson was sentenced to only 7 years. Compeyson never looked at Magwitch during the trial. Arthur was Compeyson’s partner in crime before Magwitch joined up with them.

16. {Magwitch’s life-story, continued} Herbert makes the connection between the Arthur whom Magwitch mentions as Compeyson’s partner in getting a “pot of money” from “a rich lady” and Miss Havisham’s half-brother Arthur. So, Compeyson not only did dirty by Magwitch, but he also deeply damaged Miss Havisham’s psyche as well. Compeyson—the foney gentleman—used and abused both of them! Arthur was an alcoholic. He died of fright while suffering delirium tremens (“the horrors). His hallucinations of his half-sister Miss Havisham coming to him as a spirit accusing him of breaking her heart, pointing to the blood dripping from her heart, caused his death of shock or heart attack.

17. While telling his life story, Magwitch also mentions his “Missis,” and seems about to tell about her, but then he says, “There ain’t no need to go into it…” (273) Magwitch was married! Dickens wants us to know that now, but he does not want us to know yet who that wife was/is. Can you guess who Magwitch’s wife was/is?

18. Chapter XLIIIPip goes back to his village so that he can see Estella one last time and say goodbye to her! (Sniffle, sniffle ?!)

19. Oh, no! What is that “contemptible, clumsy, sulky booby” doing here? Pip knows! Darn it! Pip engages with Drummle at the Blue Boar Inn, in a roundabout way. Pip does not mention Estella. Drummle is in Pip’s old neighborhood to call upon Estella. He goes horseback riding with her, and will be dining with her tonight. Drummle is standing in front of the fireplace, blocking the warmth from reaching Pip at his breakfast table. (SYMBOLIC?!) Pip and Drummle contend for control of the warmth from the fireplace, standing shoulder to shoulder, pushing against each other, back and forth. Pip is worried that Estella will throw herself away by marrying Drummle.

20. Next slide . . . The Significant Pattern of FIRES and FIREPLACES in Great Expectations What are the various functions of FIRE imagery and FIREPLACES in showing or suggesting the “character” of individuals and families in the novel, and the emotional and mental processes that they perform or undergo inside as they face situations and conflicts of various kinds. SYMBOLISM?

21. Have you noticed the importance of fire and fireplaces in this novel? FAMILY TOGETHERNESS and WARMTH: In a cold, cruel, violent world, home should be a place of safety. The fireplace should be the locus of warmth, both physically and emotionally. The fireplace/hearth should be a living symbol of the warmth of family togetherness and warmth. In which homes is the fireplace actually a positive gathering place? Where is the fireplace a locus of negative brooding and evil plotting? FAMILY SHARING/STORYTELLING A PLACE FOR “MEDITATION” or “BROODING”: Looking into the fireplace signifies some interior activity for many characters: a. Fantasy: Pip sees Estella’s face in the fire at the forge when he is Joe’s apprentice and has been told to stop going to Satis House. b. Reflection: Pip and Herbert look into the fireplace when reflecting upon experience, relationships, and behavior, or when trying to arrive at a solution to a problem c. Brooding: Thinking negative, guilty thoughts or bitter, hateful thoughts FIRE as a SYMBOL of PASSION—e.g., LOVE, HATE FIRE as a DESTRUCTIVE FORCE/ WEAPON 6.. FIRE as an instrument of PURGATION? (Miss Havisham) OR PUNISHMENT (Orlick on Pip)? JUST AS in the Physical World FIRE can be either DESTRUCTIVE or CREATIVE, POSITIVE or NEGATIVE, SO FIRE as a SYMBOL of HUMAN BEHAVIORS and ACTIVITIES and FEELINGS can mean different things for different characters in different situation throughout Great Expectations, as ALL characters seek to find “satisfaction” in a tough world of contention and competition (for money and social status and power). FIRE is an ambiguous symbol in the novel. The primitive element called Fire might be considered a symbol of Life burning within us. Just as physical fire can be used for creation or destruction, so we can express the Fire (or DESIRE) within us in ways which are creative or destructive for ourselves and those around us;

22. When Drummle left the Blue Boar Inn and mounted his horse by brutally seizing the horses’s mane, he started to ride off, but then circled back because he forgot to light his cigar first. A man in dust-colored dress went to Drummle to light his cigar. . . and the man’s slouched shoulders and ragged hair reminded Pip of Orlick from behind. Pip could not see the man’s face. The man seen following Magwitch through the Temple gates was described as wearing “dust-colored” clothing! Was it Orlick crouching in the corner at the Temple? Was it Orlick that Pip fell over when coming down the staircase? Whoever it is, Pip has seen the man in “dust-colored” clothes both in London and now in his home village!

23. Chapter XLIVPip goes to Satis House. . . for the last time? Will his goodbye to Miss Havisham and Estella be FOREVER?

24. Estella’s fingers are busy knitting, knitting throughout most of this scene. Pip chastises Miss Havisham for leading him on, letting him believe that she was his benefactor and that Estella was intended for him: “Was that kind?”, he asks. Miss Havisham responds, “…who am I, for God’s sake, that I should be kind?” (281) Pip asks Miss Havisham to continue the financial support of Herbert which he has been providing for over two years. [He cannot continue it anymore, since he will not take any more money from Magwitch.] It must be continued in secret. Estella confirms Pip’s fear that she is to marry Drummle. Pip urges her not to throw herself away on him. Pip says he could endure her marrying a decent man who loves her.

25. During his impassioned confession of love, Estella does look up at Pip “merely with incredulous wonder.” Otherwise, she has been looking down at her knitting throughout this scene. “All this time, Estella knitted on.” (282) When Estella tells Pip that he will get over her in a week, Pip, in an “ecstasy of unhappiness,” makes a very moving statement of his deep love for Estella! (page 285— READ IT ALOUD!) Pip says, “The rhapsody welled up within me, like blood from an inward wound.” Througout his speech, Estella looks at Pip with ‘incredulous wonder.” Miss Havisham, however, has an expression of “ghastly pity and remorse” on her face. She feels very guilty about hurting Pip. Pip leaves Satis House to return to London.

26. Pip walks all the back to the Temple. Temple Church Pip still lives at Garden-court, Temple

27. When Pip gets near his home at the Temple after walking all the way from Satis House to London, he receives a message addressed to “Philip Pip, Esquire,” and with the superscription, “PLEASE READ THIS HERE.” Reading by the light of the watchmen’s lantern, Pip reads the message, written in Wemmick’s handwriting, “DON’T GO HOME.” When Pip talks to Wemmick later that day, Wemmick confirms what Pip had already suspected after tripping over a man on the staircase at the Temple. Who was it ?!?

28. Chapter XLV

29. Pip—dog tired and stressed—goes to the Hummums in Covent Garden (a seedy neighborhood, back then) where you can get a room any time. Filthy and cramped. Remember the bedroom at Uncle Pumblechook’s where Pip slept just before he had another experience which changed his life. Back then, he felt like a seed in a drawer. What change is he undergoing now? It is a disgusting room with insects and filth. Maybe the blood from a suicide that Pip heard happened at the Hummums. The room is lighted by a rush-light placed inside of a tin tower with holes in it: The light is cast in little spots on the walls, like white eyes. It reminds Pip of Argus, the monster with one-hundred eyes named Argus in Greek mythology who was the perfect watchman because it never closed all of its eyes at the same time. It was always watching. Pip is paranoid: He senses that spies are watching him and Magwitch. “At about the same time, the eyes on the wall acquired a new expression, and in every one of those staring rounds I saw written DON’T GO HOME.” (287)

30. Pip goes directly to the Castle before Wemmick leaves for work in the morning. He needs Wemmick’s “personal and private” “Walworth sentiments”. Wemmick tells Pip that he heard talk about Magwitch at Newgate suggesting that someone was hanging around the Temple looking for Magwitch. Wemmick confirms—with nods of the head—Pip’s inquiries as to whether he has heard of Compeyson, whether Compeyson is living, and whether he is in London. Yes. Yes. Yes. Wemmick contacted Herbert and advised him to move Magwitch to some other place. Herbert took Magwitch to Mrs. Whimple’s house where his fiancee Clara Barley and her father (Bill Barley, a.k.a. “the Ogre,” “Old Barley,” “Gruffandgrim”) live. Herbert told the landlord at Magwitch’s apartment that Mr. Provis was going to Dover, and he took Magwitch down the Dover road before changing direction to get to Clara’s house. This was to cause “confusion” for anyone trying to locate Magwitch and get him arrested. Wemmick advises Pip to go from Walworth directly to Mill Pond Bank, Chink’s Basin by way of the Old Green Copper Rope-Walk this once, but then to stop seeing Magwitch in case someone is following Pip with the hope that Pip will lead them to Magwitch. Mill Pond Bank, Chink’s Basin lies on the banks of the Thames between the Limehouse and Greenwich. Wemmick advises Pip, “Don’t break cover too soon. Lie close. Wait till things slacken, before you try the open, even for foreign air.” (290) Don’t try to get Magwitch out of England right now. Wait. Lie low, and Wait!

31. Pip helps Wemmick to prepare the Aged P.’s breakfast while they talk. Pip is toasting the sausage, while listening to Wemmick. In his anxiety and worry, Pip is distracted by the important information Wemmick is giving him. The sausage starts on fire. Wemmick takes it from Pip. On his way out of the house to go to work at Jaggers’s office, Wemmick asks Pip if he remembers the pig out back— and tells Pip that the sausage came from that pig. “He was in all respects a first-rater. Do try him, if only for old acquaintance sake. Goodbye, Aged Parent!”  (You’ve gotta love Wemmick!)

32. Chapter XLVI

33. Pip finds Mill Pond Bank, Chink’s Basin, Mrs. Whimple’s house. The Barley’s are her tenants. Magwitch is living on the top floor above Clara’s father. Pip finds that Magwitch is somehow “softened.” Herbert has renamed him “Mr. Campbell,” and has told Mrs.Whimple, the landlady, that Mr. Campbell is his special responsibility and he wants him well cared for. Herbert comes up with the idea of having Pip and himself get in the routine of row a boat on the Thames River every day, as if for exercise, so that people get used to seeing them. Then, when it is time to transport Magwitch out of the country, no one will think anything of them being out on the river in a row boat. The next day Pip gets their boat and docks it near the Temple stairs. “Provis” is told to keep a look out during the day, and whenever he sees Pip and Herbert’s boat going by on the river, he should pull down the blind of his east-facing window as a sign that he is OK.

34. Pip decides not to tell Magwitch about Compeyson lurking in London and spying on the Temple. Pip is afraid that Magwitch will do something desperate in an attempt to find and punish Compeyson, and get himself caught and hanged in the attempt. Pip is afraid that Magwitch will do something rash.

35. The house at Chink’s Basin may be dominated by Old Barley who swears “like a whole field of troopers,” drinking his “rum and water” all day… BUT Pip sees in the relationship between Herbert and Clara —and Mrs. Whimple’s protective approval of the young, secret, true love between them— a “redeeming youth and trust and hope enough in Chink’s Basin to fill it to overflowing.” (297)

36.  Pip goes to Mill Pond Bank, Chink’s Basin by way of  the Old Green Copper Rope-Walk. Magwitch is staying there under the name Mr. Campbell.

37. Chapter XLVII Some weeks have gone by. Pip is living a miserable life. He is in money trouble. He has decided it would be “a heartless fraud” to take more money from Magwitch. So, when he needs money, he sells his jewelry for cash so he can pay his debtors. He has asked Herbert never to speak to him about Estella. Pip won’t read the newspapers for fear of seeing an announcement of Estella’s marriage to Drummle. Pip is hanging onto the hope that Estella is not married to Drummle yet, and never will be. “Why I hoarded up this last little wretched rag of the robe of hope that was rent [torn in two] and given to the winds, how do I know! Why did you who read this, commit that not dissimilar inconsistency of your own, last year, last month, last week?” (298)

38. The Custom House (Pip leaves his row boat here when conditions make it too tough for him to row back to Garden-Court, Temple where he lives.

39. Pip goes out to dinner, then to the theatre to see Mr. Wopsle(who has dropped the stage name Waldengarver). During the stage performance—the story of which parallels the events of the novel in some ways—Wopsle notices Pip. Wopsle glares toward Pip as if in deep, confused thought. After the performance, Wopsle intercepts Pip outside the theatre, and reveals that he is sure he saw the “other convict” (the one who was mauled) sitting behind Pip in the theatre. At first Wopsle thought the man was with Pip, but then realized that the man was sitting behind Pip like a “ghost”, and that Pip was unaware of his presence. Pip is sure it is Compeyson, who must have been following him.

40. Pip “communicates to Wemmick by letter… informing Wemmick that he has discovered that Compeyson is in London following him and reminding Wemmick that they are waiting for advice from Wemmick on how and when to remove Magwitch from England. Pip and Herbert agree to simply that they will simply lay low and be “cautious.” Pip continues his routine of rowing on the river, and sees Magwitch’s blind-lowering signal from Magwitch whenever he rows by Chink’s Basin.

41. Chapter XLVIII

42. Pip is wandering around in the Cheapside neighborhood looking for somewhere to dine, when Jaggers comes up from behind and lays his hand on Pip’s shoulde, and passes his arm through Pip’s.Jaggers invites Pip to his house for dinner.Pip is about to turn down the offer, but when Jaggers says that Wemmick will be coming for dinner, Pip accepts. Cheapside, London

43. On the walk to Jaggers’s office in Little Britain, Pip sees lamp-lighters lighting gas-lamps in the late afternoon. The lamp-lighters are opening more “red eyes” than there were “white eyes” on the walls of his room at the Hummums. The “imagery” which Pip gives us reflects his psychological state: Because he fears that he is being watched, he tends to see lights as “eyes,” especially fitting because he wants the cover of darkness, and lights can show others where you are and give you away. Pip is still very conscious of being followed and watched, even moreso since Wopsle saw Compeyson sitting behind Pip at the theatre.

44. JAGGERS’S HOME Molly comes to the table at Jaggers’s command. Pip notices that she keeps moving her fingers as if she is knitting! Jaggers asks Wemmick if he has given Pip the note from Miss Havisham. Wemmick gives Pip the note in which Miss H. asks him to visit Satis House on a matter of business they had discussed (helping Herbert). Pip senses that he should go the next day, and says that he will. Jaggers says, “So, Pip! Our friend the Spider . . . Has played his cards. He has won the pool.” [i.e., he has married Estella] Jaggers is very interested to see who will be the stronger personality, Drummle or Estella. He says that if Drummlebeats her (physically), he may win “supremacy” in the marriage. Jaggers says it is a toss-up with a Spider-type personality: A spider either “beats or cringes.” (Either Drummle will dominate through violence, or be dominated by Estella’s will/intellect. If it becomes a battle of intellect, Drummle will lose.) How Drummle will behave is a matter of chance. Wemmick agrees. A man like Drummle either “beats or cringes.” Pip is horrified by the idea that Drummle would stoop so low as to physically abuse Estella. Jaggers toasts Drummle, then toasts Estella with the hope that things will work out “to the lady’s satisfaction.” He knows that it is impossible for Estella and Drummle to both be happy in the marriage. Pip’s attention is caught by the movement of Molly’s fingers. Jaggers asks Pip, “What’s the matter?” Pip responds, “Nothing. Only the subject you were speaking of . . . Was rather painful to me.” [Jaggers already knew that, as Pip klnows.] When Molly comes to the table, Pip notices the constant action of her fingers—”like the action of knitting”! (305)  HAVE YOU MADE A CONNECTION?!? OOOOO!

45. Molly appears at Jaggers’s dinner table only twice more, …but Pip is sure that Mollyhas Estella’s hands and Estella’s eyesand Estella’s flowing hair! He could not be more sure.

46. Wemmick and Pip leave Jaggers’s house early. As they get their hats from Jaggers boot room, already Pip senses that the “wrong” Wemmick twin (the one that was “screwed up” [uptight] at dinner) is going away, and the “right twin” (the “unscrewed,” relaxed Walworth- Wemmick) is coming back. Therefore, Pip will be able to get “personal” information from him. He wants to know more about Molly!!! Wemmick puts his arm through Pip’s as they begin their walk toward Walworth. Pip reminds Wemmick that he had told Pip to notice Jaggers’s housekeeper. Pip asks Wemmick how Jaggers tamed her. Wemmick tells Pip what he knows of Molly’s life history up to the time she went into Mr. Jaggers service as his housemaid. Re-Read pages 307-308to find out about Molly!

47. Molly was on trial for murder about a score of years ago (20 years ago). Jaggers was “for her,” i.e., he was Molly’s defense lawyer. He put her in a dress which made her look delicate and slight, concealing the strength of her ams and certainly not mentioning the power of her hands (as he likes to do now). The way Jaggers handled Molly’s defense made him famous in the legal profession as a tough, clever lawyer. Jaggers knew that Molly was guilty—but had planted false evidence to be used in her defense, e.g., going through a patch of prickery brambles, and planting bits of her dress and blood on the branches to prove that brambles, not finger-nails, scratched the backs of her hands— and he holds this knowledge over her head to extort her daughter from her, since, at the same time, Miss Havisham had asked Jaggers to find her a young girl to adopt so as to save her from a life of pain and misery. Jaggers had seen so many children in the evil world growing up to become desperate, hardened criminals, that he took the opportunity to save at least one child (Jaggers does have a soft heart!)

48.  Wemmick tells Pip what he knows of Molly’s past.  Follow the line up to HOUNSLOW HEATH: A woman much larger than Molly “was found dead in a barn near Hounslow Heath.,“ (307) Molly was accused of strangling the woman to death out of jealousy over the “tramping man” to whom she had been married (“over the broomstick”, i.e., not legally). The dead woman apparently had been fooling around with Molly’s “husband,” or so Molly thought Molly had what appeared to be finger-nail scratches on the backs of her hands, as if Molly had been strangling someone and the victim was desperately clawing at her hands to remove them from her throat. Molly and the tramping man had a child about three years old, a girl. There was suspicion that Molly had “frantically destroyed the girl-child” to get revenge on her husband.

49. Wemmick got Pip’s “communication” about Compeyson following Pip into the theatre where Wopsle was performing. Wemmick tore up the transmission, so as not to leave behind documentary evidence (one of his strict rules of business). He has no new information to give Pip.

50. Chapter XLIX