Chapter 33 (Volume 2, Chapter 14) (Instalment 20):

Estella tells me where she is going / I take Estella to her destination

Synopsis of Chapter 33 (Volume 2, Chapter 14) (Instalment 20)

Estella reports she is going to live with a lady at Richmond who will do for her what Matthew and Herbert Pocket are doing for Pip. She tells Pip that members of Mr. Pocket's family are sending damning reports of him to Miss Havisham, and she is bitter about the relatives who fawn on Miss Havisham in the hope of a legacy. She also tells Pip of the effects of her upbringing in that atmosphere, and assures Pip that the malicious reports of him do not influence Miss Havisham.

On leaving the inn, they pass Newgate and Estella expresses contempt for the inmates; Pip dare not, for shame, mention his visit there. Although he is aware that Estella has no real feelings for him, he remains infatuated and returns to Hammersmith feeling confused and sad.

Commentary on Chapter 33 (Volume 2, Chapter 14) (Instalment 20)

Her manner was more winning … Miss Havisham's influence in the change Pip is still convinced his money comes from Miss Havisham and that she wants him to marry Estella.

(I was not at all happy there at the time, observe, and I knew it well.) Dickens uses a bracketed statement to introduce a comment from the elder Pip to contradict the younger Pip..

‘They do me no harm, I hope?' … Estella burst out laughing. Estella's reaction here and in the next few lines suggests that she knows well that Miss Havisham is not the source of Pip's money.

Whatever her tone with me … against trust and against hope Pip's life is becoming more painful as he grows and learns, but he feels himself helplessly trapped both by his love for Estella and his new social circumstances.

Moses in the bulrushes typified by a soft bit of butter Moses was born during the Israelites' captivity in Egypt, and had to be abandoned by his mother. She put him in a basket and hid him in the rushes by the river, watching until the daughter of Pharaoh came to wash, and rescued the baby and brought him up as her own. Moses later led his people out of captivity. See Exodus 2:1-25.

hoops and wigs and stiff skirts Richmond preserves the air of the eighteenth century.

Investigating Chapter 33 (Volume 2, Chapter 14) (Instalment 20)

Re-read the short paragraph beginning ‘The bill paid and the waiter remembered …'
- What does this episode suggest to you about the basis of the relationships between the staff at the inn and their guests?
Make a list of all the new information, including all the hints about the source of Pip's money, given to the reader in this chapter

English Standard Version
King James Version

¹Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. ²The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. ³When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. ⁴And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. ⁵Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. ⁶When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children. ⁷Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you? ⁸And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. So the girl went and called the child's mother. ⁹And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages. So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, Because, she said, I drew him out of the water. ¹¹One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. ¹²He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, Why do you strike your companion? ¹⁴He answered, Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? Then Moses was afraid, and thought, Surely the thing is known. ¹⁵When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well. ¹⁶Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. ¹⁷The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. ¹⁸When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, How is it that you have come home so soon today? ¹⁹They said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock. ²⁰He said to his daughters, Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread. ²¹And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. ²²She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land. ²³During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. ²⁴And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵God saw the people of Israel - and God knew.

¹And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. ²And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. ³And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. ⁴And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. ⁵And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. ⁶And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children. ⁷Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? ⁸And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother. ⁹And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the women took the child, and nursed it. ¹⁰And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water. ¹¹And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. ¹²And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. ¹³And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? ¹⁴And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known. ¹⁵Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well. ¹⁶Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. ¹⁷And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. ¹⁸And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day? ¹⁹And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock. ²⁰And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread. ²¹And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. ²²And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land. ²³And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. ²⁴And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

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Great Expectations Contents

Chapter 33 (Volume 2, Chapter 14) (Instalment 20):

Synopsis of Chapter 33 (Volume 2, Chapter 14) (Instalment 20)

Commentary on Chapter 33 (Volume 2, Chapter 14) (Instalment 20)

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