Chapter 47 (Volume 3, Chapter 8) (Instalment 29):

The Nautical Drama / Mr. Wopsle alarms me

Synopsis of Chapter 47 (Volume 3, Chapter 8) (Instalment 29)

Pip waits anxiously for several weeks for a word from Wemmick. He fears that by now Estella is married, but avoids newspapers to avoid confirming his misgivings. One evening he visits a theatre where Mr. Wopsle is acting. Mr. Wopsle meets Pip afterwards and tells him that the second convict was sitting behind him in the audience. Pip and Herbert decide they must contact Wemmick.

Commentary on Chapter 47 (Volume 3, Chapter 8) (Instalment 29)

and I felt a kind of satisfaction … since his revelation of himself By this stage Pip doubts his motives and does not deceive himself about moral matters.

Why I hoarded up this wretched little rag … last year, last month, last week? Pip's sense of himself in relation to other people is growing.

I dined at what Herbert and I used to call a Geographical chop-house The drink stains on the cloth and on the gravy stains the cutlery look to Pip and Herbert like maps of the countries of theworld.

There was something so remarkable in the increasing glare of Mr. Wopsle's eye Pip begins to feel that Mr. Wopsle is more surprised then he should be at Pip's presence in the audience.

Investigating Chapter 47 (Volume 3, Chapter 8) (Instalment 29)
  • Why do you think Dickens introduces humorous writing about the theatre and the chop-house at this point in the narrative?
Related material
Scan and go

Scan on your mobile for direct link.