Pleasure Reading: Part 4

Pip received a note from Estella, ordering him to meet her at a London train station. When He met Estella, he was again troubled by her resemblance to someone he can’t place. She treated Pip arrogantly, but sent him into ecstatic joy when she refered to their “instructions,” which made him feel as though they were destined to be married. He escorted her to the house at which she was staying, he returned to the Pockets’ home.


Soon Pip got a letter carrying the news that Mrs. Joe has died. He returned home at once for the funeral.  Pip says goodbye to them the next morning, truly intending to visit more often, and walks away into the mist.

Pip’s twenty-first birthday finally arrives, meaning that he was an adult and would begin to receive a regular income from his fortune. He felt a great sense of excitement, because he hoped that his entrance into adulthood would cause Jaggers to tell him the identity of his mysterious benefactor. But Mr. Jagger were not going to talk about that. He only told him about his fortune.

Upon receiving his income, Pip decided to help Herbert by buying Herbert’s way into the merchant business. He asked Wemmick for advice. They found a merchant in need of a young partner, and Pip bought Herbert the partnership. Everything was all arranged anonymously, so that Herbert, like Pip, did not know the identity of his benefactor.

Some time later Pip met Estella and they spent a great deal of time together. However, he was not treated as a serious suitor. Shortly thereafter, Pip found out that Drummle was courting Estella. He was broken. The young man imagined his fate as a heavy stone slab hanging over his head, about to fall.