CHAPTER 20 Practice Quiz — Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: CHAPTER 20
How does Pip travel to London at the start of Chapter 20?
Pip travels by a four-horse stage-coach on a journey of about five hours, arriving at the Cross Keys inn in Cheapside around midday.
Where is Mr. Jaggers's office located?
It is on Little Britain, just out of Smithfield and close by the coach-office, near Newgate Prison.
Why can't Pip see Jaggers immediately upon arriving?
Jaggers is away in court with a case on, so the clerk tells Pip to wait in Jaggers's private room.
What does Pip encounter when he wanders outside Jaggers's office?
He visits the filthy Smithfield market and Newgate Prison, where a half-drunk attendant shows him the gallows and the Debtors' Door.
What do the people waiting outside for Jaggers reveal about his reputation?
They demonstrate his fame as London's most formidable criminal lawyer. One man cries "all otherth ith Cag-Maggerth, give me Jaggerth!" and a woman says "Jaggers is for him, what more could you have?"
Who is Mike, and what does Jaggers scold him for?
Mike is a one-eyed client in a velveteen suit. Jaggers scolds him furiously for openly admitting he has procured a witness willing to swear "anythink" — essentially confessing to arranging perjury.
What living arrangements does Jaggers set up for Pip?
Pip will lodge at Barnard's Inn with young Herbert Pocket, receive a generous allowance, and have credit with London tradesmen for clothes and necessities.
How does Jaggers control his clients when he arrives at his office?
He refuses to let them speak, threatens to drop their cases if they say a word, and demands only to know whether they have paid Wemmick. He controls every interaction through fear and authority.
Who is Wemmick in Chapter 20?
Wemmick is Mr. Jaggers's clerk who works in the front office. At the end of the chapter, he is assigned to walk Pip to Barnard's Inn.
What warning does Jaggers give Pip about his finances?
Jaggers says he will check Pip's bills and "pull you up if I find you outrunning the constable," adding "Of course you'll go wrong somehow, but that's no fault of mine."
How does the hackney coachman react when he learns Pip is going to Jaggers's office?
The coachman darkly closes an eye at Jaggers's name and says "I know him!" — suggesting Jaggers's fearsome reputation extends even to ordinary Londoners.
Who is the excitable man waiting for Jaggers, and what happens to him?
He is a man pleading on behalf of his "hown brother" Habraham Latharuth, accused of stealing plate. Jaggers tells him he is already representing the opposing side, and throws the man off with supreme indifference.
How does Chapter 20 develop the theme of disillusionment?
Pip expects London to be glamorous but finds it ugly, dirty, and frightening. His first experiences include a blood-smeared market and a prison gallows, sharply contrasting his expectations of gentlemanly life.
What does Chapter 20 reveal about the relationship between law and criminality?
Jaggers's office sits between Smithfield (slaughter) and Newgate (punishment), and his clients include people arranging perjury and bribes. The chapter shows law and crime as deeply intertwined rather than opposed.
How does the motif of contamination appear in Chapter 20?
Smithfield's filth "seemed to stick" to Pip, the court attendant wears clothes seemingly bought from the executioner, and Jaggers's office walls are greasy from desperate clients' shoulders — suggesting moral corruption is physically contagious.
What does Jaggers's refusal to hear his clients' details suggest thematically?
It illustrates the theme of willful ignorance as a survival strategy. Jaggers maintains plausible deniability by refusing to know the facts, allowing him to operate in a morally gray world without being technically complicit.
How does Dickens use irony in Chapter 20?
Pip arrives expecting gentlemanly refinement but his first London experiences involve slaughterhouses, gallows, and desperate criminals. The gap between his expectations and reality is deeply ironic.
What is the symbolic significance of Jaggers's chair being described as "like a coffin"?
The coffin-like black horsehair chair with brass nails connects Jaggers's legal authority directly to death and punishment, suggesting the justice system is itself a mechanism of destruction.
How does Dickens use dialect to characterize the people around Jaggers?
Each client speaks in a distinctive voice: the lisping supplicant says "Mithter Jaggerth," Mike speaks in rough cockney ("Mas'r Jaggers"), and the women use colloquial pleading. These speech patterns reveal each character's social class and desperation.
What role does dark humor play in Chapter 20?
Dickens uses dark comedy throughout — the court attendant hawking views of the judge "like waxwork," the farcical parade of the drunk "confectioner" witness, and Jaggers bullying his sandwich as he eats it all leaven the grim subject matter with satirical wit.
What does "portmanteau" mean in the context of Chapter 20?
A portmanteau is a large traveling bag or suitcase, typically made of stiff leather and opening into two equal compartments. Pip carries his "little portmanteau" when he arrives at Jaggers's office.
What is a "hammercloth" as mentioned in the coach description?
A hammercloth is a cloth covering the driver's seat (the "box") of a horse-drawn coach. Pip's hackney coach has one that is "weather-stained pea-green" and "moth-eaten into rags," emphasizing the vehicle's shabby grandeur.
Who says "Of course you'll go wrong somehow, but that's no fault of mine" and what does it reveal?
Mr. Jaggers says this to Pip after outlining his allowance and spending arrangements. It reveals Jaggers's cynical worldview and his insistence on distancing himself from responsibility for his clients' choices.
What is the significance of the phrase "a sickening idea of London"?
Pip uses this phrase after seeing Newgate's gallows, the Debtors' Door, and learning four people will be hanged in two days. It captures his profound disillusionment as his romantic expectations of London collide with its brutal reality.