CHAPTER 44 Practice Quiz — Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: CHAPTER 44
Where does Pip find Miss Havisham and Estella at the beginning of Chapter 44?
Pip finds them in the room with the dressing-table and wax candles. Miss Havisham is seated on a settee near the fire, and Estella is on a cushion at her feet, knitting.
What do Miss Havisham and Estella both perceive when Pip enters the room?
They both notice an alteration in Pip. Estella appears to realize that Pip has discovered his real benefactor, which she reads from the change in his manner.
Does Miss Havisham admit to letting Pip believe she was his benefactor?
Yes. She confirms she "let him go on" in his mistaken belief, though she insists she did not create the delusion herself and that Mr. Jaggers had nothing to do with it.
How does Miss Havisham respond when Pip asks if her deception was kind?
She erupts in sudden wrath, striking her stick on the floor and crying, "Who am I, for God's sake, that I should be kind?" She sees no reason why anyone should expect kindness from her.
Which of Miss Havisham's relatives does Pip defend, and why?
Pip defends Matthew Pocket and his son Herbert, describing them as generous, upright, and incapable of anything designing or mean, unlike the scheming Sarah Pocket, Miss Georgiana, and Mistress Camilla.
What secret favor does Pip ask of Miss Havisham?
He asks her to secretly fund Herbert Pocket's business partnership, a service Pip himself had begun more than two years ago but can no longer continue because of changes in his circumstances.
Why must Miss Havisham's help for Herbert remain secret?
Because Pip had been funding Herbert's partnership without Herbert's knowledge for over two years, and revealing it now would betray Pip's involvement. The source of his own funding is also another person's secret.
What does Pip declare to Estella in this chapter?
Pip declares his deep and enduring love for Estella, telling her he has loved her since he first saw her in Satis House as a rough common boy.
How does Estella respond to Pip's declaration of love?
She responds with calm detachment, saying she understands his words as a form of words but nothing more. She says his words address nothing in her breast and touch nothing there.
What shocking announcement does Estella make about her marriage plans?
She reveals that she is going to marry Bentley Drummle. The preparations are already being made and the marriage will happen soon.
Why does Estella choose to marry Drummle despite not loving him?
She says she is tired of the life she has led and willing to change it. She reasons that she might as well marry someone who will soonest realize she brings nothing emotional to him.
What is Miss Havisham's physical reaction as she watches Pip's heartbreak?
She puts her hand to her heart and holds it there, watching by turns at Estella and Pip. Her face becomes a ghastly stare of pity and remorse.
What famous speech does Pip deliver about Estella's place in his life?
Pip tells Estella she has been in every line he has read, every prospect he has seen—on the river, the marshes, in the clouds, the darkness, the wind, the woods, the sea, and the streets. He says she is part of his existence and character.
What does Estella call Pip as they part—"visionary boy" or what?
Estella asks if they part on these terms, calling him "you visionary boy—or man?" This highlights her view that Pip's romantic feelings are impractical fantasies.
What does Estella mean when she says "It is in the nature formed within me"?
She means her inability to feel love was shaped by her upbringing under Miss Havisham. She distinguishes between her innate nature and the nature that was deliberately formed in her, acknowledging she was made emotionally cold.
What does Estella's continuous knitting symbolize throughout the chapter?
Her knitting symbolizes emotional detachment and mechanical indifference. While Pip bares his soul, her fingers never stop, creating a visual contrast between his raw vulnerability and her composure.
What is the significance of the wax candles and ruined setting in Satis House?
The decaying grandeur of Satis House mirrors Pip's crumbling expectations. Pip notes that with all that ruin at his feet and about him, it seemed a natural place for him that day.
How does Pip travel back to London after leaving Satis House?
He walks the entire distance from Satis House to London on foot, arriving past midnight. He chose to walk because he could not bear to see Drummle at the inn or endure being spoken to on the coach.
What does Wemmick's note at the end of Chapter 44 say?
The note, addressed to Philip Pip, Esquire, contains three words in Wemmick's handwriting: "DON'T GO HOME." It was marked "PLEASE READ THIS, HERE" on the outside.
What literary device does Dickens use in Pip's speech beginning "You have been in every line"?
Dickens uses anaphora—the repetition of a phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. The repeated "You have been in every..." and "in the..." builds emotional intensity to a crescendo.
What chain of unrequited love does Chapter 44 reveal?
Miss Havisham loved Compeyson who betrayed her; she raised Estella to break hearts in revenge; now Pip loves Estella who cannot love anyone. Miss Havisham's scheme replicated her own pain rather than avenging it.
What role does dramatic irony play at the start of the chapter?
Both Miss Havisham and Estella can see from Pip's changed demeanor that he has discovered the truth about his benefactor, even before he speaks. The reader watches Pip reveal what the women already suspect.
What does Miss Havisham mean when she says Pip "made his own snares"?
She means Pip trapped himself with his own assumptions. While she admits she let him continue in his delusion, she insists she never created the false belief—Pip and her self-seeking relatives chose to believe what they wanted.