CHAPTER 48 Practice Quiz — Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: CHAPTER 48
Where does Pip encounter Mr. Jaggers at the start of Chapter 48?
Pip runs into Jaggers on Cheapside while strolling undecided about where to dine.
Why does Pip agree to dine with Jaggers?
Because Jaggers mentions that Wemmick will be coming to dinner as well.
What does Miss Havisham's note to Pip request?
She wants Pip to visit her regarding a matter of business he previously mentioned — his plan to help Herbert Pocket financially.
What nickname does Jaggers use for Bentley Drummle?
Jaggers calls Drummle "our friend the Spider."
What does Jaggers predict about Drummle's behavior in marriage?
He says Drummle is the sort of man who "either beats or cringes" — he will either dominate through violence or submit to a stronger will.
What physical action of Molly's triggers Pip's realization about Estella?
The knitting-like action of Molly's fingers as she withdraws her hands from a dish she is serving.
What three physical features does Pip compare between Molly and Estella?
Her hands, her eyes, and her flowing hair — all of which he recognizes as Estella's.
What conclusion does Pip reach about Molly by the end of the dinner?
He becomes absolutely certain that Molly is Estella's mother.
How does Wemmick behave during dinner at Jaggers's house versus afterward?
At dinner he is dry, distant, and deferential to Jaggers (the "wrong twin"). After leaving, he instantly becomes his warm, confiding Walworth self (the "right twin").
What crime was Molly tried for at the Old Bailey?
She was tried for the murder of a woman — a larger, stronger rival connected to Molly's husband.
What was the motive behind the murder Molly was accused of?
Jealousy — the murdered woman was involved with Molly's tramping husband.
How did Jaggers make Molly appear incapable of the murder?
He ensured she was artfully dressed so her arms appeared delicate and slight, making it seem physically impossible for her to have strangled a larger woman.
What explanation did Jaggers offer for the scratches on Molly's hands?
He argued that the marks came from struggling through brambles, producing actual thorns found in her skin and showing broken bramble bushes with shreds of her dress.
What was the "boldest point" of Jaggers's defense of Molly?
He turned the prosecution's claim that Molly destroyed her child against them — arguing that if true, the child's clinging could explain the scratches, and challenging why she was not being tried for that crime.
What happened to Molly's child, according to rumor?
Molly was suspected of having "frantically destroyed" her child — a girl of about three — to take revenge on her husband, though this was never proven.
What impact did Molly's case have on Jaggers's career?
It was a career-making case — Wemmick says the trial was in Jaggers's "comparatively early days" and "it may almost be said to have made him."
What theme does the revelation of Estella's parentage reinforce?
It reinforces the artificiality of class distinctions — Estella, raised as a lady at Satis House, is actually the daughter of a convicted criminal and a transported convict.
What does the "diabolical game at bo-peep" refer to in this chapter?
It describes the two plaster face-casts on Jaggers's shelf, whose features seem to hide and reappear in the flickering firelight — symbolizing the concealment and revelation of secrets.
What literary device is at work when Jaggers predicts Drummle will "beat" Estella?
Foreshadowing — Jaggers's prediction anticipates the domestic violence Estella will endure in her marriage to Drummle.
What does Wemmick mean when he calls Molly "a wild beast tamed"?
He means that Molly was once fierce and dangerous — capable of murder — but has been brought under complete control by Jaggers, who domesticated her into obedient service.
What is dramatic irony in Pip's discovery about Molly?
Pip pieces together that Molly is Estella's mother while Jaggers — who almost certainly already knows the truth — remains deliberately silent and gives no sign of awareness.
How does Dickens use the metaphor of screwing and unscrewing for Wemmick?
Wemmick says he must "screw himself up" to dine with Jaggers and feels "more comfortable unscrewed" — a mechanical metaphor for the psychological effort of maintaining his rigid office persona.