CHAPTER 59 Practice Quiz — Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: CHAPTER 59
How many years have passed between Chapter 58 and Chapter 59?
Eleven years. Pip has not seen Joe or Biddy with his "bodily eyes" in all that time.
What has Pip been doing during the eleven-year gap?
He has been working abroad with Herbert at Clarriker's mercantile firm, earning a modest but sufficient living.
What surprise does Pip find when he returns to the forge?
Joe and Biddy have a young son named Pip, sitting on Pip's old stool by the kitchen fire.
Why did Joe and Biddy name their son Pip?
Joe says, "We giv' him the name of Pip for your sake, dear old chap," hoping the boy might grow to be a little like him.
What does Biddy urge Pip to do when they talk after dinner?
She tells him he must marry, but Pip insists he is "already quite an old bachelor."
What does Biddy ask Pip about Estella?
She asks, "Dear Pip, you are sure you don't fret for her?" and "Have you quite forgotten her?"
How does Pip answer Biddy about Estella, and what is the truth?
He tells Biddy the "poor dream" has all gone by, but he secretly intends to visit the site of Satis House that evening "for Estella's sake."
What happened to Estella's husband, Bentley Drummle?
He died about two years before, from an accident caused by his ill-treatment of a horse. He had used Estella with great cruelty.
What remains of Satis House when Pip visits?
Nothing remains but the wall of the old garden. The cleared space is enclosed by a rough fence, with ivy growing green on quiet mounds of ruin.
What does the new ivy growing on the ruins of Satis House symbolize?
It symbolizes renewal and the possibility that genuine feeling can grow from the wreckage of past illusions and manipulation.
How has Estella's appearance changed when Pip encounters her?
The freshness of her beauty is gone, but its "indescribable majesty and charm" remain. Her once proud eyes now show a "saddened softened light."
What does Estella say suffering has taught her?
She says suffering "has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be."
What is the only possession Estella kept through her wretched years?
The ground where Satis House stood. She calls it "the subject of the only determined resistance I made in all the wretched years."
What does Estella mean when she says she has been "bent and broken, but — I hope — into a better shape"?
She means her suffering has destroyed her former pride and coldness, but has reshaped her into someone capable of empathy and genuine feeling.
What is the famous last line of Great Expectations?
"I saw no shadow of another parting from her." It is deliberately ambiguous about whether Pip and Estella will be together romantically.
What parallel does the mist create between the novel's beginning and end?
Morning mists rose when young Pip first left the forge; evening mists rise as Pip and Estella leave the ruins together, linking departure to return.
Why did Dickens revise the original ending of Great Expectations?
His friend Edward Bulwer-Lytton argued the original ending was too unhappy. Dickens rewrote it to be more hopeful while retaining ambiguity.
What happened in Dickens's original ending?
Pip briefly meets Estella on a London street. She has remarried a Shropshire doctor, and they part with no hint of reunion.
What is the dramatic irony in Pip's conversation with Biddy about Estella?
Pip claims the "poor dream" has passed, but the narrator immediately reveals his secret intention to visit Satis House for Estella's sake.
How does Pip's attitude toward work reflect his character growth?
He says he works "pretty hard for a sufficient living" and considers that doing well. He no longer needs wealth or status to feel content.
What do Joe and Biddy represent thematically in this chapter?
They represent stability, genuine love, and moral constancy — a warm, living household that contrasts with the ruined Satis House.
What is the significance of Pip taking young Pip to the churchyard?
It echoes the novel's opening scene and represents the cycle of generations. Young Pip shows the elder Pip his own parents' tombstone, mirroring Pip's childhood.
What does Estella's "friendly touch" signify?
It marks her emotional transformation. Pip notes it was "the friendly touch of the once insensible hand" — she is now capable of genuine warmth.