Summary
Pip arrives at Jaggers' office, located in a rundown business area of London. The lawyer is not there, so Pip waits in his office, a dark, dismal, airless room accented with odd things like an old rusty pistol, a sword in a scabbard, and two casts of swollen faces. Jaggers chair reminds Pip of a coffin. Unable to take the oppressiveness, Pip walks around the area, passing through the filth, fat, and foam of the Smithfield markets. He walks near Newgate Prison where a drunk minister of justice shows him the gallows, and into Bartholomew Close where many people are anxiously waiting for Jaggers. They hope to hire him or hear news of relatives' cases. Jaggers arrives and is condescending to all of them, dealing only with those who have paid their bills. Speaking to witnesses in his office he is careful not to hear, do, or say anything illegal, staying just within the law in all his dealings.
Pip learns from Jaggers that he will be staying at Barnard Inn with Mr. Pocket's son until Monday, when they will go to Mr. Pocket's house. Pip is given an allowance and Jaggers tells him frankly that he will track Pip's spending to know when Pip is running up debts. He fully expects Pip will do this. His clerk, Wemmick, a dry man who wears many mourning rings from dead clients, takes him to Barnard Inn. The inn is dismal and dreary, and because of his surroundings, Pip feels that London is overrated. He meets Herbert Pocket, whom Pip realizes is the pale young gentlemanfrom Miss Havisham's. The two become good friends and Herbert nicknames Pip, Handel, after a piece of Handel's music, the Harmonious Blacksmith. Over dinner, in between gently correcting Pip's table manners, Herbert tells Pip about Jaggers, Miss Havisham, Estella, Herbert's father, and himself.
Pip's guardian, Jaggers, is also Miss Havisham's lawyer. He is acquainted with Herbert's father, Matthew Pocket, because Matthew is Miss Havisham's cousin, though the two are not on good terms. Herbert explains that Miss Havisham was to be married to a fine gentleman who swindled some money from her, and then left her at the altar. The man apparently conspired with Miss Havisham's half-brother, Arthur, who was in debt and did not like Miss Havisham. As to Estella, she has always been there, adopted years ago by Miss Havisham. Herbert does not like Estella, and he feels that she is hard, proud, and brought up to wreak revenge on all men for Miss Havisham. Pip explains his expectations briefly and mentions that there are to be no inquiries about who the benefactor is. Both young men suspect it is Miss Havisham. Herbert currently works in a counting-house, but is an aspiring "capitalist" who hopes to insure merchant ships and make his fortune someday. Pip doubts he will ever achieve this.
The following Monday the two proceed to Hammersmith where Pip meets Matthew Pocket and the rest of the family. The many Pocket children are "tumbling up," growing up without much supervision or interest from Mrs. Pocket or her nurses. Mrs. Pocket greets Pip, is oblivious to everything around her, and resumes reading her book. Pip then meets the perplexed and confused Mr. Pocket, a man not in charge of anything going on in his household, least of all, his wife.
Analysis
Pip is suffering the second thoughts common to most people when getting used to a new place and as such, feels that London is overrated. There may be an undercurrent of guilt in this, a feeling of "I left Joe and the forge for this?" Guilt is strong in him when he notes how quickly he is able to put mental distance between himself and home. He has just arrived and it already seems like he left home months ago. Wemmick's surprise when Pip reaches to shake his hand is another indication life in London is different. Basic rituals of friendship and kindness are either overlooked or have been corrupted into a trying to get something from someone.
There are some redeeming qualities in the characters of Herbert Pocket and Jaggers. Herbert apologizes for his sparse quarters because he supports himself, saying that, even if his father could support him, he would not allow it. He is an honorable, hard-working man with dreams for his future. At this point in the story, Pip thinks Herbert will never achieve them because Pip does not recognize that having dreams is different than being a dreamer: Having dreams propels you to set goals and strive; being a dreamer leaves one in a fantasy world without earning anything. Jaggers is another honorable man. While not the warmest human being, he is genuinely caring because he is honest and straightforward. Jaggers misleads no one, and therefore helps people in his own way. His bringing Pip to Matthew Pocket helps the latter in his struggle to support his family, and Jaggers' honest expectation that Pip will get into debt is his indirect way of trying to warn Pip not to get carried away with the money.
Dickens depicts the polite manners of society in a humorous interchange between Pip and Herbert as they eat. The rules of society are ridiculed a bit as well, when Herbert observes that one can be a brewer and still be considered a gentleman, but if you are a baker, all hope is lost.
Satire of the treatment of children by their parents continues with Dickens' depiction of the Pocket household. Mrs. Pocket is self-absorbed, Mr. Pocket is oblivious, and the children are raising themselves. The element of secrecy is also evident in the secret marriage of Miss Havisham's father to his cook after Miss Havisham's mother died. Repetition of elements such as Jaggers throwing his finger and using his handkerchief, continue. New elements to watch for are the face casts in Jaggers' office and Wemmick's "post-office" mouth.
Glossary
the Cross Keys a real inn from the seventeenth century where coaches coming into London from the provinces would stop.
Little Britain street north of St. Paul's Cathedral with many law offices because of its proximity to the criminal courts.
hackney-coachman a hackney coach-driver. A hackney coach would be similar to a modern taxi in that you would hire it to take you somewhere, unlike the coaches coming into London from the provinces, which stopped at only certain stations or inns.
equipage a carriage, especially one with horses and liveried servants.
Smithfield a large, open square that was London's main cattle-market until 1852.
Bartholomew Close a narrow street near Bartholomew Church in the Smithfield area.
all otherth ith Cag-Maggerth cagmag is garbage, like rotting flesh, and this comment indicates that the speaker considers all other lawyers useless compared to Jaggers.
like the Bull in Cock Robin pulling at the bell rope a nursery-rhyme reference about a bullfinch offering to toll the bell at Cock Robin's funeral. Here, the man speaking to Jaggers is pulling at a lock of his hair, often done by a country person as a sign of respect to a member of the gentry.
outrunning the constable spending more money than you make.
mourning rings A custom at the time was to bequeath money to friends or relatives so that they could buy a ring to remember one by, usually inscribed with the initials of the deceased.
pottle a small basket. It can also be a pot or tankard capable of holding a pottle or half gallon of liquid. In this case, Herbert is carrying a pottle of strawberries, so the basket reference is probably the correct one.
bad courtier A courtier, originally an attendant at a royal court, refers here to someone who is adept at using flattery to get something or to win favor. Herbert's father is a bad courtier with Miss Havisham in that he does not flatter her but speaks the truth whether she likes it or not.
propitiate to appease someone.
the Harmonious Blacksmith a piece of music by G. F. Handel (1685–1759) that was supposedly based on a blacksmith's song that the composer overheard.
counting-house a building or office in which a firm keeps records, handles correspondence, and so on.
went upon @'Change the floor of the Royal Exchange—the London Stock Market. Lloyd's, a marine insurance business at the time, operated from this building.
fluey dusty.
