Great Expectations · Chapter
Chapter XXV explained
Pip describes his fellow students, the surly Bentley Drummle and the gentle Startop, and his deepening friendship with Herbert Pocket.
What happens
Pip describes his fellow students, the surly Bentley Drummle and the gentle Startop, and his deepening friendship with Herbert Pocket. He settles into Mr. Pocket's household, where he encounters the greedy Camilla and Georgiana. Pip visits Mr. Wemmick at his home in Walworth, a whimsical cottage he calls 'the Castle,' complete with a drawbridge and a flagstaff. Wemmick reveals his strict separation between his professional and private lives, introduces his Aged Parent, and entertains Pip with curiosities and a homemade cannon. Pip learns of an upcoming dinner invitation from Mr. Jaggers.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
Wemmick's dual life—stern clerk at work, whimsical castle-dweller at home—exemplifies the contrast between public persona and private self.
Social Class and Ambition
Pip's expensive habits and his interactions with the greedy Camilla and Georgiana underscore the social climbing and class tensions in his new life.
Characters to notice
- Pip
Narrates his experiences with Drummle and Startop, his friendship with Herbert, and his visit to Wemmick's home.
- Herbert Pocket
Pip's intimate companion and friend; they share a boat and chambers, and Herbert helps Pip with his education.
- Drummle
Described as sulky, heavy, idle, proud, and suspicious; a disagreeable fellow among Mr. Pocket's students.
- Wemmick
Invites Pip to his Walworth home, shows his whimsical 'Castle,' and explains his separation of work and private life.
- The Aged Parent
Wemmick's elderly father, who lives at the Castle and participates in the nightly cannon ceremony.
- Camilla
Mr. Pocket's sister, who along with Georgiana, fawns on Pip in his prosperity out of cupidity and disappointment.
Key passages
“Bentley Drummle, who was so sulky a fellow that he even took up a book as if its writer had done him an injury, did not take up an acquaintance in a more agreeable spirit.”
Bentley Drummle was so ill-tempered that he approached reading a book as though the author had personally offended him, and he was no more pleasant in making friends.
Introduces Drummle's disagreeable nature.
“These people hated me with the hatred of cupidity and disappointment. As a matter of course, they fawned upon me in my prosperity with the basest meanness.”
Camilla and Georgiana resented me out of greed and envy, yet they flattered me shamelessly because of my newfound wealth.
Highlights the hypocrisy of Pip's relatives.
“When I go into the office, I leave the castle behind me, and when I come into the castle, I leave the office behind me.”
Wemmick keeps his work life and home life completely separate, never letting one intrude upon the other.
Reveals Wemmick's strict division between his professional and private selves.