# Chapter XXXI explained — Great Expectations

> Chapter companion for Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

## What happens

Pip and Herbert attend a performance of Hamlet in which Mr. Wopsle, now calling himself Mr. Waldengarver, plays the lead. The production is poorly received by the audience, who mock and heckle throughout. After the play, Pip and Herbert meet Wopsle backstage, offer polite praise, and invite him to supper at Barnard's Inn, where he talks late into the night about his theatrical ambitions.

## Themes in this chapter

### Deception and Appearance vs. Reality

Wopsle's theatrical performance and his new stage name Waldengarver highlight the contrast between his self-image and the audience's harsh reception.

### Identity and Self-Discovery

Wopsle's attempt to reinvent himself as an actor mirrors Pip's own struggles with identity and social aspiration.

## Character check-ins

### Pip

Attends the play with Herbert, feels sorry for Wopsle, and invites him to supper.

### Herbert Pocket

Accompanies Pip to the theater and helps him offer polite encouragement to Wopsle.

### Mr. Wopsle

Performs as Hamlet under the stage name Waldengarver; endures audience mockery but remains proud of his performance.

### Estella

Pip thinks of her miserably before bed, dreaming of her and his cancelled expectations.

## Key lines

> Miserably I went to bed after all, and miserably thought of Estella, and miserably dreamed that my expectations were all cancelled, and that I had to give my hand in marriage to Herbert's Clara, or play Hamlet to Miss Havisham's Ghost, before twenty thousand people, without knowing twenty words of it.

Pip went to bed feeling wretched, thinking sadly of Estella and dreaming that his fortune was lost, that he was forced to marry Clara, or that he had to perform Hamlet in front of a huge crowd without knowing the lines.

_Pip's anxiety about his social standing and his unrequited feelings for Estella intrude even into his dreams._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xxxi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/great_expectations_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters