Great Expectations Chapter Forty-Four Summary

Pip finds Miss Havisham sitting by the fire with Estella knitting at her feet.
There is some eyebrow-raising upon Pip’s entrance, as both women detect that something about him has changed.
Pip tells Miss Havisham that he is as unhappy as she could have ever hoped he would be.
Estella doesn’t look at him, but the lady is listening.
He tells the women that he now knows who his benefactor is, but that this information won’t help him become wealthier or more of a gentleman.
He confirms with Miss Havisham that when he was asked to be Estella’s playmate all those years ago, he was considered a servant and nothing more. Miss Havisham confirms this, and tells Pip that the fact that Jaggers worked for both her and his benefactor was simply a coincidence.
Pip tells her she was unkind for encouraging his love of and obsession with Estella.
Miss Havisham has a Wicked Witch of the East moment and snaps her cane on the ground wrathfully, proclaiming that she has no reason to be kind to anyone on earth.
Pip then asks Miss Havisham to be kind to Mr. Pocket and Herbert Pocket, as he knows them to be cool chaps. Pip asks her to invest in Herbert’s career, and to never tell Herbert that he had petitioned Miss Havisham on his behalf.
Brace yourself for what comes next. Pip dives in headlong to the boiling lake of love. He professes his big love to Estella in front of Miss Havisham and everything. Totally brave.
Estella doesn’t react, but keeps knitting.
Pip continues to splay his heart for the world to see.
Estella just shakes her head, totally unmoved.
In the meantime, Pip tells Estella that he understands that Miss Havisham’s intentions were not entirely evil; that he recognizes she became so caught up in her own misery to notice that Pip was becoming just as miserable. Miss Havisham is totally touched by this and puts her hand to her heart.
Pip continues to bear his soul to Estella, to which she replies that she does not feel a thing, that she is heartless, and that it is not in her nature to love anyone.
Pip asks her whether she loves Drummle, and Estella replies that she’s completely fed up with that word, "love." She doesn’t love anything, she tells Pip. However, she is going to marry Drummle.
Pip is heart-broken and so are we. This is crazy. She can’t marry the spider.
Pip implores her to choose someone else, someone more worthy and more good than Drummle.
Estella replies that the decision has been made, even in spite of Miss Havisham, who wanted Estella to postpone marrying anybody.
Estella asks Pip whether he is a "visionary boy or man," (3.44.64) and Pip launches into one of the most beautiful speeches of literary history. It is in the Shmoop Hall of Fame as being among the best love speeches. Ever. Check it out, because Shmoop can’t do it justice here. Trust us, you’ll need to consume an entire carton of Ben and Jerry’s after you read it. At the end, Pip says, "Oh, God bless you, God forgive you!" (3.44.70)
Estella is stunned. As well she should be.
Miss Havisham is stunned and looks upon Pip with a cocktail of pity and remorse.
Pip is devastated. He leaves Satis House, but he can’t go back to the Blue Boar for fear of seeing the spider. So, he does what any of us would do in the same situation: he walks all the way back to London.
It’s midnight when he crosses the London Bridge. He gets to his apartment building, and the porter at the gate gives him a note. The note says, "DON’T GO HOME."
Oh, jiminy crickets.

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