Great Expectations Chapter 33 Summary

  • Estella comes to town dressed head to toe in fur, and Pip is totally entranced. If Estella told him to jump off a bridge, he would do it. If Estella told him to eat a lit firecracker, he would do it.
  • She lays down the rules: they'll ride in a carriage to her new home and she will pay for everything: tea, horses, tips, manis/pedis—everything.
  • Estella wants to take a little snack break in London before traveling to her new home, where they pay an arm and a leg for an itty-bitty muffin and an urn full of twiggy tea. They sit at a dining table with thirty chairs around it, and there's a half-burnt book in the fire.
  • Thank you, Charles Dickens, once again, for the detail.
  • Apparently, the Pockets write mean, incriminating letters about Pip to Miss Havisham, but Miss Havisham loves that he makes them jealous. There's nothing anyone can say in the world that would taint Miss Havisham's opinion of him.
  • Estella rants a little bit about how un-fun it was to grow up in a household with nasty, selfish, jealous relatives and with a mother who only is peaceful at weird hours of the night.
  • Pip fully realizes that Estella has had a messed up childhood. Duh.
  • (Kids, cover your eyes, because the next part is a little steamy, and we don't know if you can handle it.)
  • Pip kisses Estella's hand, and then kisses her cheek. She's about as moved as a statue, and when he's finished, she goes back to business as usual.
  • They get on the carriage and embark upon their journey. Estella tells Pip that Miss Havisham is paying a rich friend to take care of Estella and to introduce her to "society."
  • Estella tells Pip he's expected to come visit as often as is "proper." "So, like, every hour, on the hour, right?" thinks Pip.
  • They say goodbye on her new doorstep, and Estella is enveloped by the rich house and by her new maids.
  • Pip is heartbroken when he leaves her. He's even more heartbroken when he arrives home at the Pockets'.
  • He sees Jane Pocket strolling around with her boyfriend, and he's totally jealous.
  • When he enters the Pocket household, he finds Mrs. Pocket ranting about the fact that baby Pocket has swallowed some needles. (So not safe or funny, you guys.) She's sent baby to bed as a remedy.
  • Mr. Pocket is out lecturing, and Pip is in desperate need of a friend and confidante. No such luck, Pip old chap.