Chapters 30 to 39 — AQA GCSE English Literature 8702
AQA GCSE English Literature · 8702
Chapters 30 to 39
The plot, part by part
What you need to know
Pip's life as a young gentleman: Newgate, Estella in London, debts, Mrs Joe's funeral, Pip's coming of age and his secret help for Herbert,
Estella's quarrel with Miss Havisham, and Magwitch's return, which ends the second stage.
Key quotations: 'We have no choice, you and I, but to obey our instructions', 'As I had grown accustomed to my expectations, I had insensibly begun to notice their effect upon myself and those around me', 'We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us', 'It was the first time that a grave had opened in my road of life', 'for five hundred pounds', 'You stock and stone!', 'You cold, cold heart!', 'Yes, Pip, dear boy, I've made a gentleman on you! It's me wot has done it!', 'Miss Havisham's intentions towards me, all a mere dream'.
Structure: the end of the second stage, as the storm of Chapter 39 brings Magwitch to Pip's door and overturns what Pip believed about his expectations.
Context: a transported convict's return to England, and the danger it brings him and Pip.
