Great Expectations Characters

(Click the character infographic to download.) Pip is like that kid who goes away to college in the big city and comes back wearing designer shoes and thinking he's better than his parents because...

(Click the character infographic to download.) Aw, Joe. We kind of love Joe. He's Pip's brother-in-law and childhood hero, but he's also just a genuinely nice guy. Pip describes him: a fair man, w...

(Click the character infographic to download.) Pip's great expectations are ruined, and he becomes a better man. Miss Havisham's expectations are ruined, and she becomes an "immensely rich and grim...

Magwitch—the thief with a heart of gold—never had a chance. His first memory is of stealing turnips (which is just sad—not only does he have to steal food as a kind, but he has to steal turni...

Estella may be beautiful, but she's as chilly as Frozone, freezing the hearts of everyone around her—including her adopted mom, Miss Havisham. She's "proud and refined" (33.4) as an adult, and "b...

Mr. Jaggers is Pip's guardian, Miss Havisham's lawyer, and he really knows his stuff. He's exactly like Billy Flynn: he ALWAYS wins his cases. Judges and juries alike quiver in their boots when Jag...

Mr. Wemmick is Jaggers' clerk—sometimes. When he's the clerk, he's gruff, business-like, and "dry" (21.1), who has to remind himself that people have the "habit of shaking hands" (21.28) and who...

Herbert and Pip are BFFs, and, like most BFFs, they start out by fighting: Herbert challenges Pip to a gentlemanly fight (there are rules and everything), which Pip easily wins. Even then, Pip noti...

Biddy is some complicated relation to Mr. Wopsle, and she's also a glimpse into what Pip's life could have been if he weren't such a butthead. Although at first she's a messy little girl who always...

Orlick is a journeyman at Joe's forge (the middle step between being an apprentice and a master), and he's no good: he's a "broadshouldered loose-limbed swarthy fellow" who "slouches" everywhere (1...

The Aged is Wemmick's father who lives in the castle with Wemmick. He's a bit hard of hearing, but loves being nodded at and loves to lower the drawbridge. When he reads aloud, he reads a-LOUD. H...

Mrs. Joe is Pip's much older sister, and oh boy, she is just the worst of every older sister rolled into one: not only does she never let him forget that she "brought him up 'by hand'" (1), she bel...

Bentley Drummle is Pip's lifelong nemesis. He's mean, haughty, and abrasive. Oh, and did we mention, rich? Jaggers actually likes Drummle (well, he is a shady lawyer), but tells Pip to stay away...

Startop is Pip's friend and fellow student of Mr. Pocket's. He, along with Herbert, saves Pip from being killed by Orlick, and he helps Pip and Magwitch make their great escape at the end of the...

Besides being a professional swindler, counterfeiter, and general law-breaker, Compeyson is the man who jilted Miss Havisham at the altar all of those many years ago. He was in cahoots with Arthur...

Arthur is Miss Havisham's rebellious, ungrateful half brother who plots against her and swindles her. He's the son of Miss Havisham's father and the family cook. Mr. Havisham, Sr., left him plent...

Molly is Jaggers' maid and also—dun dun dun!—Estella's mother/Magwitch's wife. Jaggers defended Molly years before when she had been accused of murdering a woman in a barn out of jealousy. He...

Matthew Pocket is Miss Havisham's cousin and the only member of her family who spoke his mind about her fiancé, Compeyson. He told her he was not a true gentleman and that he had serious doubts...

Belinda Pocket is Mr. Pocket's spoiled wife who can't hold a baby to save her life. She's obsessed with titles of nobility and constantly reads a book about such titles. Her father had been a kni...

The other Pockets are Miss Havisham's cousins who kiss butt like no one's business in the hopes of staking a claim in Miss Havisham's fortune. They're jealous of Pip, Estella, and Matthew Pocketâ...

The Avenger is Pip's servant boy who he hires to seem like a more legit gentleman. The problem is, beyond putting toast on the table and yelling people's names when they walk through the door, th...

Trabb's boy is the local bully and rebel. He's Mr. Trabb the tailor's son, and he likes to make fun of Pip for being too-cool-for-school. In other words, he's just saying what everyone else...

Mr. Wopsle is a clerk at the village church, with a "Roman nose and a large shining bald forehead" (4.11), and, most importantly, a "deep voice which he was uncommonly proud of" (4.11). He loves...

Mr. Pumblechook is Joe's uncle, but Mrs. Joe considers him to be one of her BFFs. He's the local seedsman (he sells seeds and stuff) and is charged with escorting Pip to Miss Havisham's house for...

Clara is Herbert Pocket's love and fiancée. She lives at Mill Brook Pond at a boarding house with her irascible, alcoholic father (a retired ship's purser) who she tends to on hand and foot. Pip...

Miss Skiffins is Mr. Wemmick's love interest and, later, wife. She's very proper and always wears gloves. She doesn't lets Wemmick put his arm around her until they're married.