Great Expectations: Book 2, Chapter 26 Summary & Analysis

That morning, Mr. Jaggers invites Pip along with Drummle, Startop, and Herbert to dinner the next day. Mr. Jaggers house is dark and serious, and they have a lavish dinner of fine fish, meat, sauces, and wine. Mr. Jaggers is most interested in Drummle, whom he calls "the Spider," because he likes that Drummle looks "blotchy, sprawly, [and] sulky."

Mr. Jaggers only servant is his housekeeper, Molly, whom Wemmick has urged Pip to take note of. She is a quiet, witch-like woman with streaming hair, completely submissive to Mr. Jaggers. Pip imagines her face above a cauldron. The adult Pip narrator alludes to a vision he will have of her face years later by fire in a dark room. When the boys bicker about who is strongest, Mr. Jaggers forces her to show the boys her wrists, which are scarred and disfigured and, Mr. Jaggers claims, the strongest he's ever seen.

Mr. Jaggers toasts to Drummle, and Drummle becomes increasingly condescending toward Pip, Herbert, and Startop. The boys all have too much to drink. Pip and Drummle get into an argument about Startop lending Drummle money, and he accuses Drummle being selfish and snobbish. Startop tries to lighten the mood by making everyone laugh, which Drummle resents. He prepares to throw a glass at Startop’s head, but Mr. Jaggers stops him just in time.

Mr. Jaggers announces that it’s half-past nine, time for the boys to leave. Startop and Drummle begin walking home, and Herbert waits while Pip goes back inside to apologize to Mr. Jaggers for causing a scene at dinner. Mr. Jaggers assures him that he isn’t angry. He says that he likes Drummle, who is “one of the true sort,” though he advises Pip to stay away from him. They say goodnight. Pip notes that a month after this dinner, Drummle leaves Mr. Pocket’s for good.