Waveket's residence

The Pocket household is Pip’s London home during the early years of his expectations, but it is more than a place to lodge: Matthew Pocket turns it into a centre of instruction, and Herbert’s companionship gives Pip a close personal tie to Hammersmith. The household’s muddled domestic arrangements and Matthew’s earnest teaching expose a sharp contrast between social appearance and practical responsibility.

Setting and household

Matthew Pocket shows Pip to a comfortable private room and introduces him to the other young men lodging there, Bentley Drummle and Startop. The house is not governed confidently by its adult occupants. Matthew and Mrs. Pocket seem to be in somebody else’s hands, and Pip discovers that the servants effectively direct household life. Their generous table and sociable habits make the kitchen seem the best place to board, though hardly a safe one: within a week, a neighbour reports seeing the nurse, Millers, slap the baby. Mrs. Pocket responds with tears and indignation at the neighbour’s interference rather than addressing the reported treatment.

The family’s circumstances are shaped by Mrs. Pocket’s upbringing and marriage. Her father had guarded her so closely that she grew up ornamental but helpless, and she married Matthew without her father’s knowledge. He eventually gave the couple his blessing, but Mrs. Pocket’s disappointed hopes of marrying into a title and the family’s dependence on servants leave the household marked by genteel pretension without corresponding competence.

Pip’s education

After Pip has settled in, Matthew explains that Mr. Jaggers has told him Pip is not intended for a profession. The stated educational aim is therefore modest: Pip should be able to hold his own among young men of prosperous circumstances. Matthew recommends places in London where Pip can acquire the rudiments he lacks and offers to act as his guide and explainer.

Matthew’s teaching becomes a relationship of mutual obligation rather than a merely comic episode of household life. He fulfils his agreement with zeal and honour, and Pip responds in kind; Pip credits Matthew’s seriousness with giving him no excuse to neglect his own part. Herbert also helps clear obstacles in Pip’s studies. Pip applies himself to his books even as he acquires expensive habits, aware that education must address real deficiencies beneath his new social position.

Companionship and social tensions

Herbert is Pip’s intimate companion and friend. Pip gives him half-share in his boat, bringing Herbert often to Hammersmith, while Pip’s half-share in Herbert’s chambers draws him into London. Their walks between the two places, at all hours, bind the household to a wider routine of study and friendship. Later, when Estella is to live in Richmond, Pip points out that Matthew Pocket’s home is nearby and hopes to see her there.

The household also attracts relatives whose conduct exposes the self-interest surrounding Pip’s new prosperity. Camilla, Matthew’s sister, and Georgiana, a cousin, regard Pip with cupidity and disappointment but fawn upon him once he appears prosperous. They treat Matthew as an ineffectual adult child, hold Mrs. Pocket in contempt, and turn her disappointment in life into a source of reflected sympathy for themselves. Their visits make the house a stage on which family affection is mixed with calculation and class aspiration.

Narrative significance

The Pocket household offers a counterpoint to the grand expectations that have brought Pip to London. Its servants command the practical life of the home, its adults appear unable to manage it, and its relatives measure one another through status and advantage. Yet within this disorder Matthew’s conscientious teaching and Herbert’s friendship give Pip genuine support. The house therefore joins two strands of his London life: the costly performance of gentility and the sustained work of learning, companionship, and reciprocal duty.