Great Expectations
Mr. Jaggers
The London lawyer
A formidable criminal lawyer who manages Pip's anonymous expectations and washes his hands of every case.
Mr. Jaggers is a sharp, forbidding attorney in London. He speaks little and reveals less. His office is decorated with plaster casts of the faces of hanged men, and he is known for washing his hands carefully after each client. He keeps Wemmick as his clerk and Molly as his housekeeper.
He is the one who tells Pip that he has come into a great property and sets the conditions: Pip must always keep his name and may never ask who his benefactor is. Jaggers follows the rules strictly, and has more secrets than he shares.
“I have business here with a blacksmith named Joe Gargery, and an apprentice named Pip.”
In the story
Contains spoilers.
Jaggers appears at the Three Jolly Bargemen and tells Joe and Pip about the expectations. He serves as Pip's guardian in London and invites the young men to dinner, where he shows Molly's strong, scarred wrists as a party trick.
He works for both Miss Havisham and Magwitch, which no one realizes until Pip puts the pieces together. Pip connects the dots by seeing Molly's hands and recalling that Jaggers once brought a little girl to Miss Havisham. Jaggers remains professional to the end.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
