# Drummle — Great Expectations character guide

> Drummle in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. Drummle, Bentley Drummle, Bentley, the Spider, Spider, this blundering Drummle

**First appearance:** 0024-xxv

## Snapshot

A sulky, blotchy gentleman whom Jaggers dubs the Spider, he circles Estella with the dull persistence of a predator who knows he will be fed.

## Who they are

Bentley Drummle sits at Jaggers's dinner table glowering at the other young men, grudging and suspicious, yet the lawyer singles him out with peculiar interest — the Spider, he calls him, and likes the look. Where Pip burns to be worthy of Estella, Drummle simply assumes he is owed whatever he wants, and his heavy reticence reads as strength to those who mistake silence for substance. His presence sharpens the novel's question of what gentility actually means, and his slow approach toward Estella gives Pip's hopes a rival who is everything Pip fears he himself might become.

## Relationships

### [Estella](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/characters/estella)

_romantic_

Drummle is Estella's abusive, brutish husband, chosen by her to spite Pip, resulting in a toxic marriage.

### [Wemmick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/characters/wemmick)

_rivalry_

Drummle and Wemmick are antagonists, with Drummle's arrogance clashing against Wemmick's shrewdness.

### [Jaggers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/characters/jaggers)

_professional_

Drummle is a client of Jaggers, but their relationship is marked by mutual disdain and Jaggers' contempt for Drummle's cruelty.

### [Jaggers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/characters/jaggers)

_professional_

Drummle is a client of Jaggers, but their relationship is marked by mutual disdain and Jaggers' contempt for Drummle's cruelty.

### [Wemmick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/characters/wemmick)

_rivalry_

Drummle and Wemmick are antagonists, with Drummle's arrogance clashing against Wemmick's shrewdness.

### [Estella](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/characters/estella)

_romantic_

Drummle is Estella's abusive, brutish husband, chosen by her to spite Pip, resulting in a toxic marriage.

### [Wemmick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/characters/wemmick)

_rivalry_

Drummle and Wemmick are antagonists, with Drummle's arrogance clashing against Wemmick's shrewdness.

### [Estella](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/characters/estella)

_romantic_

Drummle is Estella's abusive, brutish husband, chosen by her to spite Pip, resulting in a toxic marriage.

## In the story

### [Chapter XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xxiii)

A sulky young man, next heir but one to a baronetcy, engaged in conversation with Mrs. Pocket about titles.

### [Chapter XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xxv)

Described as sulky, heavy, idle, proud, and suspicious; a disagreeable fellow among Mr. Pocket's students.

### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xxvi)

Referred to as 'the Spider' by Jaggers; behaves boorishly, boasts of his strength, and quarrels with Pip.

### [Chapter XXXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xxxiv)

Drummle is a fellow member of the Finches of the Grove, noted for his reckless behavior in a cab.

### [Chapter XXXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xxxviii)

Drummle is the object of Pip's jealousy, as he persistently pursues Estella with her toleration, despite being generally despised.

### [Chapter XLIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xliii)

Drummle encounters Pip at the Blue Boar and engages in a hostile standoff, hinting at his relationship with Estella.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/characters/drummle
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/characters