Bentley Drummle

Bentley Drummle is a wealthy but thoroughly contemptible fellow student, the very personification of the hollow gentleman—rich, stupid, sullen, and devoid of any genuine merit or feeling. Coming from a family of considerable means in the West Country, Drummle has been so thoroughly spoiled that his parents have made the dismal discovery that their son is simply a blockhead of generous proportions. He lacks wit, kindness, or any redeeming quality beyond his inherited status and money.

Drummle's presence in the novel serves as a dark foil to Pip (Philip Pirrip)'s own aspirations—a living demonstration that gentility of birth and fortune does not guarantee gentility of character. His heavy, sluggish nature, his sullen resentment, and his ultimate pursuit of Estella exemplify the worst possibilities inherent in a system that values position above virtue. Through Drummle, Dickens suggests that inherited advantage without corresponding integrity produces something far worse than honest poverty.