Richard the Third

"Having his hand in, Mr Wopsle finished off with a most terrifically snarling passage from Richard the Third, and seemed to think he had done quite enough to account for it when he added - 'as the poet says.'" (Dickens 101).

Richard the Third is a play by William Shakespeare about the rise to power and reign of King Richard III. Richard III rose to power in a malicious, evil way, even though his brother, Edward IV, was the current king. He has people who are in the way of him getting power killed, including Edward IV's sons, after Edward has died of natural causes. He was, in the play, an evil man, and his evil ways came back around to him in karmic ways. He was visited by ghosts, telling him about his impending doom, and is slaughtered in battle by Richmond, who was also in line for the throne, shortly after Richard III has taken power.
http://absoluteshakespeare.com/plays/richard_III/richard_III.htm
Just the very mention of the play Richard III is a very pointed foreshadowing as to Pip's situation. He is so anxious to get ahead in the world financially and socially, that he is too hasty with it and consequently falls to ruin shortly after, much as Richard III did.