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   It was the first year of Pip's apprenticeship and he hadn't seen Estella his infatuation,for almost a year now. So, one Sunday morning he seeks Joe's permission to visit Estella under the pretext of thanking Miss Havisham for all that she has done for him. Joe agrees very reluctantly and the next day Pip asks Joe for a "half-holiday" so that he can go to town and visit Estella and Miss Havisham. Dolge Orlick, Joe's assistant objects to Joe only giving Pip a "half-holiday": "Now master! Sure you're not a going to favour only one of us." So Joe agrees and declares, "let it be a half-holiday for all." Mrs.Joe overhears this and objects to Joe's generosity and angrily remarks, "I wish I was his (Dolge Orlick's) master!" This comment of Mrs.Joe's sparks of a wordy duel between her and Orlick, with Orlick finally calling her "a foul shrew" and hinting that she is "a rogue." This throws Mrs. Joe into a paroxysm of rage and she screams hysterically, asking Pip and Joe "what did he call me with my husband standing by," and pretends to fall down saying,"O!Hold me!O!" Mrs.Joe clearly heard Orlick's insults but she wants her husband to repeat them and make him angry so that he will strike Orlick. It is then that Orlick sarcastically remarks that if he were her husband, he will hold her under the water pump and choke her so that she herself will be able to repeat his insults. But perhaps, Orlick would have preferred to choke her to death!

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   Posted by lit24 on Wednesday November 12, 2008 at 5:32 AM