What do Pip and Biddy argue about in chapter 19 of Great Expectations?
Pip and Biddy have an argument about Pip’s treatment of Joe in chapter 19.
Biddy and Joe are clearly uncomfortable around Pip. This is mostly due to his putting on airs and thinking he is better than them, and being ashamed of them.
Pip tries to explain to Biddy why he does not want to come to visit Joe, and stays in a hotel when he does.
“Well! Joe is a dear good fellow—in fact, I think he is the dearest fellow that ever lived—but he is rather backward in some things. For instance, Biddy, in his learning and his manners.” (ch 19, p. 104 enotes etext pdf)
Biddy is offended by this. She demands to know what is wrong with Joe’s manners. They were fine when Pip was growing up. She reminds Pip that Joe is a proud man.
“He may be too proud to let any one take him out of a place that he is competent to fill, and fills well and with respect.” (ch 19, p. 105)
Biddy seems unable to get through to Pip though. He is blinded by his “expectations” and his situation in London. He thinks he is better than them, whether he wants to admit it or not. When Biddy tells Pip there are many types of pride, she is gently telling him that there is good and bad pride. Pip’s is not the good kind.
What is Pip’s reaction to Biddy’s letter in Chapter 27 of Great Expectations?
Pip is not enthusiastic about receiving Biddy's letter telling him that Joe Gargery is coming to see him in London. He notes that he received the letter "not with pleasure, though I was bound to (Joe) by so many ties...if I could have kept him away by paying money, I certainly would have paid money". Pip, having become a "gentleman", is ashamed of Joe, and ashamed of himself for feeling that way. Pip has developed a snobbish attitude, although it is not Herbert or Herbert's father whose reaction to Joe he dreads the most, but Bentley Drummle's, a character whom Pip strongly dislikes. Pip is not unaware of of the irony of his own feelings, observing that "so throughout life our worst weaknesses and meannesses are committed for the sake of people whom we most despise.
Joe arrives the next day, and his visit is indeed uncomfortable for all. Joe's unrefined mannerisms are grossly out of place at the formal dinner table, and Pip's behavior makes Joe feel inferior. Joe does bring news from Estella, and conveys her desire to see Pip again. Pip is excited to receive this news, and tries to be a little nicer to Joe, but it is too late. Joe is leaving, and tells Pip that he will not come again, but that Pip can come visit him at the forge, where the situation will undoubtedly be more comfortable (Chapter 27).
Who is Biddy and what is her role in Pip's life in Great Expectations?
As part of his motif of the hardships of orphans, along with Pip, Biddy has also lost her parents and kept by Mr. Wopsle's great-aunt, who is her grandmother. But, like Mrs. Joe, Biddy's great aunt brings her "up by hand" and uses her granddaughter to arrange the transactions in the little general shop that she owns. A bright, energetic girl, Biddy teaches Pip his letters and to read and to figure while he attends the great-aunt's school.
A sweet child and unselfish child, Biddy, who displays a great concern for whatever Pip does, becomes his confidante. Not realizing that Biddy loves him, Pip tells her of his amorous feelings for Estella, his hopes for the future. When he leaves to go to London and follow his "great expectations," Biddy asks Pip if she and Joe might walk a little farther with him. Pip kisses her, promising to tell her everything as they part. However, once Pip arrives in London and begins to put on the airs of a gentleman, he forsakes the loving friend, Biddy.
Soon, though, Biddy becomes the housekeeper for Joe and Mrs. Joe, who has been attacked and is in poor condition. On behalf of Joe, Biddy writes to Pip, saying that Joe will visit him in London. But, by this time Pip has become snobbish and he is anxious about Joe's appearance and behavior before his gentlemen friends. Of course, Joe senses this and tells Pip he will visit him no more; he tells Pip that he must come to the forge where he will always be welcome.
After his sister's death, Pip finally returns to the forge with much uneasiness and guilt. He displaces his guilt by being harsh with Biddy, telling her "I think you might have written to me about these sad matters." To this, Biddy perceptively and ironically replies, "Do you, Mr. Pip?....I should have written if I had thought that." As they converse, Biddy tells Pip about his sister's demise and asks pointedly if he will come to see Joe, really. Pip is offended and scolds Biddy. As he leaves, he has the boldness to tell Biddy that he is not angry with her, but "I am hurt." But, Biddy is right; Pip does not return to the forge for a long time.
Clearly, Biddy, in her simple and honest and humble manner, is a foil to Pip. She is without guile. Even when Pip returns and is accusatory, Biddy speaks calmly to him. As Pip finally returns home, the prodigal son who begs forgiveness, he asks her to receive him as well. The Pip is so bold as to propose marriage to her, but Biddy does not offer any reprisals. She simply lets Pip days later discover that she and Joe have married. Yet she remains ever the friend to Pip, encouraging him to marry. And, when she and Joe have a child, they name the boy Pip.
What are Pip's feelings toward Biddy in Great Expectations, and her thoughts on his ambition?
Having spent time with Pip in her great-aunt's school, Biddy becomes childhood friends with Pip, especially because both are orphans and are emotionally neglected in their homes. Then, when Mrs. Joe is debilitated, Biddy comes to stay and attend Mrs. Joe. While living with the Gargerys, Pip, who still considers her a friend and confidant, confides in Biddy that he wishes to becomes a gentleman, but Biddy feels his motives are wrong.
One night while they sit by the fire, Pip notices how pretty Biddy has become, as well as how efficiently she manages her household chores. The thought occurs to him that he could have a nice life with her if he were not so consumed with his desire to become a gentleman. As he tells her about Estella's insults and his desire to prove that he is not "coarse and common," Biddy listens, and finally advises him.
"Because if it is to spite her," Biddy pursued, "I should think--but you know best--that might be better and more independently done by caring nothing for her words. And if it is to gain her over, I should think--but you know best--she was not worth gaining over."
Biddy is obviously aware of the shallowness and egoism of Estella and concludes that Pip will be hurt by her if he pursues her, knowing that the girl has no heart.
Further Reading
What are Pip's feelings toward Biddy in Great Expectations, and her thoughts on his ambition?
While Biddy loves Pip, his feelings for her are platonic. He sees her as a sister figure (a much better one than his biological sister ever was). Pip does not realize until it is too late that Biddy has been a true friend to him.
Because of Biddy's love for Pip, she desires to see him accomplish his goals, but she is apprehensive about his going to London to become a gentlemen because she knows that she will most likely lose him forever. She is a simple character, without Pip's extravagant tastes, and realizes that London society will only whet Pip's appetite for the "finer" things and people in life.
What is Biddy's reaction to Pip's desire to be a gentleman in Great Expectations?
When Pip tells Biddy that he wants to be a gentleman, she tells him straighforwardly that she doesn't think it is a good idea. She says, "I wouldn't if I was you...I don't think it would answer". Biddy is afraid that if Pip were to attain his goal of becoming a gentleman, he would not be satisfied. She asks him, "don't you think you are happier as you are?"
Pip responds to Biddy that he is not at all happy as he is; in fact, he is "disgusted with (his) calling and with (his) life". Biddy is sorry for Pip, and comments that his dissatisfaction is "a pity". She tells him that she only wants for him "to do well, and be comfortable".
Biddy asks Pip why he wants so badly to be a gentleman, and when he tells her it is because of what Estella said to him, she suggests gently that perhaps someone who would be so cruel as to make him feel ashamed of his station in life is not worth changing for. Biddy, who fondly remembers that she was Pip's "first teacher", is an honest and perceptive young lady, and she is kind and decent in advising Pip even though he is blunt and tactless with her, so wrapped up in himself that he is oblivious of her feelings for him. Deep down inside, Pip knows that he would be much better off being satisfied with himself the way he is, and courting someone genuine and loving like Biddy. He is aware that even if he gains Estlla's approval, she will always make him miserable, yet he feels compelled to pursue her (Chapter 17).
Describe the character Biddy in Great Expectations.
Biddy was Mr. Wopsle's great aunt's granddaughter. She was an orphan like Pip. Physically,Pip says of her,
"Her hair always wanted washing, her hands always wanted washing, and her shoes always wanted mending and pulling up at the heel." (pg 40 - chapter 7)
However, Pip explains that this was her weekday attire. She always went to church on Sunday dressed up.
She was kind and patient. She helped Pip with his reading because Mrs. Wopsle always fell asleep during class. She took care of Pip's sister when she was attacked. When Pip goes into debt and falls ill, Biddy convinces Joe to go to him.
She is a good friend to Pip. He tells her about Estella, and Pip swears her to secrecy when he gets his chance to become a gentleman. He asks her not to tell where his fortune originated. Of course, at this time, he thinks his benefactor is Miss Havisham. Biddy tells Pip,
"I am glad of one thing, and that is that you felt you could give me your confidence, Pip. And I am glad of another thing., and that is that of course you know you may depend upon my keeping it." (pg 121, chapter 17)
When Pip compares Biddy to Estella he says,
"Biddy was never insulting, or capricious, or Biddy today and somebody else tomorrow; she would have derived only pain , and no pleasure from giving me pain; she would rather have wounded her own breast than mine. How could it be then, that I did not like her much the better of the two?" (pg 122- chapter 17)
Biddy was intelligent. She could keep up with Pip's reading and "learn everything that I learn" Pip says,
"You are one of those, Biddy, who makes the most of every chance . You never had a chance before you came here, and see how improved you are." (pg 118)
After Pip's sister dies, she opens a school and becomes the school mistress for the town.
Biddy is responsible and organized. She takes over the household with Pip's sister is attacked.
Pip asks Biddy to educate Joe "in his learning and manners" so that he wouldn't be so backward and he will be ready when Pip comes back a gentleman. But she is a good judge of character too. She tells Pip that Joe,
"....may be too proud to let anyone take him out of a place that he is competent to fill, and fills well and with respect. To tell you the truth, I think he is -- though it sounds bold of me to say so, for you must know him far better than I do." ( pg 139 -chapter 19)
However, she does teach Joe to write, and he does take pride in it. Later, in the novel, she marries Joe, and she truely loves him. Pip says,
"There was something in the action and in the light pressure of Biddy's wedding ring that had a very pretty eloquence in it." (pg 448- chapter 59)
Biddy is a direct contrast to Estella. She is everything Estella isn't due to Estella's upbring by Miss Havisham.
I have given you the page numbers and chapters since my edition of the book may differ from yours.
What causes an argument between Pip and Biddy in Great Expectations?
In Chapter 35 of "Great Expectations," Pip returns to the marsh in order to attend the funeral of his sister, Mrs. Joe. Trabb and Company have their protocol for the funeral with which Joe would have dispensed except that neighborhood would "look down on such" as Joe tells Pip.
This comment has its irony attached to it as Pip proves himself rather pompous. Joe is pleased that Pip asks if he may sleep in his own little room and Pip is
pleased too; for, I felt that I had done rather a great thing in making the request.
That evening Pip takes the "opportunity of getting into the garden with Biddy." There he scolds her, asking why she has not written him of "these sad matters."
When Biddy retorts to his remark, Pip says, "Don't suppose that I mean to be unkind, Biddy...," but Biddy queries, "Do you, Mr. Pip?"
Biddy speaks again and again he upsets Biddy by intimating that she will have to leave the forge. She tells him with conviction, "Oh! I can't do so, Mr. Pip...." She feels that Pip reproaches her when he asks how she will live. Pip says he will come often and visit, but Biddy questions him about his coming; Pip is insulted that Biddy doubts him. She knows he will not come.
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