Biddy's Diary from Dickens' Great Expectations
Winter 1813
23rd December
The dark and dull nights are ever present in the midst of winter, rain
and snow seems to flow constantly. The soggy marshes are becoming
almost invisible due to the mist glooming over the barren landscape.
My vision is obscured and it is no longer possible to see the hulks
prison ships. I write this in the warmth and luxury of the inside. I
have just finished getting lessons prepared for the children I teach
at the local dame school, well the front room of Mrs Wopsles house and
also a small shop. Mrs Wopsle is in charge of the school but doesn't
seem to want to teach or care for the children. I shouldn't really be
saying this as I am in her residence and she is giving me some work.
As I was preparing lessons for tomorrow I noticed the loud noise of
cannons being blasted from the hulks. The sound is even more chilling
in these dark winter nights. Many convicts from the hulks try to flea
the prison and escape offshore. Not many succeed, a lot of these
convicts would have been punished for trivial crimes such as stealing
a handkerchief but even small crimes could get you capital punishment.
The Hulks is renowned for its shoddy and almost cruel conditions, the
convicts would be given very little food and a lot of them would die
or become seriously ill due to under-nourishing. Although the floating
prison is highly unattractive, it became a place for sightseers to
visit and take a 'tour of the hulks' as it is called. I better go and
think of a recipe for a Christmas Pudding which Mrs Wopsle demands I
make for Christmas Day, which is no inconvenience as I enjoy cooking
for others.
Christmas Pudding recipe
Mix dry ingredients first then mix with lightly beaten eggs and
liquid. Grease the bottom of a bowl large enough to hold pudding and
press mixture into it. Place wax paper over the top and then foil over
“Mei is a 36 year old mother of one boy. Her husband and she both work, and their
that her house is all hers now and the she has left an inheritance for her.
She is known everywhere around campus and nobody hesitates to send a friendly “hello” her way, as they know that they will receive kindness in return.
doorstep. The high officials claim that she has been accused of witchcraft. She denies this
During the interview, she answered all the questions that I have brought up to her, which let me know
notices that he is "a man with no hat", the sign of a lower class
warns him that if he does not get any food for him, he will be in
Charles Dickens Pip’s character’s importance to the plot of the novel “Great Expectations” is paramount. Charles Dickens uses an ongoing theme over the course of this novel. Dickens creates Pip to be a possible prototype of his own and his father’s life. Pip’s qualities are kept under wraps because the changes in him are more important than his general personality. Dickens created Pip to be a normal everyday person that goes through many changes, which allows a normal reader to relate and feel sympathetic towards Pip.
doesn't see why she had to take him in and "bring him up by hand", she
Chapter 39 is a Pivotal One, Why? How does Dickens communicate the importance of the drama of the chapter to the reader? In chapter 39, Pip's benefactor is revealed. It is around this person. that the mystery of Pip's expectations is built.
and bad characters, as Biddy is said not to have a bad bone in her
I have chosen to look at how the relationship of Pip and Magwitch develops during the novel. I have chosen 3 key scenes in which Magwitch and pip meet and I will look at how each is portrayed in terms of character, development, setting and the messages or morals that dickens is trying to convey.
work and is about to get married. The only work she has done is when
The book that I read is called Great Expectation By Charles Dickens. It is based mainly in London but also has scenes in Pip's home town. Which is a small village in the country? Where he and his sister Mrs. Joe and her husband Joe Gargary live and Pips was raised. The setting of where Pips is is not as important as what is there with him. There are many contrasts to good and evil or more justice and innocence.
"I must entreat you to pause for an instant, and go back to what you know of my childish days, and to ask yourself whether it is natural that something of the character formed in me then" - Charles Dickens