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Dramatic Irony
Book 1, Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—Estella and Biddy:
Dickens sets up Estella Havisham, a beautiful, wealthy, and heartless girl, and Biddy, a plain, poor, and loving one, as foils to each other. They are also competing love interests for Pip Pirrip in Great Expectations. Pip struggles to choose which one to devote himself to, as he explains to the reader in Chapter 17:
And now, because my mind was not confused enough before, I complicated its confusion fifty thousand-fold, by having states and seasons when I was clear that Biddy was immeasurably better than Estella. [...] At those times, I would decide [...] to keep company with Biddy—when all in a moment some confounding remembrance of the Havisham days would fall upon me, like a destructive missile, and scatter my wits again.
Related Themes:
Book 1, Chapter 17
Explanation and Analysis—Estella and Biddy:
Dickens sets up Estella Havisham, a beautiful, wealthy, and heartless girl, and Biddy, a plain, poor, and loving one, as foils to each other. They are also competing love interests for Pip Pirrip in Great Expectations. Pip struggles to choose which one to devote himself to, as he explains to the reader in Chapter 17:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And now, because my mind was not confused enough before, I complicated its confusion fifty thousand-fold, by having states and seasons when I was clear that Biddy was immeasurably better than Estella. [...] At those times, I would decide [...] to keep company with Biddy—when all in a moment some confounding remembrance of the Havisham days would fall upon me, like a destructive missile, and scatter my wits again.
Related Themes:
Book 2, Chapter 29
Explanation and Analysis—Doubles :
Many critics have noted that Great Expectations is filled with the motif of doubles: characters who mirror each other in a way that allows the reader to note similarity and difference easily. These symmetrical pairs act as foils for each other and for the developing aspects of Pip's character. Each pair also contains a strong element of irony, as the novel's commentary on class structure and good behavior plays out in relation to them.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Estella and Biddy:
Dickens sets up Estella Havisham, a beautiful, wealthy, and heartless girl, and Biddy, a plain, poor, and loving one, as foils to each other. They are also competing love interests for Pip Pirrip in Great Expectations. Pip struggles to choose which one to devote himself to, as he explains to the reader in Chapter 17:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And now, because my mind was not confused enough before, I complicated its confusion fifty thousand-fold, by having states and seasons when I was clear that Biddy was immeasurably better than Estella. [...] At those times, I would decide [...] to keep company with Biddy—when all in a moment some confounding remembrance of the Havisham days would fall upon me, like a destructive missile, and scatter my wits again.
Related Themes:
Book 3, Chapter 42
Explanation and Analysis—Doubles :
Many critics have noted that Great Expectations is filled with the motif of doubles: characters who mirror each other in a way that allows the reader to note similarity and difference easily. These symmetrical pairs act as foils for each other and for the developing aspects of Pip's character. Each pair also contains a strong element of irony, as the novel's commentary on class structure and good behavior plays out in relation to them.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
