The audacity!

[Blackspynx]

I generally have a good attitude about essay assignments and the like, but when my English teacher (whom I've already labeled as crap) assigned my class different characters from Great Expectations to write a literary analysis on, and I got Biddy, I very nearly stood up and had it out with her. :rage: :rage: :rage:

Biddy is, simply put, a boring character, who has very little information to work with. My teacher expects me to write a whole paper on her. Even my sister, who is a college graduate with an english degree, agrees with me that this is an impossible assignment. What's worse is that I can't use 'be verbs' (be, is, am, was, were, etc..). It's official, my teacher is mentally insane and doesn't know how to teach English. :mad:

Anyway, it'd be really helpful if anybody could just point out random little things about Biddy. I sure as heck don't feel like reading the whole book again just to find one sentence about her.

Many thanks.

[Becks]

I disagree actually, Biddy is a really good character to analyse if you look deeper- I mean she says a lot about the role of women according to Victorian society. At the start of the book Pip describes her as always being dirty, and her hair needing brushing etc etc etc, but after she comes to live with the Gargery's, she is shown alot more favourably, and becomes prettier. It shows Dickens and society at the time in general, viewed women more favourably in domestic roles.
So I hope that helps!
Bec

[Charles Darnay]

I agree with Becks, if you want to do a good paper on Biddy, your focus will most likely have to be on the role of women. Do some research, find out about the conditions of women in Victorian Era (try to go deeper than "they were domestic") and relate that to Biddy's character

Just out of curiosity....how were the characters assigned? Random draw?

[britlitfantw]

Don't forget, too, that Biddy was one of the only ones to openly suggest that being a gentleman might not actually fullfil Pip's 'great expectations' for himself.


"Biddy," said I, after binding her to secrecy, "I want to be a gentleman."

"Oh, I wouldn't, if I was you!" she returned. "I don't think it would answer."


For further evidence on that fact, check their entire conversation in chapter 17. I hope this helps. :)

[Kate Morgan]

Actually I think your English teacher knows exactly how to teach English. Being able to make an essay out of almost anything is a precious skill to have and I suspect you have a lot to learn from this experiance. Although, having said that, writing an essay on Biddy isn't making an essay out of nothing at all, as others have already said.

[Anthony Furze]

Look carefully at the conversations between Biddy and Pip in the novel. I ve just been reading Chap 35 (Mrs Joes funeral) with my class.

Dickens has such tremendous insight into the psychology of his characters-look at Biddys reactions and dialogue very carefully. Remember its all iltered through the older Pip looking back at the folly of the younger Pip.