Great Expectations Contents
- Social / political context
- Religious / philosophical context
- Literary context
- Note on chapter numbering
- Chapters 1-9
- Chapter 1 (Volume 1, Chapter 1) (Instalment 1):
- Chapter 2 (Volume 1, Chapter 2) (Instalment 1):
- Chapter 3 (Volume 1, Chapter 3) (Instalment 2):
- Chapter 4 (Volume 1, Chapter 4) (Instalment 2):
- Chapter 5 (Volume 1, Chapter 5) (Instalment 3):
- Chapter 6 (Volume 1, Chapter 6) (Instalment 4):
- Chapter 7 (Volume 1, Chapter 7) (Instalment 4):
- Chapter 8 (Volume 1, Chapter 8) (Instalment 5):
- Chapter 9 (Volume 1, Chapter 9) (Instalment 6):
- Chapters 10-19
- Chapter 10 (Volume 1, Chapter 10) (Instalment 6):
- Chapter 11 (Volume 1, Chapter 11) (Instalment 7):
- Chapter 12 (Volume 1, Chapter 12) (Instalment 8):
- Chapter 13 (Volume 1, Chapter 13) (Instalment 8):
- Chapter 14 (Volume 1, Chapter 14) (Instalment 9):
- Chapter 15 (Volume 1, Chapter 15) (Instalment 9):
- Chapter 16 (Volume 1, Chapter 16) (Instalment 10):
- Chapter 17 (Volume 1, Chapter 17) (Instalment 10):
- Chapter 18 (Volume 1, Chapter 18) (Instalment 11):
- Chapter 19 (Volume 1, Chapter 19) (Instalment 12):
- Chapters 20-29
- Chapter 20 (Volume 2, Chapter 1) (Instalment 13):
- Chapter 21 (Volume 2, Chapter 2) (Instalment 13):
- Chapter 22 (Volume 2, Chapter 3) (Instalment 14):
- Chapter 23 (Volume 2, Chapter 4) (Instalment 15):
- Chapter 24 (Volume 2, Chapter 5) (Instalment 15):
- Chapter 25 (Volume 2, Chapter 6) (Instalment 16):
- Chapter 26 (Volume 2, Chapter 7) (Instalment 16):
- Chapter 27 (Volume 2, Chapter 8) (Instalment 17):
- Chapter 28 (Volume 2, Chapter 9) (Instalment 17):
- Chapter 29 (Volume 2, Chapter 10) (Instalment 18):
- Chapters 30-39
- Chapter 30 (Volume 2, Chapter 11) (Instalment 19):
- Chapter 31 (Volume 2, Chapter 12) (Instalment 19):
- Chapter 32 (Volume 2, Chapter 13) (Instalment 20):
- Chapter 33 (Volume 2, Chapter 14) (Instalment 20):
- Chapter 34 (Volume 2, Chapter 15) (Instalment 21):
- Chapter 35 (Volume 2, Chapter 16) (Instalment 21):
- Chapter 36 (Volume 2, Chapter 17) (Instalment 22):
- Chapter 37 (Volume 2, Chapter 18) (Instalment 22):
- Chapter 38 (Volume 2, Chapter 19) (Instalment 23):
- Chapter 39 (Volume 2, Chapter 20) (Instalment 24):
- Chapters 40-49
- Chapter 40 (Volume 3, Chapter 1) (Instalment 25):
- Chapter 41 (Volume 3, Chapter 2) (Instalment 26):
- Chapter 42 (Volume 3, Chapter 3) (Instalment 26):
- Chapter 43 (Volume 3, Chapter 4) (Instalment 27):
- Chapter 44 (Volume 3, Chapter 5) (Instalment 27):
- Chapter 45 (Volume 3, Chapter 6) (Instalment 28):
- Chapter 46 (Volume 3, Chapter 7) (Instalment 28):
- Chapter 47 (Volume 3, Chapter 8) (Instalment 29):
- Chapter 48 (Volume 3, Chapter 9) (Instalment 29):
- Chapter 49 (Volume 3, Chapter 10) (Instalment 30):
- Chapters 50-59
- Chapter 50 (Volume 3, Chapter 11) (Instalment 30):
- Chapter 51 (Volume 3, Chapter 12) (Instalment 31):
- Chapter 52 (Volume 3, Chapter 13) (Instalment 31):
- Chapter 53 (Volume 3, Chapter 14) (Instalment 32):
- Chapter 54 (Volume 3, Chapter 15) (Instalment 33):
- Chapter 55 (Volume 3, Chapter 16) (Instalment 34):
- Chapter 56 (Volume 3, Chapter 17) (Instalment 34):
- Chapter 57 (Volume 3, Chapter 18) (Instalment 35):
- Chapter 58 (Volume 3, Chapter 19) (Instalment 36):
- Chapter 59 (Volume 3, Chapter 20) (Instalment 36):
- The ending of Great Expectations
Chapter 2 (Volume 1, Chapter 2) (Instalment 1):
Mr. and Mrs. Joe and I / The pursuit of knowledge under difficulties
Synopsis of Chapter 2 (Volume 1, Chapter 2) (Instalment 1)
Pip arrives home late and is therefore in trouble with his sister, Mrs. Joe. Twenty years older than Pip, she is strict and impatient. Joe is friendly and sympathetic but is only able to protect him up to a point. Mrs. Joe shows no love and feels martyred by her responsibilities for Joe and Pip. The description of Pip's upbringing suggests that Mrs. Joe sees him as a nuisance who has to be forced into acceptable behaviour.
Pip hides part of his own meal to give to the convict. His terror is overwhelming because he thinks that the theft he is planning is the sort of crime for which people are sent to the hulks. Next morning (Christmas Day) he gets up early, takes some food, and sets out for the marshes.
Commentary on Chapter 2 (Volume 1, Chapter 2) (Instalment 1)
Who brought you up by hand? Mrs. Joe is reminding Pip that she is not his mother. She has not breast-fed him but has fed him by hand. She may also be suggesting that she thinks beating him is the best way to discipline him.
Some medical beast … a fine medicine … Tar-water was literally that: water with some tar added, and thought to be good for the digestion. A few lines later, it is called an elixir, a word from ancient Greece describing a mythical drink that allowed people live for ever. Mrs. Joe seems to regard tar-water as a weapon as much as a medicine.
It was not very polite to herself … unless there was company Pip is afraid of his sister, but perfectly capable of making judgments about her character and behaviour.
I have often thought that few people know what secrecy there is in the young under terror An intervention by the adult Pip. Throughout the novel Dickens is very concerned to remind his readers of what it is like to experience life from a child's point of view. More on parents and children?
- Re-read the paragraph beginning ‘Conscience is a dreadful thing when it accuses man or boy:'
- How does the writer present Pip's feelings?
- Look in this chapter for indications that Pip's account is given by the older Pip looking back to his childhood
- How would you describe Pip's relationship with Joe?
- How does Mrs. Joe treat them?
- As you go through the novel, look out for characters who might be seen as substitute parents to Pip.
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