Friday, April 24, 2015

Biddy vs. Estella

Biddy vs. Estella
~Blog Post #2~
Topic C
April 24, 2015
by Luke Edwards

            The two woman in Pip's life, Biddy and Estella, are almost complete opposites.  Biddy is the type of person who is kind and accepting, and she likes Pip for who he is.  Biddy doesn't think poorly of him because he is not rich, and she does not believe he should hate his life because he is not a gentleman because she is "not over-particular" (76).  However, Estella mocks everything about him because he is not on the same social level as her.  Biddy may also be attractive, but Estella is "more beautiful than anyone ever was" (76).  Estella is not very accepting or understanding, yet Biddy is "the wisest of girls," and understands Pip (77).  She realizes that he does not want to become gentleman for himself, but for Estella because Estella will not take him unless he raises his social class.   While Estella is deceitful and secretive towards Pip, Biddy is always honest and tell Pip exactly what she is thinking.  She tells him how she feels about him falling for Estella, and warns him to stay away from her.  She is also truthful when Pip receives his money and he begins to start acting stuck up.   He tells her that he is ashamed of Joe's manners, but she gets into an argument defending Joe.  It is obvious that Pip has some attraction to Biddy, but his overwhelming desire to earn Estella's respect and love makes him ignorant to these feelings for a woman who really cares, respects, and already loves him.

1 comment:

  1. Luke is absolutely correct when he says that Pip is blinded by Biddy’s love for him because he is trying to gain Estella’s respect. Estella and Biddy are two very different people, but they do have some similarities. One of the most obvious similarities is their liking for Pip. Even though Estella is condescending and rude towards Pip, Dickens’ consistently shows that she does have feelings for him, even if it is not obvious. Biddy obviously has feelings for Pip, and she is very direct with him about them. Even though their differences are much more obvious, Biddy and Estella both have feelings for Pip, but they deal with those feelings in different ways.

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