Great Expectations
Biddy
The village girl
A kind, clear-sighted country girl who teaches Pip his letters, cares for Mrs. Joe and ends up marrying Joe.
Biddy is patient, quiet and sensible. She helps Pip with the letters at the evening school, and when Mrs. Joe is attacked and left unable to speak, Biddy moves into the forge to care for her. She understands the signs her patient makes.
Biddy sees Pip more clearly than he sees himself. When he confesses that he wants to be a gentleman for Estella, she tells him that if it is to spite Estella he should not care, and if it is to win her, she is not worth winning. She is the plain, honest counterpart to Estella's cold charm.
“If it is to spite her, it is better not to care; and if it is to win her, she is not worth the winning.”
In the story
Contains spoilers.
When Pip leaves for London, she tells him they will always be proud of him, only not to be ashamed of Joe. After Mrs. Joe dies, she stays on at the forge and asks Pip whether he really will come back to visit.
When Pip returns, hoping to ask her to marry him, he finds the forge decorated for their wedding. He blesses them and asks forgiveness. They later have a little boy whom they name Pip.
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