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"Pip's a gentleman of fortune, then" said Joe, "and God bless him in it!"
John McLenan
11.4 cm high by 11.5 cm wide (4 ½ inches square)
Dickens's Great Expectations, Harper's Weekly V (9 February 1861): 85.
Plate 13, facing 92, in the T. B. Peterson single-volume edition of 1861.
Scanned image, caption, and commentary by Philip V. Allingham.
. . . there I found that Joe had already locked the front door and vacated the state parlour, and was seated by the kitchen fire with a hand on each knee, gazing intently at the burning coals. I too sat down before the fire and gazed at the coals, and nothing was said for a long time.
My sister was in her cushioned chair in her corner, and Biddy sat at her needle-work before the fire, and Joe sat next Biddy, and I sat next Joe in the corner opposite my sister. The more I looked into the glowing coals, the more incapable I became of looking at Joe; the longer the silence lasted, the more unable I felt to speak.
At length I got out, “Joe, have you told Biddy?”
“No, Pip,” returned Joe, still looking at the fire, and holding his knees tight, as if he had private information that they intended to make off somewhere, “which I left it to yourself, Pip.”
“I would rather you told, Joe.”
“Pip’s a gentleman of fortun’ then,” said Joe, “and God bless him in it!”
Biddy dropped her work, and looked at me. Joe held his knees and looked at me. I looked at both of them. After a pause, they both heartily congratulated me; but there was a certain touch of sadness in their congratulations that I rather resented. [Chapter XVIII, 85]
Rather than present a full-sized illustration of the scene in which Jaggers appears with great news a THe Three Jolly Bargemen, McLenan shows the impact of the news of Pip's sudden elevation upon Biddy. Because Pip does not know how to break the news, he allows Joe to do so for him. The revelation that Pip has suddenly become "a gentleman of fortune" prompts biddy to study Pip's face to assess the impact of this change. But the illustrator does not suggest that either Biddy or Joe rejoice with or for Pip, for these "expectations" will almost certainly compel Pip to abandon them for a gentlemanly existence in the metropolis. Biddy merely nods thoughtfully when Pip mentions his "mysterious benefactor."
Left: Charles Green's introduction of the criminal attorney in a characteristic pose: He bit the side of a great forefinger, etc. (1898). Right: In H. M. Brock's 1901 pen-and-ink drawing, Jaggers communicates to Pip and Joe without anyone else present in "And the communication I have got to make is, that he has Great Expectations" (Imperial Edition).
Left: F. W. Pailthorpe introduces the criminal attorney outside his proper milieu, London's mean streets, as he hectors Joe at the local public house: A Stranger at the Jolly Bargeman (1885). Right: A. A. Dixon in the Collins Pocket Edition focuses on the expressions of surprise on the faces of Joe and Pip in "He has Great Expectations" (1905).
Allingham, Philip V. "The Illustrations for Great Expectations in Harper's Weekly (1860-61) and in the Illustrated Library Edition (1862) — 'Reading by the Light of Illustration'." Dickens Studies Annual, Vol. 40 (2009): 113-169.
Barreca, Regina. "David Lean's Great Expectations." Dickens on Screen, ed. John Glavin. Cambridge: Cambridge U. P., 2003. Pp. 39-44.
Cohen, Jane Rabb. "Chapter 16, Marcus Stone." Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1980. Pp. 203-209.
Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Harper's Weekly: A Journal of Civilization. Il. John McLenan. Vol. IV.
______. ("Boz."). Great Expectations. With thirty-four illustrations from original designs by John McLenan. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson (by agreement with Harper & Bros., New York), 1861.
______. Great Expectations. Volume 6 of the Household Edition. Illustrated by F. A. Fraser. London: Chapman and Hall, 1876.
Paroissien, David. The Companion to "Great Expectations." Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 2000.
Created 20 November 2007 Last updated 20 November 2021