Character Map: Mrs Joe
Mrs Joe is a tyrannical character who is overly impressed by wealth. She is abusive
towards Joe and Pip, whom she “brought up by hand”. In Chapter 15, Mrs Joe is
attacked and becomes brain-damaged.
In the novel, she is attacked by Orlick and later dies.
“It’s bad enough to be a blacksmith’s wife”
● Shames Joe’s profession
● Ignores his hard work
● Ungrateful and disrespectful
“She pounced on Joe, and...knocked his head for a little while against the
wall”
● Vicious and aggressive
● “Little while” - downplays Mrs Joe’s obvious abuse, suggesting that this is
normal for them and there’s little they can do about it
“But she was never polite, unless there was company”
“This boy’s fortune may be made by his going to Miss Havisham’s”
● Foreshadows Pip’s later fortune
● Might show that Mrs Joe Gargery does have good intentions and wants the
best for Pip
● Conversely, she is also avaricious and interested in money
“I became aware of my sister - lying without sense or movement on the bare
boards where she had been knocked down by a tremendous blow on the back
of the head, dealt by some unknown hand.”
Mrs Joe is a tyrannical character who is overly impressed by wealth. She is abusive
towards Joe and Pip, whom she “brought up by hand”. In Chapter 15, Mrs Joe is
attacked and becomes brain-damaged.
In the novel, she is attacked by Orlick and later dies.
“It’s bad enough to be a blacksmith’s wife”
● Shames Joe’s profession
● Ignores his hard work
● Ungrateful and disrespectful
“She pounced on Joe, and...knocked his head for a little while against the
wall”
● Vicious and aggressive
● “Little while” - downplays Mrs Joe’s obvious abuse, suggesting that this is
normal for them and there’s little they can do about it
“But she was never polite, unless there was company”
“This boy’s fortune may be made by his going to Miss Havisham’s”
● Foreshadows Pip’s later fortune
● Might show that Mrs Joe Gargery does have good intentions and wants the
best for Pip
● Conversely, she is also avaricious and interested in money
“I became aware of my sister - lying without sense or movement on the bare
boards where she had been knocked down by a tremendous blow on the back
of the head, dealt by some unknown hand.”
