Saturday, July 24, 2010

Chapter 31: I Do Not Like White Legs and Ham


(Photo Credit: http://kieferhomespa.com)

Clearly, Herbert and Pip are not in Denmark...five phantom points to the first person who identifies the play they are watching...

Sounds like a fun play to watch -- what's ironic about that?

Mr. Wopsle mistakenly says "service" instead of "representation." What do you make of that?

So...does Pip know the works of Shakespeare? Tell me what you think and why you think that.

Wopsle goes home with the boys to dine at Pip's request. This is probably the most decent thing Pip has done since he became aware of his great expectations. Can you think of anything else he's done that can be considered thoughtful on his part? What does this action tell us about Pip at this point?

13 comments:

Hannah Skowronek said...

They are watching Hamlet, and Mr. Wopsle appears to be doing a very poor interpretation of the part. I remember Mr. Wopsle being known for his voice, and being very proud of it. People seemed to all be really quiet and respectful when he spoke, and he was a passionate preacher. It is very interesting to see him in a completely different situation. Instead of preaching he is acting, and on top of that, he is being ridiculed. Poor Mr. Wopsle, at least Pip finally seems to come across a stroke of decency and invites him to dinner.

Justin Choi said...

Mr. Wopsle was known as the voice of his town, with his vocabulary and his gestures, he lived life like it was his stage. The harsh reality of poor Wopsle is that he is a joke and ridiculed for his part in the play. What was known for his voice, he hardly has any lines and he also has a very minor part in it as well. He seems to done a terrible job regarding his part and is ironic since you would find him so professional when he's offstage. Pip sympathizes with Wopsle, since it was probably hard to see him like that, since Pip knows for himself that he is much better than his stage persona. When he saw that he had no such luck in a big stage in London, Pip probably felt as his duty to consolidate Wopsle's broken pride.

Gregory Pontasch said...

Darn i missed out on the five phantom points! But the show that they are watching is Shakespeare's Hamlet. One of Shakespeare's most well known tragedies, the play tells the story of a man who's ghost's of his past literally come back to haunt him. I believe this is ironic in a form of foreshadowing. I believe that the aspects of Pip's life before he inherited his fortune will eventually return and become his downfall. The irony within the show is that the often theatrical Mr. Wopsle, who seems to be the voice of the town, is actually doing a horrible job of playing the role. Poor Mr. Wopsle. Pip is at least nice enough to take him out for a meal.

Anonymous said...

ROMEO AND JULIET! hahahaa just kidding. We find that Mr. Wopsle is acting in Hamlet. The reader sees a major change in him, going from outspoken and proud to unimportant and ridiculed. Personally, I was a little happy to see Mr. Wopsle's pride a little broken. He did a good job of seeming extremely annoying earlier on in the novel. With that aside, it was extremely nice of Pip to invite Mr. Wopsle to dinner in order to boost his spirit a little bit.
I don't think Pip is familiar with Shakespeare, the way he observes the play seems like someone who doesn't have a full understanding of what the play is supposed to be about, since it was poorly represented.
I feel as if Pip is making a step up in self progress through his decency to Wopsle. Hopefully he'll continue this and start acting kindly towards Joe and Biddy as well.

Courtney Thomas said...

Like they have said above, Mr. Wopsle is acting in the play Hamlet. Mr. Wopsle's change of character onstage is completey opposite of his outspoken self offstage. I find it interesting how Mr. Wopsle quit his clerkship and entered the world of theater for, like Pip, he too wants to become successful. Mr. Wopsle's failed attempt though may be foreshadowing to the fate of Pips great expectations. On the bright side, least Pip kindly sought to cheer up Wopsle.

elizabeth smith said...

Through the actions of Trabb's boy and Mr. Wopsle in chapters thirty and thirty-one, Pip is mocked for his sudden rise in social status and the things that he does in his new position. In chapter thirty, Trabb's boy mocks Pip by walking down the street like he is "high and mighty." Charles Dickens' uses the contrasting character of Trabb's boy to mock the social rise of Pip and his new attitude towards the social class that he once found himself in. Also, Dickens' uses Mr. Wopsle's sudden rise as an actor to mock Pip's rise in social standing. Mr. Wopsle does a ridiculous job at acting his part in Hamlet. Dickens' uses Mr. Wopsle's ridiculous acting to show what Pip's previous social class thinks of his rise in social and financial standing. The citizens in the social class Pip had been born into believe that Pip is acting rather ridiculous in his new place. They do not believe that he fits in the position he is in or acts the way that someone in that position should act. Likewise, Mr. Wopsle had never seemed like the kind of person to become an actor and acts rather ridiculously in his new job. Therefore, Dickens' uses the actions of Mr. Wopsle and Trabb's boy to mock and poke fun at Pip's actions and sudden rise in social and financial standing.

AllisonSchaub said...

Pip seems very critical of the play, and tells how the public did not like many different parts. I believe that Mr. Wopsle said "service" instead of "representation" because he is used to doing church services, not plays. I think he is also regretting becoming an actor and quitting the church because he is not getting large parts, and he has fellow actor hiring people to boo at the play.
Pip does not know Shakespeare. He doesn't acknowledge the play as Shakespeare's and doesn't seem to know what the play is about.

Victoria said...

Its ironic that Pip is watching Hamlet and seemingly enjoying it because of the play's subject matter and because the main character of the play is experiencing guilt about his past just like Pip is. I dont think Pip understands the play and is taking a completly different view of it.
It was nice of Pip to invite his old friend to dine with him. Pip is trying to be thoughtful and trying once more to relate to the people he used to, but it is becoming harder and harder for him. Maybe the same thing happened to Estella and that is why she is so sour.

Grace Dillon said...

As mentioned above, Mr. Wopsle acting in the Shakespeare play, Hamlet. It's very ironic that although Mr. Wopsle was so successful as a preacher because of his outspoken voice. Being an actor is silencing Mr. Wopsle as a person. He is now only reading lines that were given to him instead of expressing his opinions. Pip invited him to dinner because he can relate to Mr. Wopsle. Pip is trying to become a gentleman but still doesn't fit the part. He sticks out of the high class society just as Mr. Wopsle does as an actor. Pip is trying to clean up his mistakes, but he also knows that he might go right back to his bad ways.

lauren said...

I loved that Mr. Wopsle did a horrible job, he was arrogant and deserved to be knocked off that high pedestal he placed himself on. It's ironic that they are laughing so much at Hamlet because it is not supposed to be a humorous play. I do not think Pip knows the works of Shakespeare because he did not seem to understand the true meaning of the play. Pip also seems so love struck with Estella that he involves her in everything he thinks about, for example when he thinks about having to "play Hamlet to Miss Havisham's Ghost." I feel bad for the kid, I understand being in awe of how beautiful she is but she is a coldhearted girl and I still want him with Biddy. It was very nice to invite Mr. Wopsle to dinner and I think this shows that despite Pip's "great expectations" he is still deep down the kind boy he originally was.

Danielle Priolo said...

I was very confused at first as i read this, because I had no idea why they were all laughing so much when the actions that were taking place were far from funny. Then I went back and read those few paragraphs again, and I think I understand now that they were laughing because Wopsle's acting was so bad. i am not sure if this is correct but it seems like the only logical answer to me. When Mr. Wopsle says 'service' instead of 'representation' I think it was a mistake on the character's part, but it was definitely meant to symbolize something by the author. I think it was to show how much Mr. Wopsle thought of himself and how well he thought he was doing playing this part. He thought he was so amazing that he believed he was doing the character a favor by playing it, he wasn't just representing the character. I honestly can't think of anything else that Pip has done since he came into money that was relatively kind. He has been pretty awful to most people that he once said he loved. He completely blew off Joe and Biddy a few times now and the old Pip would have never done that. I'm not sure however, that one action of kindness can say anything about whether he is changing or not. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Ryan "Scott Earl" Seals said...

I don't know what a fire office is or what someone looks like when they are insured by one. I tried to understand the connection between red wafers and lines in Hamlet but i don't get it its about the way he stands i guess. I don't know much about the story of Hamlet, before I looked it up with google i only knew that it had something to do with Denmark and a skull. I feel that knowing more about the play would really be crucial to understanding this part of the story. I think Wopsle was the only important part of this chapter anyways. Or Waldengarver.

Jesse Chen said...

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. The chapter was a bit confusing until you figure out that it is just a play, (or just read the blog prompt). It was funny to hear Pip describe the play; the “ghost” that is so nervous reading his lines, that his acting suffers, giving him a “state of mortality”, the “dead” king continued to cough even in death. I think that Mr. Wopsle quickly corrects himself because representation sounds more elegant; he is trying to act more sophisticated to show Pip that he has changed. I do not think that Pip is knowledgeable when it comes to Shakespeare, since Herbert must help Pip reply to Mr. Wopsle; I think that although he has noble company, Pip does not really fit in. I think that this is the best thing that Pip has done so far. I think that he has thought of doing better things, but he has never really followed through (Joe was on the short end of many of those unfinished thoughts). I think that this really shows that maturation of Pip, but he still has a long way to go.