This article needs additional citations for. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: – ( November 2019) Master Humphrey is the narrator and main character in 's,. He is also the unnamed narrator of the first three chapters of Dickens's, which was originally published in that serial. It is revealed in the portion of Master Humphrey's Clock which follows The Old Curiosity Shop that he is also in fact the unnamed 'single gentleman' who appears in the second half of that novel.References.

Great Expectations begins when a boy named Pip encounters an escaped convict in a graveyard. The gripping story that emerges from there includes money from a mysterious benefactor, a bewitching and cold-hearted girl, and the shut-in Miss Havisham, forever clothed in a tattered wedding gown. It’s no wonder that so many people consider Great Expectations to be one of Charles Dickens's best works.

Pip as narrator First person narrative. Dickens wrote Great Expectations in the first person so that readers see everything from Pip's point of view and may as a result identify with Pip from the beginning. This mode of narration was unusual for Dickens: he wrote only one other novel David Copperfield (1849-50), in the first person where he made a rather different use of the technique.

Dickens planned to write a 'grotesque tragicomic” novel.While Great Expectations may be one of Dickens’s darkest books, he originally wanted it to be a comic novel., “You will not have to complain of the want of humour as in the Tale of Two Cities.I have put a child and a good-natured foolish man, in relations that seem to me very funny.” 2. He wrote the novel during the most difficult period of his life.Dickens started Great Expectations in October 1860, not long after separating from Catherine, his wife of 22 years and the mother of his ten children. He’d moved into his own place and was pursuing a young actress named Ellen Ternan. On top of that, his son was running up gambling debts, his daughter married a man Dickens didn’t like, and his elderly mother was. All this was on his mind as he started to write. Estella may have been based his mistress.Dickens became smitten with18-year-old Ellen Ternan when he hired her to perform in the play The Frozen Deep. While Ellen seems to have resisted Dickens's advances at first,.

Many biographers think that the beautiful and unloving character of Estella may have been Dickens’s view of his early relationship with Estella. Estella—Latin for “star”—could be a partial anagram of Ellen Ternan. Miss Havisham was based on a real person.In 1853, Dickens about growing up in London where he mentions a street person bearing a resemblance to Miss Havisham.

“The White Woman is her name. Surgical strike. She is dressed entirely in white, with a ghastly white plaiting round her head and face, inside her white bonnet.She is a conceited old creature, cold and formal in manner, and evidently went simpering mad on personal grounds alone—no doubt because a wealthy Quaker wouldn’t marry her. This is her bridal dress.” 5. Like most of his novels, Great Expectations was published in serial form.were first published in serial form, meaning that the story was broken into installments and published over a period of time in a journal or newspaper.

Great Expectations ran in Dickens’s journal All the Year Round from December 1860 to August 1861. It was published in book form in October—just in time for Christmas that year. Though, like we mentioned earlier, wrote in a letter that, “I can see the whole of a serial revolving on it, in a most singular and comic manner.” 6. Bentley Drummle was based on a publisher Dickens disliked.In the novel, Estella marries snobby, cruel Bentley Drummle instead of Pip. The name is suspiciously close to the publisher Richard Bentley, whom Dickens believed cheated him out of money. Dickens worked as the editor of Bentley's Miscellany, the publication that serialized Oliver Twist—a story which, of course, was enormously successful.

Dickens and Bentley argued over money for some time. Finally, Dickens bought out his contract as well as the copyright to Oliver Twist from the publisher and got literary revenge in the form of the unflattering character. Dickens carefully worked out the ages of his characters.The working notes for Great Expectations show that Dickens created a timeline for the characters’ ages. Pip, Estella, and Herbert are all 23 at the climax of the novel. Magwitch is 60, Biddy is 24, Joe is 45, and Miss Havisham is a relatively youthful 56.

Great Expectations is one of two Dickens novels written in the first person.Of Dickens’s novels, only Great Expectations and David Copperfield are written entirely in the first person, with the character telling the story to the reader. ( Bleak House is narrated in the first and third person.) Dickens wanted Pip’s voice to be similar to David Copperfield. He wrote, 'The book will be written in the first person throughout, and during these first three weekly numbers you will find the hero to be a boy-child, like David.” 9. He had Cooling Castle in mind for the graveyard scene.

The memorable first section most likely took place at (or was inspired by) St James' Church in Cooling, Kent. There you can still see “Pip’s Graves,” “little stone lozenges each about a foot and a half long, which were arranged in a neat row.” Here are 10. Great Expectations had an alternate ending.After finishing Great Expectations, Dickens went to visit the novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton. While there, he showed his friend the last chapters of Great Expectations, which hadn’t yet gone to print.

Bulwer-Lytton said that the ending was depressing and urged Dickens to change it. Dickens agreed and rewrote the ending, which was published in the novel. In it, Estella and Pip become friends and, it’s implied, eventually get married. (If that’s not confusing enough,.)The final paragraph is: “I took her hand in mine, and we went out of the ruined place; and, as the morning mists had risen long ago when I first left the forge, so the evening mists were rising now, and in all the broad expanse of tranquil light they showed to me, I saw no shadow of another parting from her.” 11. Here’s the original, somber ending of Great ExpectationsAs it was when Edward Bulwer-Lytton read it and found it too depressing:One day, two years after his return from the east, I was in England again—in London, and walking along Piccadilly with little Pip—when a servant came running after me to ask would I step back to a lady in a carriage who wished to speak to me.

It was a little pony carriage, which the lady was driving; and the lady and I looked sadly enough on one another.“I am greatly changed, I know, but I thought you would like to shake hands with Estella too, Pip. Lift up that pretty child and let me kiss it!” (She supposed the child, I think, to be my child.)I was very glad afterwards to have had the interview; for, in her face and in her voice, and in her touch, she gave me the assurance, that suffering had been stronger than Miss Havisham’s teaching, and had given her a heart to understand what my heart used to be. While going to concerts, movie theaters, bars, beaches, and other recreational destinations is temporarily on hold, there’s one outing that remains a necessity during: grocery shopping.

If any in your area offer home delivery or even store pickup, this is a good time to take advantage of those services.But if you, like many of us, still need to stock up on food the old-fashioned way, here are some helpful tips for avoiding germs when you venture to the store. Go early in the morning.Not only will stores be less crowded in the early morning, but they’ll probably be cleanest then, too, since the staff often sanitizes the premises at night.

Because many stores are devoting their early hours of operation to senior citizens only, Reader’s Digest calling ahead to find out when your store opens to the general public. Bring hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, or disposable gloves (and wipe down your cart).Though many stores are now putting disinfectant wipes near the carts so you can wipe them down, you should bring your own just in case. This is especially important, have found that COVID-19 can live for two or three days on plastic surfaces.Your cart won’t be the only potentially germy place you put your hands during your trip—door handles in the frozen food section, self-checkout screens, and credit card keypads are all risky zones. Be sure to either wipe them down before touching, use hand sanitizer after touching, or just wear gloves that you can toss out at the end of your trip. Don’t touch your face.This may seem like a no-brainer, but you might be especially prone to absentmindedly touching your face while you contemplate which non-dairy milk to choose when your first choice is out of stock. Don't touch your phone either.are a great example of high-touch surfaces where germs can live, so instead of keeping a grocery list on your smartphone, write it on a piece of scrap paper that you can throw away after you’re finished.

Give yourself more time to shop than you usually need.Maintaining at least 6 feet between you and every other shopper means occasionally waiting for occupied aisles to clear and moving more slowly so you don’t run into people—not to mention the time it takes to use or disinfectant wipes intermittently. If you’re trying to fit in a quick shopping trip before an important with your boss, you may be less conscientious about shopping safely. Inspect items for holes in the packaging (or the food itself).Make sure there aren’t any rips or tears in cereal boxes, potato chip bags, or any other packaging—and that goes for produce, too. Give those apples a nice long look to be certain there aren’t any holes or breaks in the skin that germs could easily get into. Bypass the free samples.Surprise snacks at supermarkets are one of the perks of grocery shopping, but Livestrong that exposed food is an easy target for germs.

So skip the free samples and don't graze on those bunches of grapes; instead, reward yourself with an extra snack at home. Some stores, like Costco, are even suspending their samples during this time, so you won't be so tempted.

Don’t pay with cash.While there’s a certain satisfaction in counting out exact change, cash has a reputation for being a. If possible, stick to cards or other automatic methods of payment. Even then, it's not the worst idea in the world to wipe down after using them. Leave the grocery bags on your doorstep.Store employees are being about cleanliness, but it’s still possible that your bags could pick up germs during the checkout process.

To avoid the risk, leave them outside and only bring your items into the house. Wash reusable bags between trips.If you’ve made the switch to reusable shopping bags, Food Network tossing them in the washing machine or wiping them down with soap and water between shopping trips. Wash produce and wipe down other items.Per usual, you should thoroughly rinse produce before eating it. Lisa Larkin, a Cincinnati-based internal medicine physician and founder of, told Reader’s Digest that you can also wipe down jars, cans, and bottles with a disinfectant wipe before putting them in your pantry for good measure.h/t. IStockThe festival of Passover (or Pesach) commemorates the story of the Jews' escape from Egypt.

The passover in question is when the houses of the observant Israelites in captivity were 'passed over' as Egypt's first-born children were killed (although, in the Torah, the date the 14th of Nisan is referred to as Passover while the week-long celebration is the Festival of Matzot. They've since been into one celebration called Passover).In celebration of the firstborns being saved, it is traditional for them to fast on 14 Nisan. Darksiders iii gluttony list.

If there are no children, the member of the household fasts. If the firstborn is a daughter? That depends on the of the community.2. Passover lasts either seven or eight days.

IStockThe Torah says to celebrate Passover for seven days (the the Exodus and the parting of the Red Sea), but many Jews outside of Israel celebrate for eight. Traditionally each month of the Jewish calendar was determined by an astronomical observation and could be either 29 or 30 days long. After a new month was determined, messengers spread the word. For Jews who lived too far away for messengers to bring timely news of a new month, it was safest to celebrate for an extra day, so no matter how long the previous month was, the holiday was celebrated.Eventually the calendar was standardized and the eight-day custom was no longer needed. Today, some Jewish denominations outside of Israel (like ) celebrate the mandated seven days, while many others prefer eight days. Inside Israel it's generally seven.3. Leavened grains are a no-go at Passover.

IStockOne of the most important parts of Passover preparations is cleaning the house of chametz, or leavened food. Even the tiniest bit has to go. Because the Jews left Egypt in such a hurry, it's said they didn't have time to leaven their bread. To commemorate that, five grains (traditionally wheat, barley, rye, spelt, and oats) are banished from the house.

Jews can spend weeks ensuring that the house is perfectly clean—and there are even professional chametz cleaning services that they'll boil toys, break down and reassemble kitchen chairs and possibly still leave the house dirty. There's a in Jewish households: 'Dust is not chametz.'

The goal is to get rid of chametz above all else.4. Matzo, which is made from wheat, is one of the most important parts of a Passover meal. IStockWhile there are restrictions against leavened products, one of the most important parts of a Passover meal is matzo, which is made from wheat. The difference between matzo and regular bread is that the wheat in matzo cannot come into contact with any water until it's ready to be cooked. And once water and wheat are mixed it has to be baked within 18 minutes (sources as to whether the timer stops when it enters or leaves the oven). After 18 minutes, fermentation begins and it is chametz.But why 18 minutes? Supposedly it's because that's how long it takes to walk between the cities of Migdal Nunaiya and Tiberias in Israel.

Over the years, scholars have argued about how long it would actually take to walk between the cities, with some proposing that reduced the distance from to 1 and thus reduced the time from 72 minutes to 18. Nowadays, it's felt that even if there was a transcribing error, there's enough tradition to use 18 minutes.5. Grains get complicated during Passover.

IStockAs Jews spread around the world, they often found themselves faced with foods that weren't explicitly mentioned for Passover. Sephardic Jews (generally) feel that only the five expressly mentioned grains are forbidden, while Ashkenazi Jews worry that the dishes made from certain other plants that look similar and are grown in similar conditions as the forbidden grains will risk contamination between the two. So if these ingredients (called kitniyot, or 'legumes') were avoided, actual chametz could more easily be avoided (although kitniyot is nowhere near as regulated as chametz).But recently, some authorities that improved technology and storing methods have rendered the old methods obsolete. It's a current debate in some communities.6.

Some of the best matzo flour is made in Arizona. IStockOne of the most difficult parts of making matzo is keeping the flour dry before it's ready to be converted into matzo; any water risks converting flour into chametz.

So, according to, one sect of Hasidic Jews has found the perfect farming conditions to produce their wheat—the arid fields of southwestern Arizona. The group of ultra-Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn, New York, work with a farm in Yuma, Arizona, to ensure that no unwanted moisture affects the crop, and the resulting kosher wheat is shipped back east to make up to 100,000 pounds of matzo.7. Pets also get special food during Passover. IStockFor Passover, houses must be free of chametz and there can be no benefit derived from it.

This includes pet food. In keeping with this, there are Passover-friendly pet foods out there, and some Rabbinical authorities propose switching out your pet's diet for a few days—such as giving dogs straight meat or herbivores a variety of approved vegetables. If a pet must have a specific type of food—or you can't get Passover-friendly pet food—some observant Jews follow the rabbinical authorities who give the to sell the pet to a gentile for a few days and then get it back after Passover has ended.8. There are six symbolic Passover foods. IStockIn the 1980s, Dartmouth professor Susannah Heschel spoke on a panel at Oberlin College. While there, she met some students who told a story of a rabbi who said 'There's as much room for a lesbian in Judaism as there is for a crust of bread on the seder plate.'

In response, they started placing a crust on their plates.Heschel was inspired, but felt that using bread sent the wrong message, 'it renders everything chametz suggesting that being a lesbian is being transgressive, violating Judaism.' So she proposed putting an orange (originally a tangerine) on the Seder plate to symbolize Jewish gays and lesbians. At some point a story emerged that it was actually to symbolize women in general, but Heschel: 'A woman's words are attributed to a man, and the affirmation of lesbians and gay men is erased. Isn't that precisely what's happened over the centuries to women's ideas?' Other more modern additions include (symbolizing mass incarceration), an (to recognize interfaith families), or or (to remember that there's still slavery around the world).10.

Some major companies produce special kosher-for-Passover food and beverages. Mike Mozart, //Many companies produce kosher-for-Passover products, from chocolate syrup to cake mixes.

But one of the most important is Coca-Cola. In the early 20th century Rabbi Tobias Geffen was serving as an Orthodox Rabbi in Atlanta. Due to his location (Coca-Cola was and is headquartered in Atlanta), he was frequently asked if Coca-Cola was kosher. After the product, he found two problem ingredients—alcohol and glycerin.The alcohol was a problem because it was grain-derived and thus unacceptable for Passover, a problem that was solved by switching to fermented molasses. The other problem, however, was glycerin.

The glycerin was derived from animals, and there was simply no economic way to ensure the animals were kosher. As Roger Horowitz explains in, there's an exemption in the rules for a tiny amount of an unacceptable ingredient—designed to cover mistakes—and Coca-Cola's glycerin content was dramatically below that level.

Rabbi, however, believed that since the glycerin was deliberately added, it didn't qualify for this rule. Soon though, a new source of glycerin from cottonseed oil emerged, and Coca-Cola was approved for Passover.When Coca-Cola switched to high fructose corn syrup, however, that created a problem for Ashkenazi Jews. As such, today there's a special Coca-Cola that doesn't use HFCS and is certified kosher.11. Maxwell House coffee holds a special place at Passover. Tom Lappin, //But the most influential company is likely.

In the 1920s they decided to expand their presence to Jewish families—but there was a problem. Colloquially known as coffee 'beans,' there was a view that they were legumes, and as such forbidden to Ashkenazi Jews. Soon Maxwell House convinced reluctant coffee drinkers that their product was acceptable and in 1932 the company began publishing the Maxwell House Haggadah (the Haggadah is the telling of the Exodus and how to perform a seder meal). In the years since, Maxwell House estimates that it has published 50 million Haggadahs, which were even the preferred text for the White House Seder.12. The world's largest Seder happens in a surprising location. PRAKASH MATHEMA, AFP/Getty ImagesGoing on for almost 30 years and hosting over 1000 people, the Kathmandu Seder was in 1989 by the Israeli ambassador to Nepal, who quickly realized that the demand was much higher than he was ready for.

The ambassador contacted a rabbi friend who dispatched two rabbinical students to aid the preparations. The seder was a massive success—expecting 90 guests and hoping for 150, they ultimately had 500 guests.Nowadays, preparations for the seder start, with 1000 bottles of wine and over 1000 pounds of matzo getting shipped in from the United States and Israel.