This word is used once in Chapter Ten of Great
Expectations to describe the kind of challenges that Biddy has to face as she
attempts to teach the children who come to the school thanks to the ineffective aid
given by Mr. Wopsle's great-aunt, who normally falls asleep. Dickens satirises Victorian
education in this great chapter, and the sentence containing the word "refractory" is as
follows:
This
part of the Course was usually lightened by several single combats between Biddy and
refractory
students.
Refractory then
means either unmanageable or obstinate or not responding to stimulation, either of which
could be applied to the students whome Biddy is trying to teach. The reference to
several single combats makes school sound like a gladiatorial arena, with spectators
like Pip watching on with great amusement, finding entertainment in Biddy's attempts to
instruct the ignorant.
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