Dickens has made Miss Havisham sound very unusual because when we first meet her she is in white wedding clothes. This is weird because her name is Miss Havisham, which means that she isn’t married as yet. When pip gets closer he realises that the “dress had withered,” just like the bridge. What I also find weird about Miss Havisham is the description of her eyes, “ sunken eyes”. This is usually the appearance on an older person. “ The dress had been upon the rounded figure of a young woman, and that figure upon which it now hung loose had shrunk to skin and bone.” I think this is showing that she had been wearing the dress for a very long time and she had lost weight and had become weak.
Dickens then writes about how Miss Havisham reminds him of a “ ghastly waxwork at the fair,” and “skeleton in the ashes of a rich dress.” But what makes it even scarier, is that Miss Havisham reminds him of death but is alive with “dark eyes that moved,” in the eyes of a child this would scare almost anybody. This makes her sound unusual, almost like a corpse.
Dickens in this story describes the surrounding area before we meet the characters involved. As in chapter Chapter 1, Dickens describes
The surrounding area through a child eyes, “ our country, down by the river, within, as the river wound, twenty miles of sea.” This shows they were pretty close to the coastal area, “dead and buried,” shows that this place is very quiet and nobody goes there, perhaps not many habitants. “Savage liar!” I thing this is Dickens is trying to write as a child because liar is put with monsters in fairytales.
Miss Havisham house is very strange because, “no glimpse of daylight was to be seen in it,” this shows that the room was very dark and cold. “Prominent in it was a draped table with a gilded looking-glass.” I think this is showing how rich she was to have a table covered by cloth and a suggestion of gold gilded mirror also suggests wealth.
Dickens in Great Expectations enjoys creating a mystery with Magwitch. He leaves the audience in suspense when Magwitch tells Pip to get a few items. “He hugged his shuddering body in both arms clasping himself.” This shows that Magwitch is very weak and cold because his body is shaking and he falls to the ground next to a gravestone. Miss Havisham is also in Dickens mystery making. “She sat corpse like as we played cards.” I think this is a mystery because a dead person wouldn’t be able to play cards, but it suggests motionless, non-communicating bodies.
The society convicts were punished harshly back in the Victorian time. Dickens shows his position against prison authorities and the convicts; they would transport and have the death penalty. Pip, who is a gentleman, is completely the opposite of them. He has wine dinners and has a commendation in London, but there’s a twist; Magwitch is paying for Pip to be a gentleman. So therefore becoming a criminal himself. Dickens may also hate the prison system due to his father being in prison, this is probably why he shows his negativity towards the justice system in the story.
In Victorian times wealth was everything, only rich families would marry each other. We learn that Miss Havisham is very rich but doesn’t get married. This puts her into a deep hate against men. She is then treated as an outcast in society.
Pip’s life is practically changed due to Magwitch and Miss Havisham. She tried to make him miserable, but she doesn’t succeed. Pip’s life is changed totally because of Magwitch. He pays for him to be a gentleman; Miss Havisham also pays for him to work for her.
All in all, this entire story wouldn’t be possible without these two characters.
