As the passage moves on it becomes clear that Pip is starting to see that things aren’t really as beautiful as they first appear and that what is before him is actually quite horrendous. Pip says “I saw that everything within my view which ought to be white, had been white a long time ago, and had lost its lustre, and was faded and yellow.” This gives you the impression of deterioration, when Pip first walks in the room he is seeing it all for the first time, but when he looks again he realises that all is not how it seems, that all has aged considerably since it could last be called magnificent. In this part of the passage Dickens uses an extended simile when Pip compares the way Miss Haversham looks to that of a “ghastly waxwork” image and of a “skeleton – which had been dug out of a vault” both of these are images from Pip’s past and both of these images scare Pip. This is evident by the way that Dickens uses conditional tense, Pip says “I should have cried out, if I could” by this we take it to mean that through his fear, Pip is paralysed and can’t take action against this ghostly, skeletal apparition.
As we continue, we get to read about the first exchange of words between Miss Haversham and Pip. Miss Haversham demands Pip to play, although Pip can’t think of anything he’d rather do less. Pip is very scared of Miss Haversham. Dickens uses dialogue to show the status of these two characters, and Miss Haversham dominates the exchange as she has the largest ratio of dialogue. Miss Haversham uses her authoritative voice to try to control Pip “Play, play, play!” she demands of him. The way that Pip tells the reader that he was “avoiding her eyes” shows us that he is truly trying to avoid the position that he has been put in. Pip tells Miss Haversham “No” he is not scared and clearly he is very frightened Dickens has used irony there to convey Pip’s true feelings. Pip also notes that her watch and the clock have both stopped at the same time, by using this repetition Dickens has showed us that Miss Haversham is living at the same time and has quite obviously been living like that for a long period.
Moving on in the passage Miss Haversham asks Pip to “Call Estella. At the door”. Pip says that when Estella eventually comes, he saw that “her light came along the dark passage like a star”. Dickens uses similes to illustrate Estella “like a star” which is also a symbolic gesture as starlight is distant and cold and Estella herself can be described as the same, her name in fact means star. Miss Haversham, much to Estella’s contempt, tells her to play cards with Pip. Dickens also uses repetition here as he pens Miss Haversham’s dialogue which gives you an idea about her exhaustion with her situation. Dickens reveals Miss Haversham’s eventual plan which is to teach Estella how to break men’s hearts when she tells Estella “you can break his heart” and also she tells her to “beggar” him, which is a pun as there is a card game by that name, showing how merciless Mss Haversham can be. To further emphasise his point Dickens has used short, brutal sentences.
The next part of the passage sees Pip and Estella playing cards, and Pip becoming increasingly aware of the strangeness of his circumstances. This part of the passage has strong connotations with death. Pip describes Miss Haversham as “corpse-like” and he says that “the admission of the natural light of day would have struck her to dust”. This phrase is very strong and puts you in mind of words that would be spoken at a funeral. Miss Haversham is content on watching Estella “beggar” Pip and he is very aware of that.
Moving on again Estella has begun to mock Pip, and at first Pip doesn’t retaliate. As the scene unfolds it becomes quite comical to read, and again Dickens is using short to the point sentences, this is helpful to put emphasis on what the characters are saying. Repetition is again used when Miss Haversham is talking to Pip and this time is used to unveil Pip’s weaknesses. Estella has no trouble putting Pip down by again calling him boy and by ridiculing him “what course hands he has” Pip at once begins to doubt himself “her contempt was so strong, that it became infectious, and I caught it.” The way that Estella was talking to or about Pip was causing him to become embarrassed and awkward. “I misdealt, as was only natural, when I knew she was lying in wait for me to do wrong”.
The penultimate section of the passage sees the card game come to an end between Estella and Pip. Pip has been “beggared” by Estella, and Miss Haversham decides when Pip will return to her house. She tells Pip to come back in 6 days and insists that she has no concept of time by saying “I know nothing of days of the week; I know nothing of weeks of the year”. There is a certain proud ness in the way Miss Haversham talks, she is a willing victim and she seems to be extremely fulfilled by that role.
In the final part of this passage Estella takes Pip back along the passage they had come up to Miss Haversham’s room and Estella gets some food for Pip. Pip comments on the lack of natural light again in Miss Haversham’s room and is now feeling quite disorientated “The rush of the daylight quite confounded me, and made me feel as if I had been in the candlelight of the strange room many hours”. Pip takes the opportunity of being left alone to examine himself, his “course hands and common boots” and seems to be embarrassed by his class and appearance and is wishing that Joe had been more genteelly brought up so that he would have been too. When Estella returns she treats Pip disrespectfully and Pip is left feeling humiliated by this treatment. Dickens employs listing here to enforce Pip’s feelings “I was so humiliated, hurt, spurned, offended, angry, sorry” a very vivid simile is used here “As if I were a dog in disgrace” this is a very effective way to describe how Pip must have been feeling.
