Pip is very “uncomfortable” and “half afraid” about entering her house and meeting Miss Havisham. The Satis house is an intimidating reflection if Miss Havisham, “The great front entrance had two chains across it”, this gives the reader the impression that Pip is entering a place where something is locked away and Miss Havisham does not want the outside to know. The house seems quite normal to Pip as he firsts enters the house, but the weird thing was that no daylight was to be seen it, “I entered, therefore, and found myself in a pretty large room, well lighted with wax candles. No glimpse of daylight was to be seen in It.,” this tells the reader that Miss Havisham does not like the sunlight and she does not want it to be seen in the house. As Pip enters Miss Havisham’s room the first things he sees is Miss Havisham and thinks that Miss Havisham is a strange lady, “She was dressed in rich materials-satins, and lace, and silks- all white”, this shows the reader that Miss Havisham is a wealthy lady.
Dickens uses different words and phrases to describe Miss Havisham, which gives an image to the reader of how Miss Havisham looks like. “Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table”,” I saw that everything within my view which ought to be white”. This shows Miss Havisham is a rich lady and her appearance is all white. As Pip looks at Miss Havisham he describes her as a “waxwork and skeleton…” “Dark eyes that moved and looked at me”. This tells the reader that Miss Havisham is not being looked after and also looks scary as Pip looks at her in the eyes.
Miss Havisham uses different words to address Pip and Estella. She is very commanding and impatient while Pip is around her, “… There, There...”
“Play, play, play”. This tells the reader that Miss Havisham commands Pip to do what she says this is because Pip is a working class boy and his class is lower than Miss Havisham’s. Miss Havisham treats Estella very differently from Pip this is shown when she says, “Your own, one day, my dear, and you will use it well.” The reader gets an image of Miss Havisham that she is more Polite to Estella than Pip this is because that Estella is in a higher class than Pip and she has been working for Miss Havisham for a long time. This is shown when Miss Havisham tells Estella to play with Pip and breaks his heart. “Well? You can break his heart” this means that Estella knows about Miss Havisham’s feelings (Heart) and she tells Estella to show it to Pip and show it to him how it feels like it.
The way Dickens describes life in the 19th century in this novel is by describing the different classes between the three characters in chapter 8 of “Great Expectations”
The difference between people in the 19th century was shown in classes, Pip is very different from Miss Havisham as he is in a working class and Miss Havisham is way above him. This is also shown when Miss Havisham tells Pip what to do and the way she says it shows that she is really impatient and a bit aggressive. Also the class between Estella and Pip is different, this shown in the way of Miss Havisham treating Estella by using more polite words to keep her happy, this also leads Estella to treat Pip differently and command him as Miss Havisham does. At the end of the chapter Pip feels humiliated, hurt and angry, this is because Pip had feelings towards Estella and she returned it in a very different way, which hurt Pip’s feelings and made him spurned and offended.
Dickens shows Miss Havisham’s image by showing the reader that Miss Havisham is hurt by something happened in the past. Dickens also describes her as “waxwork and skeleton” this tell us that Miss Havisham is depressed and not being looked after properly. Also "The great entrance had two chains across it" this means that the house is locked away and Miss Havisham is ashamed of herself to go out as her husband ran away on the wedding day. Dickens also shows that Miss Havisham left everything, as it was when her husband ran away, (time, jewels, wedding dress etc.), this shows that Miss Havisham is always depressed and every time she looks around the house it reminds her about the past.
