Explore how Charles Dickens presents Miss Havisham in chapter 8 and what the function of her character is.

Dickens made a haunted tone for Pip’s introduction to Miss Havisham.It is symbolic how her house is described.

`Had a great many bars to it. Some of the windows had been walled up … all the lower were rustily barred`.

Dickens life was quite tough for him when he was a child. At a young age Dickens went to a Grammar School until his father went bankrupt due to some bad investments. After this unfortunate event Dickens was taken out of his grammar school and he was forced to work at a blacking factory which is where they made shoe polish. Dickens had to go live with his dad in prison and eventually his family and dickens after a lot of work paid off the bankruptcy. Dickens father was then freed. Dickens now knew what it felt like to be imprisoned and also witnessed the last public execution and saw people dying. He expressed all of this in the novels that he wrote.

Miss Havisham`s psychology was that on the wedding day the groom did not turn up to the marriage ceremony. She was told this by the groom sending her a letter on the day of the marriage saying they are not getting married anymore. She decided then to isolate herself at the worse most point of her life and this was inspired by dickens working in the blacking factory which he hated and which was his worst part of his life.

The Victorians ideas about decay are that the items that you own or live with or what you look like resembles your personality.

The reader’s first impression of Estella is that she is cruel.

“This is Pip, is it? ` Returned the young lady, who was very pretty and seemed very proud…….

“Ah!” said...

... middle of paper ...

...iss Havisham uses to Pip create and imperative sentence mood

`Come nearer; let me look at you, come close`.

This reveals about Victorian attitudes to children and social classes that working classes were not treated with respect and also that children should be seen and not heard and speak when you are spoken too.

The reader is shown a glimpse of how Miss Havisham`s self – pity has twisted.

`eager`, `strong`, `smile`, `boast`

Miss Havisham feels very proud of her life because in the evidence it says smile` which means she is happy about her life of misery.

Estella’s name was carefully selected by Dickens to reflect Pip’s feelings about her. The following smile draws our attention to this.

`like a star`

Estella’s name means star in Latin and he believes he is meant or destined to marry Estella and also stars were used for navigation back in the good old days.