Guiding Questions:
1. What is the effect of ambience on the narrator? How is it brought about by the author?
2. How is the character of Miss Havisham depicted in the extract? What are the images, tone,
and literary devices employed to create the eccentricity in the character?
Commentary
This is an extract from the short story, Great Expectations, by eminent creator Charles Dickens.
This commentary means to take a gander at the character of Miss Havisham and how she is
depicted to be erratic and unordinary through the given extract, and furthermore how the
ambience in the extract plays a tremendous job in defining the character and nature of Miss
Havisham.
The "I" in this extract is a kid named Pip, as far as anyone knows 12 to 13 years of age who
depicts the house as he experiences it and his short discussion with Miss Havisham. Since the
narrator, (Pip) is fearing to try and go into the house,
“I was half afraid… knock at the door” it very well may be confirmed this is the first occasion
when he is going into the house, demonstrating that what lay inside is as quite a bit of a puzzle
to him as well as the reader, and furthermore a sight to fear. A spooky and vile tone is conveyed
all through the extract, that makes Miss Havisham appear to some degree an adversary and
somebody to remain careful about. Dickens has utilized different instances of symbolism, for the
most part, visual symbolism, to give a clear image of Miss Havisham's home, just as the peruser
himself is in it and is seeing it. Generally speaking, the extract is a solid presentation of Miss
Havisham in the story which is very well exhibited and depicted by the utilization of language
and literary devices.
The initial segment of the extract, until "'Who is it?' said the lady at the table.", the narrator
centres around depicting the presence of the changing area where Miss Havisham is seated.
From the first line that portrays the changing area itself, “No glimpse of daylight was to be seen
in it.” one can induce that the air and feel inside the house isn't happy and splendid like how
houses are typically expected to be, and rather is dull and desolate. It can likewise be
foreshadowed that something terrible anticipates the storyteller since dim and dim rooms are
commonplace of spots with a negative quality encompassing them as observed with
loathsomeness houses for instance. The storyteller at that point continues to depict his first look
of the scandalous Miss Havisham. “She was dressed in rich materials… on the table.” Looking
at the complex spotlight on minute subtleties, it is perspicuous that Miss Havisham sat wearing
a wedding dress as it is all white and secured with things, for example, marriage blossoms and
adornments. Since there is no notice of a wedding anywhere in the extract, one may ask why
she is dressed all things considered, which is a puzzle yet to be replied. What makes this
specific scene considerably progressively unusual is that Miss Havisham wasn't spruced up
appropriately. "She had but one shoe on… the looking-glass.” These insights about the climate
intrigue the readers significantly more. It is at exactly that point that the storyteller understands
that it has been quite a while since Miss Havisham had spruced up along these lines. “But, I
saw that everything within my view… to skin and bone.” The joyful lady who used to be
