Dickens' Use of Language - Miss Havisham

This manipulation of both Pip and the reader creates a feeling of intimacy between Pip and the reader as the reader continues the novel and discovers the truth behind Pip's benefactor and begins to understand the manipulative control which Miss Havisham ahs within the novel.
             Miss Havisham herself is not presented in a favorable light as Pip describes her as the "strangest lady" he had ever seen. This provokes a supernatural image in the reader's mind of a ghost in an old abandoned house as Miss Havisham is dressed "all of white". However the white had "lost it's lusture" and the "bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress". The reference here to withering creates the theme of death and decay which again can be associated to a ghost. This suggests to the reader that although Miss Havisham is physically present in the room, her soul is stuck in the past where she was abandoned on her wedding day; therefore all that's left is a ghost. This theme of abandonment again relates back to the decaying state of Satis house. This creates an uneasy atmosphere which Pip has never experienced before. This is made clear as the narrative is interrupted to inform the reader that it was a new experience which "then was quite unknown to" Pip. This provokes empathy from the reader and invites the reader to experience the thoughts and feelings Pip as he is emerged into the new and strange environment where there is "no glimpse of daylight." Here the reader is able to empathies with Pip and this consequently causes the audience to acknowledge an abnormal habits and way of living adopted by Miss Havisham in Satis house.
             Dickens describes Miss Havisham as "a skeleton in the ashes of a rich dress". The use of skeleton infers that Miss Havisham is old and frail; however, the use of skeleton also creates the image of death and decay which surrounds Satis house.