Second Stage Of Great Expectations

     Although the second stage of Great Expectations is rather dull and tedious, several very important things happen.One of the most significant events is when Herbert explains to Pip Miss Havishams back story. (179-180). Dickens explains that Miss Havisham wears a faded wedding dress, and stopped all her clocks at twenty till nine because her fiancée left her on the alter at that precise time. Since that day Miss Havisham has left everything in the house the way it was at 8:40 on the morning of her wedding, essentially frozen in time. Dickens also reveals that Estella was adopted by Miss Havisham, and is used as a tool to exact vengeance on the men of the world.
     This passage relates mainly to the continuous mystery motif, and is significant because it is the first of the books many mysteries to be solved. Dickens gives his readers more background information on Miss Havisham and Estella, but intentionally withholds key part of the story, like who Estella's birth parents are, and the identity of Miss Havisham's mysterious fiancée. Miss Havisham also ties into the prison/prisoners motif of the first section, for although there are no physical bars restraining her, she remains a prisoner to her own grief, and her house has the air of a disused prison.