Transitions in Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations"
Chapter 49 in Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" is about transitions. Pip begins to meet his "great" expectation; and literally, Miss Havisham's past is burnt away. The passage in question is about Pip having left Miss Havisham in great spirits. She has agreed to give him nine hundred pounds for his business venture with Herbert. He walks around the grounds of Miss Havisham's manor like he did when he was first invited as a play companion to Estella. Inexplicably, he has a premonition that something might be wrong. He returns to see Miss Havisham. Suddenly, he finds Ms. Havisham on fire -- probably, from the lit candles on the dining table. He smothers the flames with his topcoat, saving her. Fear, and possibly the pain of the burns, causes her to faint.
Pip keeps her covered until help arrives. The doctor tends to Miss Havisham. In the heat of the moment and the adrenaline rush at seeing Miss Havisham alight, Pip does not realize that his hands have suffered burns too.
There is a parallel between the passage and Dickens' description of the first time that Pip visits the manor. The first time:...
He walks among the beer casks; he takes in the whole beer-making process. After walking among the ashes of the kitchen fires, he sees a frightening vision -- Miss Havisham dead, hanging from the rafters. She is conspicuous in her yellowing, faded wedding gown, her aged countenance, and her shoeless foot with the bedraggled stocking. The second time: interestingly, we are never sure what causes Pip to return to the manor. One might suppose that in this his second walk through the brewery, he recalls seeing Miss Havisham dead the first time; this arouses concern.
This frozen-in-time image is what Pip encounters every time he sees Miss Havisham.
Transitions. As mentioned above, the passage is marked with significant transitions. The first time that Pip is at Miss Havisham's is solely for her amusement. Miss Havisham having adopted Estella does not want her own sorrows visited on her ward. In an effort to find a companion for Estella, she orders Pip to play a game of cards with Estella. She is not concerned about Pip's feelings at all, though some maternal instinct does…
