“. . . Miss Havisham's house, which was of old brick and dismal, and had a great many iron bars to it. Some of the windows had been walled up; of thos

Dickens describes Satis House to look like a prison, with Miss Havisham as its warden – controlling right down to her efforts to master time by stopping the clocks. She has been so jilted by her abandonment at the altar that she refuses to trust anyone or give anyone that chance to hurt her again. While she may be of questionable mental integrity – always wearing her wedding dress and only one shoe – she is the woman who has raised Estella and therefore is significant in Pip’s life as the driving force between how Estella sees men.