2- "You can break his heart..."

After he helped the convict in the marshes, Pip felt a terrible sense of guilt. This guilty feeling followed Pip everywhere, and he was expecting that one day policemen would arrive at his house with handcuffs. Time passes and Pip buries the memory of the convict in his conscious and learns how to read and write at Mr. Wopsle's school. Joe admires Pip's writing and his academic abilities, because Joe himself is an illiterate. From this section, it becomes apparent that Pip feels slightly ashamed Joe, not only because of his illiteracy, but also because of the way he acts. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Joe bursts in the house with Pumblechook, Pip's Uncle/merchant obsessed with money. They tell Pip that he is arranged to play with Miss Havisham, an eccentric and wealthy old woman who lives in a manor in Pip's village. They feel that if he is able to win over Miss Havisham, then he will be the recipient of her fortune. The next morning Pip is taken to Miss Havisham manor, and he is met by an exceptionally beautiful girl, who rudely sends Pumblechook away. She leads Pip through an ancient feeling mansion, that was dark and decorated very ornately. The moment that Pip meets Estella is one that would change his life forever, because her good looks and proud nature would only grow with time. Estella leads Pip into Miss Havisham's room where she waits by a mirror in a faded and yellow wedding dress, surrounded by cobwebs, dust and clocks stopped twenty minutes to nine. Miss Havisham tries to make Pip play, but he states quite frankly that he can't do many things exciting and that the newness of the situation limits him. Miss Havisham orders Pip to play cards with Estella. Here Estella acts coldly to Pip and keeps reminding him of his inferiority and his unrefined manners. When Estella tells Miss Havisham that she would not wish to play, Miss Havisham replies by saying "You can break his heart..."

In this section, Pip realizes where he really falls on the social ladder. By meeting with Estella and Miss Havisham, he begins make a conclusion on how being of an upper class is essential to becoming wealthy, and wealth equates with happiness. Pip feels attracted to Estella and Miss Havisham, because of the prospect of becoming wealthy and of an upper class, and thus he begins to visit them daily.