The speaker in Havisham provokes feelings of dislike and sympathy when she reveals that she has not dare forgotten about the day she was jilted at the alter – abandoned many years ago. For example she thinks to herself about what she has become, this is shown when she says “whole days in bed cawing Nooooo at the wall”. The use of the words “whole day” illustrates to the reader how Havisham spends her days feeling sorry for herself after all those years. It also highlights how she still holds on to the pain and anger to the point where she spends her days “cawing” so she’s almost living like at animal with those actions. The image of her laying in for days emphasises how she is so fixated on the one event causing us to see how obsessed women in the 19th century were by marriage, and not marrying can deteriorate both their mental and physical state. This causes the reader to see her as a pathetic character. Some 21st century audiences may feel sympathy as what has happened to her wasn’t her fault. Only a mix of unfortunate events. Whereas others may dislike her as they feel she should get over the incident that happened years ago now.

The speaker in The Laboratory expresses her husband’s unfaithfulness through marriage by describing how he is cheating on her with another lady. Her lovers rival. We feel quite a bit of sympathy which develops more and more over this section. Her feelings of indignation are clear when she states, “He is with her; and they know that I know” … “While they laugh, laugh at me”. The use of the phrase “they know that I know” instantly gives us the impression of pity and misfortune she has because her partner as parted companies and somewhat moved on from her. This very much influences our feelings of sympathy towards her as she explains that they don’t hide their current affairs. In addition, the repetition of “laugh, laugh” shows the sense of humiliation she suffers from. Almost feeling intimidated as she is seen as a laughing stock