Miss Havisham In Charles Dickens Great Expectations

Estella lives in the Manor House with her adoptive mother Miss Havisham who has raised her up as a tool to be used to break men’s hearts. Although she constantly insults and makes fun of Pip, he falls in love with her. This love for her makes Pip vulnerable to any and every little insult that comes out of her mouth and Pip puts to heart everything she says. So, when she says, "He calls the knaves, Jacks, this boy!...And what course hands he has! And what thick boots!" he takes it to heart (Dickens 105). It is at this point that Pip begins to feel ashamed of his uneducated family, and longs to become a gentleman. Due to Estella’s cold-hearted character and her arrogant personality, Pip is made to feel that he stands no chance with her. Even more dangerous is her destructive influence on Pip which makes him strive to become a gentleman no matter the cost. Rather than being surrounded by people such as Estella who do nothing but put Pip’s character down, he should surround himself with supportive and encouraging individuals who are always there for him and appreciate his unique personality. This is what causes growth in a person.

Miss Havisham also mocks the "angel in the house" in the way she raises Estella. Instead of teaching Estella to be loving and obedient, she teaches her coldness and hatred, planning to use her to seek revenge on all men. "With this boy? Why, he is a common labouring boy!" Estella says when Miss Havisham orders her to play cards with Pip. "Well! You can break his heart," Miss Havisham replies. She teases Pip by constantly pointing out Estella's

Miss Havisham in the novel “Great Expectations” is a mean, prideful, selfish, old woman who has a big change of heart due to the actions of the protagonist, Pip. “Miss Havisham was a spoiled Child, her mother died when she was a baby, and her father denied her nothing”(page 120). She became comsumed by pride and greed. Later, “there appeared upon the scene a certain man, who made love to miss Havisham”(page 120). The man acted as if he loved Miss

The character Estella is imprisoned within herself because of her inability to love. Ever since Estella was a child when it came to a boy, Miss Havisham taught her to "break his heart" (54). Being taught to break boys' hearts imprisons Estella within herself for she is confined and excluded from others because it is extremely difficult for her to care for or form bonds with people. Estella finally realizes what Miss Havisham has done to her when she tells Pip, "there are sentiments, fancies . . . which I am not able to comprehend. When you say you love me, I know what you mean as a form of words, but nothing more" (336). This statement shows Estella's grief with her total incapability to love or form any emotional attachment to another. This grief is a change in Estella from the coldhearted behavior

I think there is something to say when a woman of so much pride breaks down in front of Pip. It shows us that Miss Havisham is starting to understand what all really mattered. It was not breaking hearts through Estella; it was that she should have treated Estella in a way where she could love. She shouldn’t have pushed away Pip and Estella, and she should have been kinder to Pip. This is where I learned that Miss Havisham isn’t just a ‘Proper Lady’, she wanted to be kind, and I think she learned that being kind is much more important than revenge. When Pip says that although Miss Havisham has made mistakes, it is important to him that he forgives her, that also really made me reflect on why Miss Havisham did what she did. She wasn’t trying to hurt Estella or be rude to her, but trying to help her. Miss Havisham’s idea of ‘well being’ although different than others, makes her, well, her. She of course has her own morals, so when we judge her, we have to know what she was doing was for what she thought would be good for

he knew Mrs Joe (Pips sister) he picked Pip. Pip had to go and stay

Most readers are appalled at the cold-hearted and cruel ways of Estella, but any criticism directed at her is largely undeserved. She was simply raised in a controlled environment where she was, in essence, brainwashed by Miss Havisham. Nonetheless, her demeanor might lead one to suspect that she was a girl with a heart of ice. Estella is scornful from the moment she is introduced, when she remarks on Pip's coarse hands and thick boots. However, her beauty soon captivates Pip and she is instilled as the focal point of his thoughts for much of the remainder of the novel. The fact that Pip becomes infatuated with her is also not Estella's fault. By no means is there any evidence that she loved him. She does not flirt with

In the novel Great Expectations, Charles Dickens understanding of a gentleman is very different than the modern conception. Dickens portrays a gentleman to be one who is financially wealthy and is positioned high in Victorian England society. In the novel, Dickens utilizes the character Miss Havisham to emphasize the higher social class as “...everybody for miles round, had heard of Miss Havisham up town—as an immensely rich and grim lady who lived in a large and dismal house barricaded against robbers, and who led a life of seclusions.” (Dickens 51). Pip as well develops a character representative of the lower class.

Estella and Miss Havisham share many devious qualities. One of those qualities would be that they are both manipulative and cold-hearted. Throughout the book, Miss Havisham is controlling Estella to destroy the hearts of men. Since Miss Havisham adopted Estella at a young age and continually used her, she never developed her own personality.

For many people, love fills an empty void in their heart. However, in Charles Dickens` Great Expectations, Miss Havisham proves this to be false. Betrayed and deceived by her beloved fiance, Compeyson, Miss Havisham seeks her desire of revenge through her daughter, Estella. Yet, despite Miss Havisham’s wrongdoings, she restores her broken figure by going through distinct emotional phases-- idealism, cynicism, and redemption. Miss Havisham believes the world is ideal for her and tries to mold Estella into the way she wants. While Pip makes the assertion that men are forced to love Estella, Miss Havisham claims “ If she tears your heart to pieces- as it gets older and stronger, it will tear deeper- love her, love her, love her!” (pg. 240),

In Great Expectations, Dickens presents the idea that moral progression is only made possible after one has both accepted and endured life’s hardships. A specific hardship encountered in Great Expectations is unrequited love. The novel features two central characters that experience the harsh reality of loving someone who does not return their affection. These two characters are Pip and Miss Havisham, and their reactions to the rejection of their love differ immensely.

The poem is written in free verse, in that it has no regular pattern of metre or rhyme but is arranged in four stanzas of equal lengths. This suggests there is some control of the speaker’s voice, undermining the madness in which the character symbolises. Proposing that she is no longer labelled as being Dickens' 'Miss' Havisham, but as self-improved 'Havisham', a figure liberated from humiliation of her unmarried

Miss Havisham becomes all caught up in plotting her revenge she doesn’t realize she is harming people she has grown to love. Miss Havisham says “when [Estella] first came, I meant to save her from misery like mine” (370). When Estella came, Miss Havisham began to teach her to be heartless. She does this so Estella doesn’t get her heart broken; people can’t break something they don’t have. As time goes on Miss Havisham's motivations shift. She then becomes less focused on helping Estella shut out her emotions to seal her from pain. Miss Havisham now does this to cause all men pain. Miss Havisham explains that she “stole her heart away and put ice in its place”(367). Miss Havisham raises Estella to be cold and unloving, so she can use her as a tool of revenge. Through this process Estella did become cold, but this just ended up hurting her. She became unable to experience positive feelings such as love and affection. Miss Havisham says to Estella,“You are tired of me.” (280). Miss Havisham’s dedication to turning Estella cold left Estella completely heartless. This, then ends up hurting Miss Havisham because Estella, the only thing Miss Havisham loves, was incapable of loving her back. When Miss Havisham realizes the consequences of her actions she begs for forgiveness. Even after Miss Havisham is forgiven she is unable to see it, because she

Great Expectations merely focuses on how Pip will expect greater change to become a successful man. Pip is aware of his future when he first meets Miss. Havisham and Estella. Thus, being why he wants to become a triumphant man who fits in their social class. Therefore, he wants to educate himself; to become that successful man. Ironically, Miss. Havisham gives him a hand to create this change but, Miss Havisham is a person who refuses change and for time to pass.

Estella also is a victim to her guardian in the novel. She too is never given the chance to be her own person and live life to its fullest. Estella is conditioned by her guardian, Miss Havisham, to make men suffer, and in return it is Estella who will be made to suffer for her guardian's actions. Miss Havisham is a severely disturbed old woman who has adopted Estella. Miss Havisham was abandoned on her wedding day and as a result she forever maintains hatred toward men. Thus for her dirty work, Miss Havisham uses Estella to meet this purpose. Pip concludes that Miss Havisham "had done a grievous thing in taking an impressionable child (Estella) and had manipulated into the form that her wild resentment, spurned affection, and wounded pride, found vengeance in". Miss Havisham makes Estella have a fear of men being close to her and not to allow herself to become attached to them emotionally. Dickens’ made Estella an almost identical copy of Frankenstein: trained to perform specific tasks for the pleasure of their guardian. However someday, they crack and see the illness in their lives. Estella was Miss Havisham’s toy. Estella never