Preview

Great Expectations: Suffering

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
757 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Great Expectations: Suffering
Suffering can be analyzed from several different aspects; it can be a lesson learned or a way to feel sorry for yourself, but in either way Dickens uses it in his novels to thicken the plot, to show clearly coming of age, as well as to help you further understand the character's situation. When you take the best you can out of suffering, and study every thing that might have lead to that peak of pain, and change that, suffering will only do you good in the long run. Instead of taking the best you can from it, some people take suffering as a way to mourn and be miserable, and tell other people how unfortunate you are. This will do you no good. Dickens uses both of these in Great Expectations, and it shows you a different side of each of his …show more content…
Miss Havisham has a snotty way of judging everybody, and putting her pain on someone else's shoulders. For example, she wants Estella to be exactly like her and doesn't let her own daughter live the way she wants to, Miss Havisham sets standards and obligations for Estella's each and every move. Miss Havisham herself was abandoned at the alter, and since then has frozen time at the exact hour before her marriage. She is one of the characters who are created to show to readers how all they do is feel misery and wish misery upon everyone else. She could have a lot, but instead she makes up lies for Pip, rules for Estella, and nothing to change her own sad and depressing future, so you see how people give up their entire lives so …show more content…
Yet an important thing she says is "Suffering has been stronger than all other teachings." After all these years of Estella being the cold, shrewd one, perhaps all her suffering and misfortune has affected her, made her into a better person. During her life Estella was always unsatisfied. Firstly with her mother, who was trying to make something out of her which wasn't real. Miss Havisham was trying to boss her around, make decisions for her, and plan out her entire life, in which Estella had no say. Let alone that she was unhappy with the world itself, the way things were and the way she was herself. Her marriage didn't work out as well, which just led to more and more pain. Yet Estella is one of the more mature characters you'll find, because although everyone judges her as spoiled, ill-tempered, or cold she is able to take all these problems she has to deal with, and learn from it and use it to become a better

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The symbolic purpose that the fire served was to show how Miss Havisham is best represented a dying Flame. After the incident at her wedding she "burnt" any men that came to her and like any fire, she was going to die out. Also like fire, she caught on to those that surrounded her, like Estella. Estella is almost the physical embodiment of Miss Havishams hatred towards men, as Estella Says that because of Miss Havisham, she can no longer fall in love or love others.…

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Miss Havisham is an immensely rich and grim lady who lives in a large and dismal house barricaded against robbers, and who led a life of seclusion. Mrs. Joe is very delighted to send Pip to her house because Pip’s future may be made by his going to her house. Also, a fortune may come out of it.…

    • 4153 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The poet wants us to sympathized Miss Havisham greatly, but not entirely. Her own trappings of her strong need to revenge and her morbid existence that has destroyed her carries a symbolic meaning of self – absorption and destruction. This poem introduces us to Miss Harvisham’s character, who has become a type of embittered woman who was disappointed in love and enjoys withdrawing from the world.…

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Havisham's hatred of men and it is through her that Miss Havisham is able to…

    • 2499 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    'Havisham' Essay

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages

    ‘Miss Havisham’ is a bitter and twisted character from the novel ‘Great Expectations’ by Charles Dickens. Carol Ann Duffy takes this character and explores her tragic life in the poem ‘Havisham’. Duffy uses Dark themes, structure, symbolism and other poetic techniques to express Havisham’s hatred for men after her tragic wedding when she was rejected by her fiancé. Duffy’s use of these poetic techniques create a sinister character and makes Havisham feel real to the reader.…

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Miss Havisham

    • 650 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Estella seems to follow in Miss Havishams’s footsteps, very snooty, snobby and stuck up or as pip says ‘proud’. She does not seem to show a morsel of compassion for pip and neither does Miss Havisham. This is because…

    • 650 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The humiliation and hurt Miss Havisham suffers at the hand of Compeyson causes her to coach her adopted daughter, Estella, in the many ways to break a man's heart. Incapable of doing it herself from her weakened and aging position, she uses Estella as her weapon of revenge.…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Without revenge Estella would not be the cold, feeling-less character in the novel. “ That girl’s hard and haughty and capricious to the last degree, and has been brought up by Miss Havisham to wreak revenge on all the male sex” (Dickens 104). Miss Havisham's revenge not only brought despair upon others, she also hurt herself in creating Estella. Also, the result from Compeyson’s revenge on Magwitch results in both characters dieing. This demonstrates that revenge causes harm not only to oneself and others, but it does not bring real happiness to the people who seek…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The poem “Havisham” is a dramatic piece told by the only character Miss Havisham herself, a character from Charles Dickens “Great Expectations”. Abandoned by her lover at the alter many years before the poem is set, she still wears her wedding dress, she’ll be wearing it for the rest of her life, while she plots revenge on all men. She hates what she has become, she hates knowing that she still and always will have her maiden name, in fact the poet cleverly used the characters name in a way that it gives the reader an insight into the tone of the poem which is that of hatred and revenge, had she written Miss Havisham this gives lightness, and happiness. This would give the poem a romantic feel.…

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Macbeth Gender Roles

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages

    It is also an important factor to many elements in Great Expectations, such as Pip’s story and character, Estella’s personality and future relationship with Pip, and so on. She does not have the best relationship with men, which stemmed from the man who she was supposed to marry but quickly he took off on their wedding money once he got a hold of her money, and this tore her apart. Based on her experiences, she thought it would be a good idea to raise her adopted daughter, Estella, in seclusion and to have a cold heart that cannot love. She was soon proved wrong, once Estella grew up and became aware of how Miss Havisham was treating her all these years. She also thought it was a good idea to trick Pip into thinking that she was his benefact, making him believe that she plans on having him marry Estella. But, again, was proved wrong, once Pip found out about about her plans. And they were anything but forgiving to Miss Havisham when they found out about what she’s been doing to them for all those years. She feels horrible and guilty for what she’s done, tries to get Pip to forgive her, and is engulfed in flames by a nearby lit fire. She later dies without being able to really redeem herself, like Lady Macbeth. The amount of stress Miss Havisham and Lady Macbeth had to deal with throughout, led them to do a number of things that they immediately…

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Miss Havisham Lighting

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Miss Havisham looks dead, withered away. Her hair and skin are white as snow, her lips are dry and cracked, she looks like a skeleton because she’s so skinny. Miss Havisham looks like she’s is living an eternal winter, a cold, icy storm that she can’t get out of - no matter how hard she tries. Miss Havisham is still fully dressed for her wedding; she has on her lace wedding dress, one of her bridal shoes, her veil, even her hair is done up the way it’s supposed to be for her wedding. She is the exact same way she was when she was suppose to get…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Havisham

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Carol Ann Duffy's poem 'Havisham' is a dramatic monologue written from the eyes of the infamous character Miss Havisham who is extracted from Dickens’s 'Great Expectations'. Miss Havisham is a very disturbing character for a number of different reasons conceived by the pain and hurt she has endured through out her life after being jilted at the altar many years before the poem is set. Through out Havisham we learn that there is more underlying problems to Havisham than what was once acknowledged. Hatred completely destroys Havisham and that instead of helping her to get revenge, it makes her worse which results in her hating all men.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Havisham

    • 1150 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Carol Anne Duffy bases her poem ‘Havisham’ off of a repulsive character from ‘Great Expectations’ by Charles Dickens. Miss Havisham is introduced to us in the story as a spinster who was left at the alter after being deceived by her brother and her ‘lover’. Since the day, she reveled in her grudge against them for breaking her heart and she became dominated by her obsession of a perfect marriage, perfect partner and perfect life. From this poem, Duffy displays how Miss Havisham’s desire for everything to be impeccable has caused her into a violent state that glares from within.…

    • 1150 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Miss Havisham can be described as being someone who shows the world that she's only a strong person who doesn't care about the people around her by the way she acts towards the people around her. She brings herself to be someone who doesn't have the right way of thinking about the feelings and actions of the people around her. The perfect example of this is the idea that she was able to be perfectly fine leading Pip on during his time of need with the love he felt for Estella. Miss Havisham can only be someone who loves to manipulate the people around her by allowing them to believe that the things she can help them with all always be better with her help.…

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Miss Havisham as shown encourages Estella to entrap Pip and break his heart. One may not exactly think that there is a “trap” if Havisham adopts someone and one thing is to break hearts. The trap is then hidden and would take someone really smart to see it right away. In this case then Ms. Havisham wants Pip to love Estella so a reader could think she feels bad but really it could be so there could be a further act of cruelty committed. "Love her, love her, love her! If she favours you, love her. If she wounds you, love her. If she tears your heart to pieces–and as it gets older and stronger–it will tear deeper–love her, love her, love her!" What this looks like is that it is a sketchy thing she’d like Pip to do and one could think that this is another act of cruelty. Overall what can be made from this is that one honestly does not have the right to treat someone like how Ms. Havisham did. Just because someone has hurt you doesn’t mean you get to treat them that way. Especially setting them up to someone else to be broken. You would never have someone assist you it is just vile, nasty, disgusting. It does just show that this type person has no breaks of any kind. No moral breaks whatsoever. This behavior could inflict dire consequences on the person in which is committing acts like these. Worst consequence is death. This shows that when you have fire going and are too close one can experience severe pain. Karma still exists no matter where at even in literature one will see it. Pip just could not save her in good…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays