How Does Miss Havisham Change Throughout The Novel

The novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is set in the Mid-nineteenth century and is narrated by the main character and protagonist, Pip, who is formally introduced at his adolescent age of six. Pip lives with his older sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, who Pip is not particularly fond of, and his brother-in-law Joe, who Pip describes as his best friend and teacher of the art of blacksmithing, in the cities of England. As Pip lives the typical life of a mischievous juvenile child, he encounters an escaped convict, Abel Magwitch, in a churchyard, and though Abel’s initial encounter was in the intention to terrorize Pip, Abel is overcome by the kindness Pip exerts on him, and will eventually turn the table and return the act of kindness on to
Pip. This first meeting foreshadows the evolution of the conflict that will occur in Pips life, only to be initiated by the conflict that comes with being invited into the home of Miss Havisham.
Miss. Havishham is described by Pip as an old, wealthy lady who lives in the Satis House manor near Pip’s village. Miss Havishham is infamous for wearing her old wedding dress every day after being distraught to the events of her fiancé leaving her at the altar. In attempts to revenge against men, Miss Havisham adopts a young girl Estella, and raises her to become spiteful and heartbreaking towards those who have the misfortune of falling in love with her. Dickens of course uses Estella as the major conflict in Pips life, as he falls passionately in love with her due to Miss Havisham’s subliminal manipulation. Along with being a accessory to the convict Abel, Dickens sets up a anachronistic approach of conflicts for Pip to overcome as he’s on the journey to bettering himself from martial-like villages to the upscales of
England. To further describe the accounts of Pip’s conflicts, as he matures into an ambitious teenager, his affections towards Estella aren’t stifled by their imbalance in social class, but instead used as inspiration for Pip to become a high class gentleman and marry her through the difficult foundation of cold heartedness that Miss.
Havsisham had established. This being said, the goal to attain Estella’s hand in marriage and become a gentleman of Estella’s nature becomes a tedious task for Pip. Dickens uses the theme of man vs. society to illustrate the conflict of the social class that’s preventing Pip from becoming closer to Estella. Pip works hard through the thwart of being a low paid blacksmith, in hopes that one day his life will be reciprocated into his aspiring life of a gentleman. As if it was the grace of God himself, Pip had inherited a thesaurus amount of money anonymously, to help him become the tantamount of a gentleman he had so long been wishing for. This situation of course led Pip to believe Miss. Havisham herself had given him the money to help him win over his true love Estella. Momentarily solving Pip’s conflict in becoming a gentleman, but not yet the major conflict of winning over
Estella. To adapt to Pip’s new life, Miss Havisham’s son’s cousin Herbert begins to mold Pip into the high class social life of a gentlemen. Pip’s now achieved dream of being a gentleman, and yet still resolved conflict of winning over Estella is put on hold when Dickens’s story reaches its climax. To explain, Pip thought the money that he anonymously inherited came from Miss. Havisham to attempts to help him win over Estella, but really the money had come from someone much more tangent than that, Abel Magwitch, Pip’s childhood convict encounter. Abel arrives to Pip on his twenty third Birthday to crush his dream’s that Miss. Havisham’s nature of damning men, had been surpassed by the sympathy of Pip’s zealous love for Estella. This leaves Pip hysterical but not to the point at which he decides to give up on his love for Estella. Although Pip is still in attempt to win over his true love, his reencounter with Abel reveals that the reason he is a convict is that he had been exiled from England, and had now become Pip’s responsibility to help him get extorted to somewhere safe for him to live. This distraction of helping his convicted friend avoid capture leads to Estella’s marrying Bentley Drummle, who was described as a cruel and harsh man. Dickens doesn’t help by making matters worse for Pip when Abel’s ex partner in crime, Compeyson, is responsible for getting Abel arrested, only to spend the rest of his life in prison. The series of unfortunate events leads Pip to exile himself from all his past life, leaving the reader to think there’s no hope left for his initial plan to marry Estella, which had been his major conflict through his entire youthful life. Eleven years after the tragedies Pip lived through, he returned to his home to find Estella had been widowed from her husband Drummle, and she describes her past marriage as a total mayhem in which Drummle exhibited pusillanimous acts as far as being abusive towards a woman like herself. This news gives new life to Pip in which he grabs Estella’s hand, and they exit the novel hand in hand, in hopes to never part again. In conclusion, Charles Dickens’ uses the theme of man vs. society to properly illustrate how a young poor boy from the villages, can surpass the major conflicts of attaining his desired goal, in this case a woman, to help better himself through all odds. From the blacksmithing robe, to the finest tailored suits, Pip had lived on both sides of the social spectrum. Pip had experienced what it was like to have your heart manipulated and crushed due to the lack of coin in his pocket, to having enough money to establish a perfect life for two, but still falling short. Through the ambitious efforts that Dickens instilled in Pips character, at the end of all the turmoil, Pip had eventually taken the hand of his beloved Estella, and through the eternal powers of love, never let it go.