Miss Havisham Essay

In Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, one of Dickens’ most famous characters is Miss Havisham. She has a few unusual character traits. Miss Havisham is a wealthy woman. Her adopted daughter, Estella, is love and adored by the narrator of the book, Pip, along with many other young men. An event that took place in Miss Havisham’s days as a young woman altered her personality completely. Miss Havisham was left at the altar when she was just a young woman. This event changed her for the worse, it left her completely heartbroken. After that day, it was like she froze in time. She still wore the once white (now yellow) wedding gown. It appears as she was only half-dressed, she only wore one heal and sat in the same chair as she did when she first heard the news that her bridegroom had fled, many years later. She told Pip when he visited her for the first time that she has yet to see the sun since before Pip was born. This showed how much sadness and disbelief she received upon hearing she was abandoned. This is the sad aspect of Miss Havisham’s personality.
Being left at the altar also made Miss Havisham very hard-hearted and bitter to all other men.
She adopted the beautiful Estella with the intentions of raising her to break every man’s heart. Miss Havisham brought in Pip to play with Estella and encouraged him to fall in love with her so she could break his heart in the end. When Estella first met Pip, she objected immediately and called Pip a “common boy”. Miss Havisham simply responded, “Well. you can break his heart.” (62) This proved her intentions with Estella and other men she is going to meet in the future. Also, it showed the bitterness towards men that came from Miss Havisham being
jilted. Miss Havisham became so bitter to men, she became obsessed with getting back at them through Estella. When Pip came to visit Miss Havisham and reunite with Estella, Miss Havisham asks Pip what he thought of Estella as she did years before. Except this time, she appeared more obsessed with getting Pip to love Estella more than ever. Miss Havisham repeated “love her, love her, love her…” (254) multiple times to Pip, not knowing he already did. Miss Havisham’s repetition of “love her” showed her obsession and dedication to getting revenge and making all other men who fall in love with Estella feel the same pain she did when she was abandoned. Miss Havisham was most likely a completely different person before she was betrayed by the bridegroom. This event left Miss Havisham so heartbroken to the extent that she has no drive to leave her room or even change out of the dress for several years. This man also made Miss Havisham hate all men enough for her to raise her adopted daughter just to break their hearts. She became obsessed with getting her revenge on all men not just the bridegroom who betrayed her. This woman was a completely different person before being jilted. One man, one day affected everyday of her life after drastically.