How Does Miss Havisham Have In Common

It is not uncommon for a parent to want their child to have pleasures in life that they were never given. Usually, this sentiment works in favor of the child. For example, an immigrant moves to a country where their child can have more rights, freedoms, and opportunities than they did. In the acclaimed novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Miss Havisham takes this outlook to new heights. Miss Havisham trains her adopted daughter, Estella to terrorize the hearts of young men to make up for the heartbreak that she faced in her youth. Around the same time, another parental figure pushes a child to find opportunities that she was never given; Mrs. Joe sends her brother, Pip to the home of an eccentric old lady in pursuit of wealth and social
Even after Pip is granted the opportunity to be a gentleman, his motivation to be uncommon is still fueled by his belief that Miss Havisham intended for him to marry Estella. During one of his visits to see Miss Havisham, Pip realizes that “Estella was set to wreak Miss Havisham’s revenge on men,” but he still has the delusion of thinking that Estella is “assigned,” or betrothed, to him.(293) Miss Havisham’s use of Estella to avenge her poor love life undoubtedly took it’s toll on Pip; he fell so deeply into Miss Havisham’s trap that he couldn’t even see that he wasn’t the exception to her “sick fancies” involving heartbroken men. Dickens uses Pip’s ignorance to paint Miss Havisham as the controlling figure in Estella’s heartbreaking rampage. Without the belief that he was to be married to Estella, Pip wouldn’t have continued to push himself so strongly into the upper class society that he clearly didn’t fit
Miss Havisham even admits to having deeply hurt both Pip and Estella by heartlessly using Estella to seek revenge for her past experiences with Compeyson. This realization causes him to give up his desire to remain a gentleman. After the identity of his benefactor is revealed, and Pip finally acknowledges the “deep injury” that Miss Havisham gave him, he returns to Satis house, where Miss Havisham repeatedly begs him to “forgive her” after she too realizes what she has put him through.(380/383) Pip’s character quickly grows more forgiving and remorseful after Miss Havisham admits what she has done to him. The dramatic character development in Pip that takes place over such a short period of time can only prove that Dickens meant Miss Havisham to be the cause of Pip’s ambitious, “uncommon”