CHARLES DICKENS: GREAT EXPECTATIONS(B) It has been argued that Pip’s life would have developed much as it does even if he had never met Miss Havisham. Do you agree? What is her role in the novel?
... she is described using negative supernatural epithets. Dickens employs another supernatural image to depict Pip’s obsessive love for Estella. In Chapter 38, Pip describes Satis House, saying ‘O the many, many nights and days through which the unquiet spirit within me haunted that house when Estella lived there!’(Dickens, p.286.) Again, this enforces the almost magical power Miss Havisham holds over Pip, and her greatest influence on Pip’s development. Miss Havisham’s plan has succeeded. It is, however, not her only influence. As a byproduct of this scheme, Pip’s social expectations become powerful and ambitious, as he aspires to become what he thinks Estella wants him to be: aristocratic, wealthy, a gentleman. Pip’s social ambition is evident from the beginning of the novel, but it is the intervention of Miss Havisham (and her sidekick Estella) that really brings these ambitions to the fore. In fact, Pip says, ‘This was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me.’ (Dickens, p.67.) When it is revealed that Pip will come into money, he immediately assumes Miss Havisham is his benefactress. This belief is aided by her eccentric behaviour. Pip’s belief that Miss Havisham is his benefactress is his most important expectation and strongly influences the development of his life. It is most importantly, part of the major moral lesson he learns during the novel. His expectation has no concrete evidence; indeed, Miss Havisham drops subtle hints to him that it is a fallacy. Following Miss Havisham’s assistance in securing Pip’s apprenticeship, she says to him ‘…you will expect no other and no more.’ (Dickens, p.99.) Because Miss Havisham does not blatantly discourage his beliefs, however, Pip becomes increasingly removed from reality. This highlights one of the foremost moral lessons of the novel. Miss Havisham’s plot motivates his growing disdain for the life of Joe and the forge. Following his first visit to Satis House, Pip complains to Joe of Estella’s disgust towards his ‘commonness’. Joe responds with a lecture on the benefits of honesty in leading a fruitful life. ‘If you can’t get to be oncommon through going straight, you’ll never get to do it through going crooked.’ (Dickens, p.66.) But at this early stage in the novel, Pip pays little attention to Joe. Instead, he is increasingly deprecating to himself and Joe, thinking ‘how common Estella would consider Joe, a mere blacksmith’ and how Estella and Miss Havisham were ‘far above the level of such common things’, meaning, life in the forge. Miss Havisham thus plays a part in influencing one of the most important moral lessons Pip faces during the novel. She stands in contrast to Joe. Joe, uneducated and working-class, is far removed from the aristocratic world of Miss Havisham. Yet he is honest and loyal, with a far better perception of reality than the grotesquely eccentric Miss Havisham. During the course of the novel, Pip discovers that real self-improvement is not related to social status or material wealth, but is instead the result of integrity, compassion and kindness, also aided by the character of Magwitch. He eventually discovers that it is wrong to grasp at expectations that have no concrete evidence. In contrast to Joe, Miss Havisham therefore plays a strong role in the moral lesson Pip learns during the novel. However, before this moral lesson is learnt, Pip’s delusions become more extreme. He begins to believe that there is another addition to Miss Havisham’s economic plans for him: he manages to convince himself that she has destined Estella to be his wife. This warped belief accelerates his distorted perceptions of their relationship. He believes that although Estella debases and renounces him, Miss Havisham has written it in the stars that the two shall be together. Following his move to London, he continues to believe himself destined for Estella, viewing himself as a knight who will rescue Estella from Satis House. ‘She reserved it for me to restore the desolate house, admit the sunshine into the dark rooms, set the clocks a going and the cold hearths a blazing, tear down the cobwebs, destroy the vermin – in short, do all the shining deeds of the young knight of romance, and marry the Princess.’ (Dickens, p. 219.) It can consequently be seen that Estella has an enormous effect on Pip’s life, controlling his ambitions, actions and emotions. Miss Havisham, of course, does nothing to sway his fantasies, though she is aware of them, so clearly his meetings with Miss Havisham and Estella have a marked influence on the development of his life, as he increasingly removes himself from reality. Both Pip and Miss Havisham have difficulty facing reality. It can be said, then, that one of her roles in the novel is to contrast Pip. Pip is never comfortable with his understanding of himself, and has difficulty defining his character. He is not content with his working class perceptions and struggles to refine himself. Once he achieves the social status he aspires to, his expectations and perceptions of himself are thwarted. He finds himself constantly humiliated by Estella, his experiences of city life leave him disillusioned, and most importantly, he discovers his fortunes were brought to him by a convict. Though he tries to separate himself from his working-class origins, the guilt he faces in doing so renders this impossible. In a similar manner, Miss Havisham has difficulty distinguishing her past self from the self she has become. She lives in a time warp, dressed in the same clothing she wore when she was deserted on her wedding day. Though her clothes may once have been splendid, they now have a macabre appearance, yellowed and decaying. Miss Havisham’s detachment from reality is presented symbolically through the image of her looking-glass. The ‘gilded looking-glass’ is one of the first things Pip notices when he arrives at Satis House. She constantly scrutinises herself in the mirror, and within, she sees both the eternal bride and the skeleton she has become. (Sadrin, p.226.) Moreover, Pip is dragged into her warped perception of the past, as he becomes Miss Havisham’s puppet. ‘Before she spoke again, she turned her eyes from me, and looked at the dress she wore, and at the dressing table, and finally at herself in the looking-glass. ‘ ‘So new to him’, she muttered. ‘So old to me, so strange to him, so familiar to me, so melancholy to both of us! Call Estella.’ (Dickens, p.54.) Comparatively, both characters are removed from reality in that they live their expectations through the lives of others. Miss Havisham clearly lives vicariously through Estella, and Pip lives through Miss Havisham. Under the impression that she is his benefactress, he pins all his hopes on the eccentric old woman, only to be left disillusioned when Magwitch finally reveals himself as the true benefactor. Pip’s aristocratic expectations are thus thwarted as he realises his money derives from dubious origins. The presence of candles highlights the effect of Miss Havisham on Pip’s development. When Pip first arrives at Satis House, Estella holds a candle to lighten the dark rooms: metaphorically speaking, it is she who controls Pip’s perceptions of Satis House. The candle illuminates only parts of the house; other areas are left dark. Estella takes up the candle, and ‘we went through more passages, and up a staircase, and still it was all dark and only the candle lighted us.’ (Dickens, p.52.) Miss Havisham controls Estella, and therefore has an indirect control over what Pip can and can’t see. However, when Pip visits Miss Havisham for the final time, it is he who holds the candle. ‘The lighted candle stood in the dark passage within, as of old, and I took it up and ascended the staircase alone.’ (Dickens, p.374.) This is highly symbolic and depicts a change in Pip’s development. Pip now has control of his own perceptions; he is no longer entirely passive and easily impressed by the uncanny grandeur of Satis House. He finally has realised that the wealth, riches and status of Miss Havisham’s world are not what they seem. That Pip holds the candle also symbolises their role reversal. When Pip first visits Satis House, he is afraid of Miss Havisham, and allows her to dictate his actions. But now, it is Miss Havisham who is in fear of Pip. Her character has also gone through changes, as both have become overwrought with guilt. While Pip feels guilty for his snobbish treatment of Joe, Miss Havisham is guilty of manipulating two children into a life of pain. Both characters will be punished for their selfishness with fire. Miss Havisham is literally consumed by fire. It is Pip who extinguishes the flames that will eventually consume her, and indicate his journey towards moral improvement. (Charles, ...