Great Expectations

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   lit24 Teacher
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   There are three aspects to be considered:

   1. The general rumors about Miss Havisham:"I had heard of Miss Havisham up town...led a life of seclusion." Ch.7.

   2. What Pip actually sees in Ch.8: "The strangest lady I have ever seen....I should have cried out if I could."

   3. The lies Pip is forced to tell in Ch.9 concerning Miss Havisham.

   Pumblechook takes Pip to Miss Havisham's house. At the entrance he is met by Estella who leads him to the presence of Miss Havisham. Pip is traumatised to such an extent at the ghastly sight of Miss Havisham that he remarks:"I should have cried out if I could." Miss Havisham who has been cheated on her wedding day by Compeyson has shut herself up in her room and literally allowed herself and her manor house to rot and decay. To take revenge on men in general she has  adopted  Estella and is training her "to break men's hearts."  Pip is the guinea pig on whom Estella has to practise and perfect the art of ruining the happiness of young men.

   When Dickens was eighteen years old he fell in love with a rich girl Maria Beadnell who insulted him in his 'coming of age party' by calling him "boy" and refusing to marry him.  When he wrote "Great Expectaions" he had separated from his wife and was having an affair with the  young actress Ellen Ternan. Pip's experiences with Estella reflect Dickens' troubled relationships with the women in his life.

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   Posted by lit24 on Saturday August 16, 2008 at 7:38 AM
   
   

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