As you can see, dickens was an extremely ambitious man with enormous talent.
But all these aspirations and ambitions to become successful were slightly influenced by the time and place Dickens lived in.
Dickens lived through the industrial revolution, The first Industrial Revolution occurred in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century; it greatly altered Britain's economy and society. The most immediate changes were in the nature of production: what was produced, as well as where and how. Labor was transferred from the production of primary products to the production of manufactured goods and services. Far more manufactured goods were produced than ever before, and technical efficiency rose dramatically. In part, the growth in productivity was achieved by systematic application of scientific and practical knowledge to the manufacturing process. Efficiency was also enhanced when large enterprises were located within limited areas. Therefore, the Industrial Revolution involved urbanisation, that is, the process of migration from rural to urban communities.
Perhaps the most important changes occurred in the organisation of work. The typical company expanded and took on new characteristics. In general, production took place within the firm or the public enterprise instead of the family or manor. Tasks became increasingly routine and specialised. Industrial production became heavily dependent upon the intensive use of capital—physical plant and equipment produced for the express purpose of increasing efficiency. A reliance on tools and machinery allowed individual workers to produce more goods than before and the advantages of experience with a particular task, tool, or piece of equipment reinforced the trend toward specialisation.
The growth of specialisation and the application of capital to industrial production created new class distinctions
New social and vocational classes emerged that were distinguished from workers by virtue of their ownership or control of the physical means of production. The members of these new classes came to be known as capitalists. These classes of rich and poor reflected on Dickens’s work. Wealth, job and land ownership divided the rich and the poor of Dickens’s time.
My coursework is to analyse Miss Havisham, my first impressions of Miss Havisham is one based on the first time Pip encounters her. Pips thoughts of her house can reflect on our first view of Miss Havisham.
“Within a quarter of an hour we came to Miss Havisham’s house, which was of old brick, and dismal, and had a great many iron bars to it. Some of the windows had been walled up; of those that remained, all the lower were rustily barred.”
This could reflect on our first view of her because we can see that her house is barred up and tattered, from this we may assume that the bars on the house represent Miss Havisham’s life, kept locked away from society like she was in solitary confinement. We also see her house as a scary and spooky place. This adds intrigue, it makes me wonder what type of person would live in such a dwelling.
“Grass grew on the pavement”
This shows that the grounds were ‘dismal and not looked after, they were neglected.
“The wind howled”
This makes the house sound ghostly possibly like the stereotypical view of a ghost house on television or in films.
Also the fact that she has Estella opens the door to let Pip in makes us think that maybe she is very proud rich, rich enough to afford servants and a huge house.
Estella is also quite hostile towards Miss Havisham’s guests. This again adds intrigue, why is Estella like this? What is her history?
“Mr Pumblechook was coming in also, when she stopped him with the gate”
“Oh!” ‘She said.’ “Did you wish to see Miss Havisham?”
“If Miss Havisham wished to see me,” ‘returned Mr Pumblechook, discomfited.’
“Ah” ‘said the girl;’ “but you see she don’t.”
Here we can see that she is hostile towards them both, this is because of the way that she has been brought up – proud, Estella’s upbringing also reflects on Miss Havisham.
Estella has been brought up as a young lady but she uses her education and wealth to talk down to Pip and make him feel inferior. In doing this we know she is doing this to put down Pip, as he is a male (here she is fulfilling Miss Havishams wishes). This divide between the educated Estella and the country boy Pip reflects Dickens time of upbringing, and the rich and poor divides that were present.
As we know that Miss Havisham has brought up Estella, we can assume that this is Miss Havisahm’s teaching and the way she has brought up the adopted Estella. She too is also bitter and twisted due to the strange upbringing she had received from Miss Havisham. She does not see that she is being used by Miss Havisham and is little more than an agent is for Miss Havsham’s revenge. It is these types actions carried out by Miss Havisham that add to her whole evil character.
Miss Havisham is using Estella because she wants revenge against all of the male sex because she feels they are inferior, selfish and evil. This is ironic as everything she hates and despises about males; best describes her as a person, and type of character. This is because when she was younger, she was left standing at the altar by her husband to be. This is probably were a lot of her hatred and her desires for revenge started; she hates the male sex probably because her heart was broken. However if her heart was broken this shows she was once in love and sensitive, adding another side to her complex character. This incident however changed her into a bitter woman, the Miss Havisham we are all familiar with now.
“ We went into the house by a side door – the great front entrance had two chains across it outside- and the first thing I noticed was, that the passages were all dark, and that she had left a candle burning there. She took it up, and went through more passages, and up a staircase, and still it was all dark, and only the candle lighted us.”
This gives us the first impression that Miss Havisham may have been a vampire? Or a witch? The way she lives in total darkness and seclusion. They entered into a room in which Miss Havisham was permanently situated
“I entered, therefore, and found myself in a pretty large room, well lighted with wax candles. No glimpse of daylight was to be seen it. It was a dressing room, as I supposed from the furniture, though much of it was of forms and uses unknown to me.”
Here we see further evidence that she is indeed a very strange woman, with no natural light in the room this can again further suggest, could she be a vampire or something else along those lines, this adds mystery and intrigue, it also asks questions, why is she secluded to the world?
“ She was dressed in rich materials- satins and lace and silks- all of white. Her shoes were white. And she had a long white veil dependant from her hair, and she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table… She had not quite finished dressing, for she had but one shoe on – the other was on the table near her hand”
This shows she was indeed a very strange lady and everything in her room was in a state of disarray.
Later on in the novel, we do however find out that the reason for her wearing her wedding dress is because on her proposed wedding day many years ago her husband to be jilted her and left her standing by the altar. It also shows that her lover that left her at the altar meant a lot to her and she was scarred from that day, this is known as she never removed her brides dress. This is why she wants revenge on all men and hates them all despite it only being one man who shattered her dreams. She suffers an emotional shock when Compeyson (her husband to be) abandons her and she decides to cut herself off from all human life. The outside of her house being very tattered and not well looked after is evidence of this.
Her adopted child Estella is the only contact she has with anyone in the outside world and she uses Estella to be an ‘Agent’ for her to seek revenge on the male population.
Examples of this is the way that she gets revenge on the male population, this is shown when she talks to Pip and how she treats Pip when he comes round to play. This shows how Miss Havishams desires for revenge against her former husband have turned her into a bitter cold woman that relishes in the pain of other males; this may be her role-playing? She may be imagining how it would make her husband feel if she were to break his heart?
“’ With this boy! Why, he is a common labouring boy’ I thought I heard Miss Havisham answer – only it seemed so unlikely – ‘well! You can break his heart.” ’
Here we can see that Estella is not treating Pip as if he is of her social class, in addition to this we can see how Miss Havisham wants Estella to beat Pip and to make him feel bad about himself.
“ ‘He calls the knaves, jacks this boy!’ Said Estella with disdain, before our first game was out. ‘And what coarse hands he has! And what thick boots’
I had never thought of being ashamed of my hands before; but I began to consider them a very indifferent pair. Her contempt was so strong, that it became infectious and I caught it.”
Here we can see that Miss Havisham’s wish is becoming a reality, Estella has succeeded in what Miss Havisham wants her to do. Pip now feels guilty for being of a lower social class and is beginning to wish he were never there.
In chapter 11 Pip returns to Miss Havisham’s house like he was appointed to do so at this time. Estella leads Pip into Miss Havisham’s house in different way. She leads him through a different passage and almost all the way under the manor to a different part of the house.
“There was a clock in the outer wall of this house. Like the clock in Miss Havisham’s room, and like Miss Havisham’s watch, it had stopped at twenty minutes to nine”
All these stopped watches and clocks I believe are to remind everyone who sees them of when she was jilted by her husband to be and in this way I believe that she thinks this will make people feel sorry for her and make males feel guilty.
In this part of the house there was a table spread with the food all over it, but now it was all rotten with rats feeding on it, the food looked as though once it may have been ready for a great feast, a wedding perhaps. In addition to this there is again evidence here of Estella ‘mocking’ Pip and Miss Havisham’s wish of making males feel guilty:
“Am I pretty?”
“Yes; I think you are very pretty.”
“Am I insulting?”
“Not so much so as you were the last time?” ‘Said I’
“Not so much so?”
“No”
Here Estella does not seem so insulting but as the passage continues, we can see that the Estella that Pip saw when he first met her again comes back.
‘She fired when she asked the last question, and she slapped my face with such force as she had, when I answered it.
“Now?” said she “You coarse little monster, what do you think of me now?”
“I shall not tell you.”
“Because you are going to tell upstairs. Is that it?”
“No” said I “that’s not it”
“ Why don’t you cry again, you little wretch?”
“Because I shall never cry for you again”
Here we can obviously see that Pip has realised what Estella wants, She wants to upset Pip and get MISS HAVISHAM’S own back on him for being a male. Not her own back, but Miss Havisham’s as this is what she has been brought up to do.
However, Pip has realised this and told her she will never cry for again.
In this chapter also Miss Havisham admits that she has everthing against males and wants them to suffer.
“ Break their hearts, my pride and hope, break their hearts and have no mercy”
Here she clearly states what she wants to do.
In Chapter 18 Miss Havisham’s solicitor Mr Jaggers visits Pip and tells him that he has come into great fortune. He is not told who has left him the money however he does believe it is Miss Havisham. He says that she is like his
“Fairy godmother”
By this time we find out why Miss Havisham is so heartless to Pip and to Estella. It is because not only was she jilted at the alter by her husband to be; but when she was very young her mother and her father denied her nothing – she was a spoilt young girl.
The outcome of Miss Havisham’s desire for revenge is a split one. This is because, Pip has become slightly like Miss Havisham through being treated so harshly, he wants to be a gentleman and starts off being a ‘snob and looking down on himself, changing his social appearance and therefore changing what side he is on when the social divides occour.
But also the people closest to him like Joe become distant due to the social divisions. Dickens is showing that social divides are stupid, as everyone is the same. If a country boy can become a gentleman, Dickens shows that this divide is not because of personality but purely down to ignorance.
However, Miss Havisham finally realises what she has done and apologises for the way she has been in the past and how she brought up Estella. As Pip leaves the room, he accidentally knocks over a candle and her room goes up in flames, Pip tries to save her but he is unsuccessful and she dies. This refers back to what Pip saw that first time he was at Miss Havisham’s house, he saw a figure in the brewery yard, which looked like Miss Havisham hanging there.
“I turned my eyes – a little dimmed by looking up at the frosty light – towards a great wooden beam in a low nook of the building near me on my right hand side, I saw a figure hanging there by the neck. A figure all in yellow white, but with one shoe to the feet; and it hung so; that I could see that the faded trimmings of the dress were like earthy paper, and that the face was of Miss Havisham’s.”
This may signify that Pip had an early vision that Miss Havisham would have a painful slow death, this did happen, her death started when she was jilted at the alter and her desire for revenge.
Overall you could say that her desire for revenge finally caught up with her, and it was her own fault for wishing bad fortune on other people. Her desire for revenge was one of the reason Pip came back to the house, if she was not so fuelled with revenge through out her life, she may of endured a slightly more peaceful death. I feel that her desire for revenge was met with what she rightfully deserved accident or not.