Another character in ‘Great Expectations’ that has been made unforgettable, is the tattered, escaped convict ‘Magwitch.’ In the beginning of the story, this strange person appears in the overgrown, eerie graveyard and threatens young Pip. As this scene is set in such a ghastly place, it helps make the character seem much more daunting and frightening than he normally is. Also, as we see this intimidating character from a small child’s point of view, the audience finds him more fear-provoking than if they were reading the story through the eyes of a grown up being threatened.
Even though the character of Magwitch is extremely threatening and scary, the reader cannot help to find him slightly comical in certain places. We find him humorous as he can’t pronounce certain words correctly and seems to say words the way they should be wrote down. E.g. “You get me wittles.” When really, what he meant to say was “Could you get me some victuals?” This tells the reader that he did not have a good education when he was younger.
Although Magwitch appears not to be a very friendly man, the reader’s still feel slightly sorry for him. They don’t agree that it is right for him to threaten a small boy and ask him to steal but seem to believe that the reason he is doing so is because he is so desperate and hungry. Straight away, the reader’s can tell the class of this character by the amount of descriptive text used. It states that the clothes that he stands in are torn and old and that he has an old scrap of material around his head. We can also tell that he is not too high up in the social status as he does not wear a hat and is extremely dirty.
When Pip notices that Magwitch has a ball and chain on his foot, it is immediately obvious that Magwitch has broken out of prison and is on the run from the law! In this part of the story, there is no information about Magwitch’s history. This means that we are basing our impressions of this character on Pip and Magwitch’s first meeting and we really don’t yet know his real personality.
Later on in the story, Pip is told that someone has paid for him to go to London and train to be a lawyer. Pip immediately assumes that it is a rich, eccentric woman called Miss. Havisham whom he first met as a small child. It isn’t until further on that the same man that he first met in an eerie graveyard tells Pip that it was him who arranged it all. Pip is embarrassed and ashamed. He doesn’t really want to know this man and when Magwitch asks where he will be sleeping, Pip is very dismissive. Both Pip’s and Magwitch’s personalities seem to have changed. Magwitch from a threatening man, to a kind, good willing soul, and Pip, from a friendly child to a grown up snob. Another piece of evidence from the story that shows that Pip has changed is when Mr. Joe Gargery, the man who brought him up comes to see Pip in London. Pip is very uncomfortable when he sees what Joe is wearing. The readers are now slightly ashamed of what the small boy they once met at the beginning of the story to what he has now turned out to be like. A bit further on in the story, he finds out that Magwitch once had a little girl and gave her away. Pip realises that that child is Estella. He tells Magwitch that he loves her and wants to be with her.
Miss. Havisham is yet another character in ‘Great Expectations’ that stands out and grabs the reader’s attention. There is quite a lot of descriptive writing about this out of the ordinary, different woman. She is described as a strange woman who lives in a big house with a young girl called Estella. All of the clocks in her house are all stopped at twenty minutes to nine. She is dressed in a white wedding dress made from fine materials. She also wears expensive jewels and other jewels lay sparkling on the table beside her. This shows that although she is a peculiar woman, she is also very rich. All of the windows of her house are bordered up and no light gets in. She never changes and every item in her house is never moved. She even has a room with a long table full of decayed foods. Her life stopped the instant her husband to be left her on the morning of their wedding. She has shrivelled from this beautiful woman to a pale old lady, nothing more than skin and bone. As this part of the story is set in such an unusual setting, it helps to make the old woman seem a lot more weird than usual.
The audience are gripped to this character due to her strange story and character. When Pip first meets Miss. Havisham, she mainly talks to him in commands. “Come nearer, let me look at you, come close.” It is almost as if she feels that she is higher than Pip and because of this, he should be like a servant and do every thing she wishes. As the house is so dark and dismal, candles are needed for light twenty-four hours of the day. The atmosphere is spooky and eerie and it shows that Miss. Havisham has no understanding of time and space. The audience gets the idea that Miss. Havisham is in a vortex or a time loop and does not wish to leave by her own accord.
Again, as we see this unusual woman through young Pip’s eyes, she actually appears to be more intimidating and frightening than she actually is. Instead of being portrayed as a frail, helpless old woman, which is what she truly is.
When the reader’s read about Miss. Havisham, they feel sympathy towards her. They feel sorry that she has wasted her life and stopped completely due to her fiancé leaving her. When we learn that Miss. Havisham hates all men and thinks that they are all the same, the readers sort of find her sly and devious. She has brought the girl Estella up to break young men’s hearts. She takes pride in seeing Pip upset when Estella calls him.
All through the story, Miss, Havisham remains stuffed up inside her big corroded house. Her personality never changes and she always remains such a vindictive old woman. Later on in the story, Pip returns from London and goes to see Miss. Havisham. They have an argument and Pip storms out. He hears her screams and returns to see her burning alive due to her dress catching fire. He rips the table cover off the long table covered in decayed food and tries to put the fire out and save Miss. Havisham although to no avail. Even though such a tragic event has taken place, the readers don’t feel a lot of sympathy towards her due to her cunning nature and strange behaviour.
Estella is another character in ‘Great Expectations’ that is strong and memorable. At the start of the story, when she first meets Pip, she is snobbish and arrogant. She pays to much pride to herself and not enough to Pip. She believes that because Pip comes from a poorer family that she is better than him.
As she speaks down to Pip, the audience instinctively don’t really like her. There are not any details about Estella’s background so the reader’s base their opinion of her on how she speaks and behaves. The audience learn that as Miss. Havisham raised Estella, she brainwashed her that all men were a waste of time and that she should break all of their hearts. When the audience learn that Pip has fallen in love with Estella, they want to shout at him to stop, as she is not worth it at all.
The reader’s assume that the reason Estella behaves in such a snobbish way is because she is in such a huge house and surroundings. Miss. Havisham promises her all of her belongings when she is gone.
After Pip meets Estella, he decides that he wants to become a gentleman when he grows older. He wants to marry Estella even though Estella obviously despises him. Pip is so pleased when he finds out he is moving to London to train as a lawyer. He hopes that by changing into a gentleman, he could win Estella’s heart. When he finds out that Estella is with another man, he is upset and heartbroken. The reader’s feel so sorry for Pip but know that he is better off without her as Miss. Havisham would never allow them to be happy.
Once Pip has become a gentleman, he is definitely a lot more confident but has also succeeded in becoming a snob, something that he hated about Estella the first time they met.
Pip is extremely sad and upset and returns back to the empty house, which once housed the eccentric woman and the girl she raised. When he arrives, he finds Estella sitting inside. Her partner had left her and she had stopped her life just like Miss. Havisham had all those years before.
Pip is extremely annoyed and rips open all of the windows to bring the light flooding back. He believes the house is old and cursed and tells Estella that she can’t stay here. Pip and Estella instinctively fall in love and leave together to enjoy the rest of their life together.
I believe that Charles Dickens created so many memorable characters in ‘Great Expectations’ by giving them such deep and interesting personalities and history. As he puts so much descriptive writing into the story, it helps the reader’s to get right into the plot experiencing what happens alongside Pip.
