The characters Miss Havisham, Bentley Drummle and Joe Gargery in Great Expectations.

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The characters Miss Havisham, Bentley Drummle and Joe Gargery in Great Expectations

Miss Havisham is a wealthy lady whose success came from the brewery attached to Satis House. The house itself is in decay, since the day Miss Havisham was forsaken on her wedding day, by Compeyson, a man who only used her for her wealth. The fact that she was able to “stop time” in the manor is a sign of her fortune. She is able to afford to keep the house the same as it was.

Miss Havisham is from the upper-class, though she was not born into aristocracy. Her decaying house perhaps mirrors her own gradual destruction.

        After being jilted, Miss Havisham sought to wreak revenge upon all men by adopting and using Estella as a tool. She raised Estella out of her own selfish desires to hurt the men who fall in love with her beauty. She encourages Estella to “break men’s hearts” and Pip was just someone for Estella to practise on. Her plan was extremely cruel and ruined various lives, including her own.

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        Though I understand that she may have felt hostile towards men, there was no reason to involve others and destroy their lives, for her own feelings. Being left at the altar on her wedding day must have been a traumatic experience, and though I believe no-one should go through that shame, I do not believe that influencing someone to grow up to have the same views as her is at all right. I do not feel sorry for Miss Havisham, as she has done too much damage to others, as well as to her own life to be able to ...

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