Estella’s whole life had been a product of Miss Havisham’s revenge. She had been moulded into a perfect figurine of Miss Havisham’s imagination, and since her youngest years, been treated like a marionette. We cannot forget though, that it is thanks to Miss Havisham, that Estella had survived the cruelty of poverty. If it had not been for her desire of a child, it is possible Estella would have lived a much more simple and rigid life. One can argue however, that this kind of life would have left Estella happier and more content.
‘Better… to have left her a natural heart, even to be bruised or broken’ (394).
By comparing Pip and Estella’s childhoods (before Pips visit to Satis House) we can see that emotionally, Pip was the more fortunate one.
Moving onto Pip, he is the main subject of Miss Havisham’s revenge; an innocent, common boy easily manipulated. He immediately falls in love with Estella and so becomes the perfect victim. Miss Havisham and Estella’s influence on Pip causes Pip to lose respect towards Biddy and Joe. This just proves how a chain reaction occurs (from Miss Havisham, to Estella to Pip to Joe). We could even blame Miss Havisham for Mrs. Joe’s death. If Pip had not gotten a holiday, Orlick would not have been jealous, hence he would have not attacked Mrs. Joe.
Once Pip finds out he is to become a gentleman, and has an anonymous benefactor, he immediately suspects Miss Havisham. He starts to believe Estella is destined to be his. Miss Havisham neither denies nor agrees to this, yet she leads him on. Consequently, when Pip finds out the truth about his benefactor, he is devastated. His expectations have been shattered, and realization dawns upon him. His heart, just as planned is broken.
‘Rhapsody welled up within me, like blood from an inward wound’ (359).
Pip’s behaviour throughout the novel has its indirect origins from Miss Havisham’s aspiration. He is firstly influenced by Estella’s comments
-‘Why he is a common, labouring boy!’ (53),
-‘And what coarse hands he has! And what thick boots!’ (57)
He becomes ungrateful towards Joe, for being a mere blacksmith and raising him to be ‘coarse and common’. As the novel progresses, so does Pip’s resentment towards everything below a certain social standard. Even though Pip did make his own choices and he should stand responsible for his actions, we could link this with Miss Havisham.
Dickens however, did not create Miss Havisham as a crude character who can be only viewed as evil (unlike Orlick and Compeyson). Towards the end of the novel, Miss Havisham shows penitence and is redeemed for her actions. She realizes her mistake and begs for forgiveness.
‘ Take the pencil and right under my name, “I forgive her!”’(398).
Even though she had turned Estella into a pawn in her game of chess, we have to remember it was done with reasons behind it. This of course does not justify her yet merely adds sense to her actions. Miss Havisham herself, had suffered in life, when she was left at the alter by Compeyson. From that moment on her life had stopped and she desired for others to feel her pain. She did not mean for matter to go that far and turn out that way, but her own plans backfired and turned against her. If we look at things this way, we could perhaps say Compeyson was to blame for everything written above. This may be why Compeyson is the character with only one (bad) side. He doesn’t show any remorse and is given no forgiveness from the readers.
There have also been good results from Miss Havisham’s desire for revenge. Herbert benefits, as he receives money from her (thanks to Pip) and his father, Mathew Pocket, receives 4,000 pounds after Miss Havisham’s death. We could argue that Estella benefits as she receives a chance to survive.
However in my opinion, we cannot say that in any case, Miss Havisham’s influence was ultimately bad or good, for we do not know the alternatives. E.g. If Pip never met Miss Havisham; he may have had a good life in the forge with Joe and Biddy. However, this is all assuming. We do not know what would have really happened; he could have ended up in a much worse situation. I’m not saying he would have, I’m saying it’s a possibility. As I said at the beginning, life is so much more intricate than a choice between two paths. Countless branches are present from every path and we will never find out the consequences from the once we don’t take. The paths present from Miss Havisham’s desire for revenge however, show more bad sides than good sides.
However, at the end of the day, Miss Havisham’s revenge should be classified as wrongdoing. She had taken away the potential of a more contented life for many chief characters and denied them the privilege to take this choice.
