Character Analysis

Miss Havisham is a very abstract and complex character in Great Expectations. She is an old woman who is lost in her traumatizing past. When she was younger she was stood up on her wedding day. She was never met at the altar and since that day she lives in an old mansion, where she is lonely and depressed. It was twenty minutes to nine when she realized that her husband to be, Compeyson, had stood her up, and at the time she only had one shoe on. From her wedding day forward she set all the clocks in her house to twenty to nine, and only wears one shoe. She is a very angry and lonely woman so she calls upon Pip for company. Later in the novel the reader learns it wasn’t just company Miss Havisham sought. She has a lasting desire for revenge against all men, so she feels compelled to cause Pip sadness. At the end of the book she is happy to see that she has caused Pip extreme heartbreak when he and Estella are not together. At first Miss Havisham feels redeemed but then, unexpectedly, she is very apologetic and she begs Pip for forgiveness. Miss Havisham is representing part of the novels theme by this action, that disrespect and bad behavior can be forgotten with sincere apologies and sympathy.