Miss Havisham...A Victim or a Villain?

Dickens Directed Study August 21, 2001 Miss Havisham A Victim or a Villain? Was Miss Havisham a victim or a villain? This extremely eccentric character is absolutely essential to the plot of Great Expectations, for with malice intended, she greatly alters the paths of Pip's and Estella's lives, and with obsessive behavior destroys her own life. Miss Havisham was heir to a fortune that had been gained by successful industry rather than noble birth. Miss Havisham's suitor, …

…did to Pip by allowing him to think she was his secret benefactor. Miss Havisham was a victim only because she allowed herself to be. A strong person would have quickly realized that her life would be improved by being liberated from Compeyson, a white-collared criminal. Miss Havisham's villainy is forgivable; her self-imposed insanity allows us to do that. Miss Havisham is a marvelous diversion for the reader: not quite believable, but oh, so interesting.