Topic > Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and the Change in Miss Havisham's Personality

Some people are willing to do anything for love and for the sake of it. This is evident in everyday life, as one can observe a friend changing for a loved one. However, it makes no difference whether the change occurs consciously or unconsciously. The important thing is that it happens. Surprisingly, love has a way of transforming people. It can turn an ordinary boy into a gentleman, a hardened convict into a compassionate man, or a beautiful bride into a miserable figure in a faded yellow dress. In Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations, love alters the lives and personalities of Miss Havisham, Pip and Magwitch, three characters who were lucky or unlucky enough to meet it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The most memorable metamorphosis occurred in Miss Havisham. Once young and frivolous, she fell in love with a handsome man named Compeyson who played with her emotions and, since he was quite wealthy, also used her for her money. He broke her heart with a letter he sent her on their wedding day. She received it while preparing for the wedding, at twenty minutes to nine, the hour and minute when she later stopped all the clocks. (Great Expectations Page 168. Many years later, she was still exactly as she was on her wedding day only much, much older. The bride in the wedding dress was as faded as the dress, and as the flowers, and not he had more The brightness remained only the brightness of his sunken eyes (Great Expectations page 53.) His love for Compeyson had been so strong that his broken heart never healed He renounced the world and locked himself in the house so as not to see never again the light of day. There is no doubt that it was her blind devotion, unconditional self-humiliation, total submission, trust and belief (Great Expectations Pg. 224) that led her to act with such As a result, over the years she has transformed into a bitter and somewhat cruel, eccentric old woman in a faded yellow wedding dress. Miss Havisham was not the only character who underwent a drastic change to following the falling in love. When Pip fell in love with Estella, a beautiful heartless girl who was adopted Miss Havisham to take revenge on all the male sex (Great Expectations pg. 164), he also changed. Estella hurt him with her pride calling him vulgar, insulted him and despised him, but Pip loved him against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness and every discouragement there may be (Great Expectations Pg . 216 ). When Pip first met her, he decided that he wanted to become a gentleman for her (Great Expectations Pg. 216) and thus began the process of her transformation. With ambition to spare and a lot of luck, Pip went to London to pursue his goal. Estella obviously was the inspiration and heart of it. (Great Expectations pg. 216) Pip completely recreated himself as a gentleman because, in his mind, he thought that if only he could be less crude and common, he could win Estella's heart. Conveniently enough for Pip, Magwitch, a convict whom Pip helped when he was a boy, financially supported Pip's dream of becoming a gentleman. When Pip first met Magwitch, he described him as a fearful man, dressed all in rough grey. go to Pip's benefit. He began to love Pip like his own son. This was evident when Magwitch said Look, Pip, to me you are my son more than any other son, just for you to spend. Great Expectations (p. 298). Magwitch risked his life to visit him in London...