Miss Havisham : Dickens's Enchanting 'Devil in the House'

Abstract

This paper focuses on one of the most remarkable female characters Charles Dickens ever created : Miss Havisham of Great Expectations. It discusses how in the characterization of Miss Havisham. Dickens breaks away from the customary portrayal of the feminine ideal – the perfect wife and mother – he famously clung onto, which results in a highly complicated female character who assumes multiple contradicting roles. It also examines how the character allows him to craftily fuse real life incidents with surrealistic features, creating a peculiar yet realistic being, and how the character offers new grounds for him to tackle issues concerning social injustices inflicted upon marginalized women such as spinsters, widows, and the mentally ill.