An analysis of Miss Havisham’s character and her tragic destiny in Great Expectations《远大前程》英文读後感.docx

an analysis of miss havishams character and her tragic destiny in great expectationsan analysis of miss havishams character and her tragic destiny in great expectations great expectations written by charles dickens is regarded as a masterpiece of english novels. it narrates the story of pip, an orphan boy who has good luck and great expectations, and then loses both his luck and expectations. the main characters invented by charles dickens in the book have displayed their own charms completely because of the extraordinary wealth of charles dickens invention as exhibited in the number and variety of the characters introduced into his novels, his amazing keenness of observation and his descriptive power, and also his creative ability of humor.sometimes in dickens novel, the protagonist is described comparatively feeble, while some secondary characters, particularly those with strange spirit are portrayed vividly. the female character miss havisham belongs to such figures. she is one of the figures portrayed quite successfully in the book. so in this essay, the focus is miss havishams character and her tragic destiny instead of the hero pip. in great expectations, miss havisham and her strange dress, life style and behavior attract the readers greatly. most people regard her as a hateful person. however, she is a tragic person worthy of sympathy. and the causes of this tragic character will be analyzed through studying the society, family and miss havisham herself. in this way, we can have an objective and all-round understanding of this image.born in an aristocratic family, young havisham is very proud and not truly compassionate and charitable who hates her poor relatives .on one hand she retorts those relatives who are fawning, insincere and just in an attempt to cheat her money sarcastically and exposes their lies ironically. on the other hand, she considers her cousin matthew a man of integrity and honesty and kindness. therefore miss havisham follows pips advice and leaves a large legacy to matthew and his son as a subsidy. her life is totally changed by a single tragic event: her jilting by compeyson on their wedding day. from that moment on, miss havisham is determined never to move beyond her heartbreak. with a kind of manic and obsessive cruelty, miss havisham adopts estella and raises her as a weapon to achieve her own revenge on men. miss havisham becomes a rich, eccentric old dowager living in a rotting mansion called satis house. this not only ruined her normal life, but also ruined her stepdaughter estella and pip who loved estella. thus it seems that miss havisham is a hateful image, but in fact her revenge action cannot hide her kindness. she was very kind to pip and arranged for his future. all in all, miss havisham is a lifelike image because of the complexity and richness of her character. the social influence on miss havishams tragic destiny is too apparent to be neglected. great expectations is set in victorian england, a time when great social changes were sweeping the nation. although the victorian age meets a material prosperity, the polarization of wealth is widening and the class contradiction is becoming more serious, and this result in the corruption of money to humans relationship. marriage, love, courts, jails are based on this. also, the victorian age is a male-centered society, the idea that women should be subjective to men roots in womens mind. miss havisham is just the victim of this society. she is abandoned on her wedding day, but she keeps the room like the day she got married, while on the other hand she tries every means to revenge men. bearing these two conflictive thoughts in mind, havisham certainly fails to live her own life out of the control or influence from male. she suffered greatly from the pain of love and her quest for revenge. as an ordinary woman, miss havisham cant be independent from men and her fragile souls make her unable to envisage sufferings in life bravely .thus the tragedy of miss havisham is inevitable.family also plays a vital role in great expectations, biddy and joe s warm and harmony family, wemmicks castle away from the noise of secular and matthews family. compared with the dark and deserted satis house of miss havisham, this has highlighted miss havishams miserable fate. for a pretty young lady with high status, her jilting by compeyson was a dishonored, disgraceful thing and also an unprecedented setback. therefore the influence of family environment, the social norms have made her unable to bear the lovers betrayal. in order to avoid worldly disdain, and also because all the illusions that has shattered, she chose to be self-enclosed and isolated. this is a tragedy caused by society and family as well.no matter how great the society and family have influenced miss havishams destiny, her personality played the most important role in her life. miss havisham was a spoilt child; it was the pride that hurt her. because of her pride, she discarded the advice of relatives and idolized her lover perfectly; and also because of her pride, she could not accept the tragic love. so she refused to accept other peoples sympathy and help, instead, she hid in the darkness of closed minds which cause she cant cast off her heart shackles. a failure in her life destroys her faith and also arouses her strong desire for revenge. and the fire of revenge is burning, which hurt the others and also m