Guilt In Charles Dickens Great Expectations

“ ‘What have I done! What have I done!’ And so again, twenty fifty times over, what had she done!” (Dickens 401). And so it begins, an endless journey of guilt and shame placed in events throughout the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Like many of the characters in the novel, they seem to realize what they have done before it is too late, just like modern day society. Now, some may say that greed is the main theme of the book, but the feeling of guilt and shame form from greed, resulting in regret. Guilt and shame can lead you to mend broken relationships just like the events that took place involving Pip, Miss Havisham, and Magwitch.

To begin, Pip is faced with different forms of guilt and shame, which cause him in some ways to

For example, the first event where guilt occurs in Dickens’ novel Great Expectations is when Pip steals his sister’s food, he then walks outside and notices the weather, he describes it by saying, “the mist was heavier” and “when I got upon the marshes, instead of my running at everything, everything was running at me. This was very disagreeable to a guilty mind” (Dickens 15). Although Pip helps the convict by stealing food from his sister in his early years, it will stay with him throughout the rest of the novel. As Pip grows older he associates his guilt with an uneasy feeling in which he has felt since he was a little boy. Another example is when Pip seems to notice the negative effect his expectations have caused by saying, “As I had grown accustomed to my expectations, I had insensibly begun to notice their effect upon myself and those around me” (Dickens 273). Therefore, Pip realizes what his expectations have done to him and begins to feel guilty

First, Miss Havisham has a change of heart and decides to invite Pip over to discuss Herbert’s business saying, “ ‘I want to pursue that subject you mentioned to me when you were last here, and to show you that I am not all stone’ ” (Dickens 398). Moreover, when Miss Havisham says this, you can see the hint of guilt and shame behind her words. Perhaps that is why she has had the sudden change of heart when she speaks of Herbert’s business. In addition, Miss Havisham has a sudden outburst of realization yelling, “ ‘Oh! What have I done! What have I done!’ ” (Dickens 400). Equally important, Miss Havisham seems to feel both guilt and shame do to the terrible way in which she raised Estella to be a cold-hearted woman towards men. Finally, she tells Pip what she expected Estella to be like saying, “ ‘[She] promised to be very beautiful’ ” and then Miss Havisham lists all the things she paid more attention to like, “ ‘my praises, my jewels, my teachings, and with this figure of myself always before her,’ ” but Miss Havisham also realized that she “‘stole her heart and put ice in its place’” (Dickens 401). Furthermore, as Miss Havisham makes this confession to Pip, she feels so much guilt for the way she raises Estella to break every man’s heart that she comes across. And she realizes the hurt she caused Pip by doing so. As