Miss Havisham's Names

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Recommended: Characterisation in Great Expectations

In Great Expectations, written by Charles Dickens, Dickens seems to use made-up names and seems to randomly assign them to different characters, but each name of the characters have meaning. The names of each character reflect an aspect of their character and their role in the book. Three examples of characters in Great Expectations whose names have meaning are Pip’s, which is like a seed, Miss.Havisham’s, which could be said as “have a sham”, and Estella, whose name is associated with a star.

Pip’s, the protagonist of Great Expectations, name means a seed, like a seed of a fruit, which reflects his progression and development throughout the book. A fruit seed, in its beginning stages, is small and insignificant, but with careful nurturing and care the seed will start to sprout and grow and be more independent, the plant might get tread on or harsh weather might affect it but after some time it will turn into a full plant and start bearing its own fruit to grow in other areas. This reflects Pip’s growth throughout Great Expectations, as he starts as a small orphan boy, whose only paternal figure is a kind low-class blacksmith …show more content…

Miss.Havisham does this multiple times as she first creates Estella and has her “brought up… to wreak revenge on all the male sex.” Estella is just a tool whose sole purpose is to hurt everyone, in retribution for Miss.Havisham, as she was betrayed on her wedding night by Compeyson. Miss.Havisham also leads Pip astray by convincing him that she is the mysterious benefactress of his sudden fortune, while Magwitch is Pip’s true benefactor. She confirms Pip by telling Pip that “You made your own snares. I never made them.” showing that she lead him on using his infatuation for her adopted daughter, Estella. Her purpose in Great Expectations is to lead others astray like her name

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