Great Expectations Thesis Essay

Charles Dickens used shed Havisham as a symbol of hypothetical imprison workforcet. Miss Havisham although not being personally absorbed as Abel Magwitch, was a strong representation of a mental imprisonment. She was never told to stay locked up in her house rotting away and tormenting herself for historic period without any human interaction besides that of her step-daughter Estella and eventually Pip. She not only physically imprisons herself but mentally she imprisons her mind into the state of being that all men must suffer, not only trapping herself into an unstable mind set but trapping her daughter as well.First and foremost the obvious physical imprisonment, she stays in her house locked in with her nuptials memories being the guilt of the crime. Miss Havisham sits alone in her house staring at these wedding items that any sane women would have ripped up and destroyed in moments. Shes just simmering in her despair. Miss Havishams heartache is what keeps her in her mans ion house the guards of the prison. She lays alone because of the pain shes feeling. Shes unable to escape from the pain and hypothetically the guards. Finally Estella The sentencing of the crime. Miss Havisham raised Estella to hate men and tick their hearts, in the end Estella crushed Pips heart and Miss Havisham couldnt believe what a monster she had created. Miss Havisham had to deal with the fact that this instant she was the monstrous heartless man that once broke her heart.Additionally, all of Miss Havishams clocks have been stopped at precisely 920, she has imprisoned herself in the past in a hypothetical manner. Being that 920 was when her fianc left her at the altar. Shes painfully reminding herself of the moment of her heartbreak. Being stuck in this moment has trapped her emotionally so she can only feel that terrible depression from her heartbreak. In a way shes frozen in the past and unwilling to leave imprisonment.The Satis House Miss Havishams prison in a way refle cts her feelings. Miss Havishams house, which was of old brick and dismal, and had a grand many a(prenominal) iron bars to it. Some of the windows had been walled up of those that remained, all the lower were rustily barred (55). When first presented this description ones mind should think of a prison. This description of the house shows being neglected and not cared for, in a way this shows how Miss Havisham must have felt when Compeyson left her at the aisle. Miss Havishams feelings then reflect upon the house as a prison.In summation, Miss Havisham is a strong symbol of imprisonment in Great Expectations because of the many different physical and emotional imprisonments shes gone through in her life. Miss Havishams whole life was a very depressing gamy mess and she spent much of her life trapped with nowhere to turn. Her dress being burned and set in flames gave her freedom and eventual peace. This being the obvious freedom after imprisonment.