Miss Havisham's Self-Deceit

[jepense]

I was just wondering in what ways has Miss Havisham deceived herself about how she has chosen to live her life?

[kev67]

Did she continue to feel as she first felt after her jilting, or did become a sort of thing with her?

[jepense]

Thanks! So I guess her self-imposed exile and being stuck in the past is a form of self-deception? This is my first course in English literature after returning to university as a mature student with a geography and forestry background. I took the course out of personal interest as an elective. I am just writing an essay based on an essay prompt that asks to compare and contrast Miss Havisham to Kurtz's Intended in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness as characters who deceive themselves about how they have chosen to live their lives. I had a rough draft going that drew comparisons such as both Miss Havisham and the Intended have placed themselves into 1) self-imposed exile; 2) turned their homes into monuments to broken romances; 3) show vain pride of their broken hearts, and; 4) feel that only they are capable of showing love to their intended subjects. However I am starting to second guess whether I am missing the point of the prompt. Perhaps I am just overthinking it?

[kev67]

I am not an academic in English literature, I am just a reader, so I cannot really give you any particularly valid advice about your assignment. I dare say you are along the right lines. I read HoD years ago. I thought Kurtz was married with a wife left at home, but maybe he had not married her yet. I remember the narrator went to see her after Kurtz's death. She was under the delusion that Kurtz had been pining for her all that while, and that her name would have been on his lips as he died. In reality, he would hardly have remembered her.

[Jackson Richardson]

I am not an academic in English literature, I am just a reader,

That's why I always find kev67 so well worth reading.

[Jackson Richardson]

Miss Havisham has created a fantasy world to live in, but far from being deceived, I’d suggest that she’s the most powerful and perceptive character in the novel.

The literary character she reminds me of most is (THIS IS A SERIOUS SUGGESTION) Eeyore in The House at Pooh Corner They both made their own lives a misery and make sure everyone knows their self imposed misery so nobody can contradict them. They both have manipulative power and Miss Havisham has considerable inherited wealth to give a further source of power.

Far from being deceived, Miss Havisham sees through her toadying relations and keeps them in her power. She moulds Estella. She senses Pip’s belief she is his benefactor and plays on it.

Suppose after she was jilted she just went on living normally? She’s be a figure of pity and maybe married by another man to exploit her wealth. As it is she over awes everyone apart from Jaggers.

For me she is Dickens’ most powerful and tragic figures.

The obvious similar figure in Dickens is Mrs Clenam in Little Dorrit who is certainly deceiving others more than she deceives herself.

[Catriona L]

I would say that in many ways Miss Havisham's self-deceit is like that of someone who's decided that they're an 'invalid' (such as Mrs Carson in Mary Barton). Yes, there is some reasonable basis for their complaint and self-imposed exile but they have allowed themselves to dwell on their original problems which then spiral out of proportion and they become convinced that their suffering is really that great and that their degree of solace for themselves is reasonable. Also, having started in that manner - Miss Havisham's actions in response to the letter, such as stopping the clocks etc. were immediate - they often find it too difficult to turn back.