# Miss Havisham — Great Expectations character guide

> Miss Havisham in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Havisham

**First appearance:** 0008-ix

## Snapshot

A jilted bride who froze her clocks and her heart, raising Estella as a weapon and summoning Pip to witness her long, slow revenge.

## Who they are

Miss Havisham rules Satis House in yellowed wedding silk, her stopped clocks and cobwebbed feast a monument to the day she was abandoned. She takes a greedy pleasure in Estella's beauty and cruelty, whispering for her to break hearts and have no mercy, while probing Pip's wounds with witch-like eagerness. She is both architect and prisoner of the revenge plot that shapes Pip's expectations and Estella's coldness.

## In the story

### [Chapter VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/viii)

Miss Havisham sits in her decaying bridal dress, watches Pip and Estella play cards, and tells Estella she can break Pip's heart.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/ix)

Pip invents a story about her sitting in a black velvet coach; Pip feels she would not be understood by Mrs. Joe.

### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xi)

Miss Havisham walks with Pip, mentions her birthday, shows the bride-cake, and dismisses her relatives.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xii)

Miss Havisham enjoys Estella's beauty and moods, whispers to her to break hearts, has Pip push her in a garden-chair, and arranges for Pip's apprenticeship to Joe.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xiii)

Receives Joe and Pip; gives Pip a reward of twenty-five guineas and instructs Joe to expect no more.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xiv)

Miss Havisham is mentioned as one of the influences that changed Pip's perception of home.

### [Chapter XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xv)

Pip visits Miss Havisham; she is cold, dismissive, and mentions Estella is abroad.

### [Chapter XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xvii)

Pip visits Miss Havisham annually on his birthday; she remains unchanged, giving him a guinea each time and speaking of Estella in the same manner.

### [Chapter XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xxii)

Herbert recounts Miss Havisham's history as a spoiled heiress who was jilted on her wedding day by a man conspiring with her half-brother.

### [Chapter XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xxvii)

Miss Havisham sends a message through Joe that Estella has come home and would be glad to see Pip.

### [XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xxix)

Miss Havisham encourages Pip to love Estella and arranges their time together.

### [Chapter XXXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xxxii)

Mentioned as having the impression that Pip should meet Estella.

### [Chapter XXXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xxxiii)

Mentioned as having plans for Estella and being beset by relatives who scheme against Pip.

### [Chapter XXXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xxxviii)

Miss Havisham is emotionally distraught over Estella's hardness toward her, and is shown to be using Estella as a tool for revenge against men, while clinging to her with obsessive affection.

### [Chapter XXXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xxxix)

Pip understands that Miss Havisham's intentions toward him were a mere dream, and he was only a tool for her revenge.

### [XLII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xlii)

Revealed to have been deceived by Compeyson, who pretended to be her lover.

### [XLIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xliv)

Admits she allowed Pip's mistaken belief; shows remorse and pity after Pip's declaration.

### [XLIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xlix)

Shows deep remorse for her treatment of Pip and Estella, reveals Estella's adoption, and is severely burned in a fire.

### [LII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/lii)

Pip inquires about Miss Havisham's health; she is still very ill but considered somewhat better.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/characters/miss_havisham
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/characters