Errthum 1 Ashlee Errthum McDowell British Literature 11 March 2014 Miserable Love Love and misery often go hand

in hand, which leads to events that mold people, make them stronger, be who they were meant to. When a close friend or family member dies, often people are happy that the late friend or family member is no longer suffering, that they are in a better place; however they feel the loss of that person in everything they do, which causes intense sadness. Charles Dickens uses this line to shape Pip into the character he needs Pip to be. Based upon the relationships between characters in Charles Dickens novel, Great Expectations, it is demonstrated that love, if not everlasting or received, results in miserable torment. Upon meeting Miss Havisham, Pip is confronted with the ghost-like figure of a heartbroken woman. I saw that the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes. I saw that the dress had been put upon the rounded figure of a young woman, and that the figure upon which it now hung loose had shrunken to skin and bone (Dickens 59). Ironically, Miss Havisham remains in the wedding dress that her heart was broken in. Wedding dresses are symbolic of love and commitment, and that it remains as a reminder to Miss Havisham that she can never fall in love again is ironic. It appears that the lack of love within Miss Havisham has caused her to decay and become a shell of a person not quite living. Because of the way Dickens describes Miss Havisham and the events around her, it appears that Miss Havisham is meant to personify the destruction of love. Through Miss Havisham, Pip meets her

Errthum 1 adopted daughter, Estella, who becomes the object of Pips obsession and the cause of his destruction. Oh! I have a heart to be stabbed in or shot in, I have no doubt, said Estella; and of course, if it ceased to beat, I would cease to be. But you know what I mean. I have no softness there, no sympathy sentiment nonsense (Dickens 251). Estella insists that she cannot love, only be loved, because she has been brought up as such; however, the fact that she feels the need to tell Pip this suggests that she cares enough to tell him, to warn him that loving her will only cause him pain, because his love cannot be returned. She is miserable and Pip is made to be miserable because he loves her. Based upon Estellas background and the way she affects people around her, she is the personification of misery. Because Pip loves the personification of misery, and even those who have hurt him, he is the personification of love. Estella both is full of and causes misery, but Pip, who is full of love for Estella, is causing her to feel care for Pip, which she tries very hard to conceal. Dickens connects love and misery in more than tainted love, but within pure love as well. Pips relations with father figures, Joe and Magwitch, have dark sides to the seeming perfect picture. Joe, after Pip becomes a gentleman, leaves Pip after visiting him, under the impression that him and Pip can no longer be friends because of their social class difference. Diwisions as such must come, and must be met as they come. If theres been any fault at all to-day, its mine. You and me is not any two figures to be together in London; nor yet anywheres else but what is private and benown and understood among friends (Dickens 236). Joe is telling Pip that even though they were very close before Pip was a gentlemen, they can no longer be friends because they have been divided by society in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable in one another's presence. Because of Joe leaving, Pip begins to realize the poor way he has been treating others. This realization is the start of Pip's growth towards stage three of his expectations. Joe also says that him and Pip's divide was something that was meant to occur. Dickens may have been hinting at Pip's improvement in the coming chapters that occurs after their seperation. Pips relationship with Magwitch seems to be

Errthum 1 Pips replacement for Joe but ends terribly after Magwitch is recaptured and mortally wounded. On Magwitchs death bed, Pip reveals to Magwitch the fate of his daughter, in the hopes of bringing Magwitch peace. You had a child once, whom you loved and lost. A stronger pressure on my hand. She lived and found powerful friends. She is living now. She is a lady and very beautiful. And I love her! With a last faint effort, which would have been powerless but for my yielding to it, and assisting it, he raised my hand to his lips. Then he gently let it sink upon his breast again, with his own hands lying on it. The placid look at the white ceiling came back, and past away, and his head dropped quietly on his breast (Dickens 490). The death of Magwitch was a peaceful one, as well as one that brought closure. Pip discloses the secret of Estella and in doing so, allows Magwitch passage in to death with no emotional pain. However, in doing so, Pip opened himself to the loss of a father figure, which caused Pip misery. Divulging Estellas identity was an act of love on Pip's part; and shortly after, that love was followed by misery. This literal connection between love and misery is one of the last ones for Pip, but also one of the most heart wrenching. Magwitch's death is the first and last that truly hits home for Pip, and also the final piece in Dickens' maze for Pip to find himself. Based upon the contrasting relationships between characters, the connection between love and misery is made clear as well as how the unclear line between them brings negative affects. The ties between love and misery bring happiness and sorrow and shape the people of the world and help them find their way to who they need to become.

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