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Miss Havisham conducts the business concerning Herbert with swiftness and in a business-like manner. This transaction tells us several things about her character. What are some of those things?
Why is Miss Havisham crying? Why should she be crying?
What foreshadows Miss Havisham's fiery fate?
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Miss Havisham conducting Herbert's affairs quickly shows that her character has secretly cared for Pip all these years. She notes that in order for her to help Pip she must help Herbert. She gives him a large sum of money with barely a second thought because it'll end up helping Pip as well. It seems she feels bad and realizes what she's done to harm Estella. She also feels guilty for trapping Pip into the mess and toying with his feelings about Estella, and begs him to forgive her while going into hysterics. After she's done compassion overcomes her and she gives Pip all information of Estella's childhood.
Miss Havisham feels so guilty she wants to help Pip out in any way. She realizes by taking care of Herbert's affairs that she's also giving back to Pip. Miss Havisham is overwhelmed with guilt that she's crying for forgiveness because she did not mean to cause Pip to feel the same heartache she once had. We later find out about Estella's past and who her birthright parents are. It's interesting to see that she too grew up from parents of no money, even though she used to make fun of Pip for his low social standards.
The business-like manner in which Miss Havisham gives Herbert the money shows us not only that she is trying to make up for her previous actions, but also that she treats it as if it is almost said and done. Meaning that she feels the money will make up for it all, money makes the world go round in her rich eyes, which is probably why she lavishly spent so much on her first love. Shortly after though, she realizes what a monster she has created out of Estella. She see's what she has done to Pip, and even though it is what she always wanted now that she see's the actual damage she regrets it and begins crying to beg Pip for forgiveness. I couldn't find to much in this chapter about the forshadowing of Miss Havisham's death by fire other than the fact that she kept staring off into it and it was in the room where she wished to be laid when dead.
Miss Havisham's actions with the money kind of shows that she really does care for Pip and is also kind of guilty. When she says, "Can I only serve you,Pip, by serving your friend?.... is there nothing I can do for you yourself?" This shows how she is kind of trying to redeem her actions by trying to in a way pay Pip off. I also think that she is crying becuase she realizes how she hurt Pip and ruined Estella. She is just suffering from a large guilty concsience. She should cry because I think that shows that she realizes what she had done to those around her and is finally feeling some sort of remorse.
Miss Havisham is crying because she saw Pip spill is heart out to Estella in the earlier chapter. He talked about how much he loved her and told her everything he felt towards her before leaving. I think that Miss Havisham sees in Pip a former ghost of her old self, how she had once loved somebody but got a broken heart instead. Seeing the pain that she had caused Pip makes her break down and cry, knowing that she had once felt the same way, and because of her broken heart it ruined her life. As of to the foreshadowing of her fiery fate, Pip sort of has a vision, or a fantasy or something of Miss Havishman dying. (I think he saw her hanging from a beam..?) He shudders at the thought, but looks up to see her go up in flames.
I think that Miss Havisham feels incredibly guilty for causing Pip's heartache over Estella, and therefore she doesn't hesitate to give him the money to help Herbert. It shows that even though she tried to teach Estella to bredak guys' hearts, she still cared about Pip and feels bad that he got hurt in the end becauase of her actions with Estella. I also found it interesting that Estella came from poor parents, and she still treated Pip like he wasn't any good for that same reason.
I think the business-like manor shows us that although Miss Havisham does seem more compassionate towards Pip, she hasn't changed completely. She has been this way for many many years and I don't think she is going to change completely that easily. However, she is melting a little, as we see with her guilt and tears. And she has a good reason to feel guilty as well. She had a hand in breaking Pip's heart, after all he did for her. She lied, and tricked Pip, so I think she has a good reason to be crying. The only thing I can remember being even close to foreshadowing in this chapter was when she again, referred to the bed in which she wished to be laid when she dies.
Miss Havisham is crying for Pip's pain, because she has experienced the same kind. She feels responsible for the pain, since she led Pip to believe she was the benefactor and that he was made for Estella. She took advantage of the situation in order to benefit her "make men feel pain" plan. I feel like, to an extent, Miss Havisham never truely felt bad for the way Estella turned out. She was upset that there was no distinction in whom she reflects her coldness upon, which resulted in coldness directed towards Miss Havisham as well. I realize she feels bad for Pip's pain for it was collateral damage. But I do not think she looks at Estella in disgust or anything of that sort. She just feels bad because she made Pip that much more vulnerable to Estella.
What is this book? Is pip some sort of magical pyromancer or something? Is he a wizard? Maybe he's just the son of the devil, i don't really know, but most people can't make things happen just by thinking of them. The paragraph where Miss Havisham gets set on fire is one of the worst pieces of writing I have ever read. It's so bad. I couldn't even believe what I was reading. It's not like I have great expectations for anything in this book, but give me a break. If her death was supposed to be shocking or surprising, I guess there shouldn't be a buildup or tension of any sort. But if the event is supposed to come out of nowhere and shock the reader, then it shouldn't be ridiculous like something out of a cartoon. It should be described in detail so that the reader knows what's happening and is able to take in the severity of what's happened, and the terror in the characters who witness it. The scene is so bizarre and absurd that I couldn't even take it seriously. Maybe Orlick was the one that lit her on fire. That would be a twist, and it would fit in perfectly with the story, in my opinion.
I agree with the above that Miss Havisham just feels incredibly guilty for what harm she caused Pip. She cried because she realized that she made Estella into a heartless monster, and that she used Estella against Pip, who was completely innocent. Miss Havisham's fiery fate was kind of random. Before this all hapened Pip had a vision of her dying then looked up and saw her in flames. I was not expecting that at all. The only foreshadowing I noticed was that they laid her on the feast table where she wished to die.
When Miss Havisham gives Pip the money to help Herbert without any second thoughts, she is showing how she will do anything in order to obtain Pip’s forgiveness. She realizes that by helping Herbert she is also helping Pip achieve his goals. She is so willing to help out because, in her mind, if her money benefits Pip, it increases the chances of him forgiving her. Miss Havisham is crying during this chapter because she feels horrible for putting Pip through everything she has had to go through herself. By bringing these circumstances upon Pip, Miss Havisham has probably thought a lot about her own previous circumstances. These probably have a part in the reason why she is crying, too. She should be crying because she has raised Estella to be an emotionless human being. She has wasted Estella’s life, and even her own, by continuously grieving over her past. One possible event that foreshadowed Miss Havisham’s fate could be the fact that she repeated over and over how she wished to be laid upon her wedding table when she died. Or perhaps all of the drama that she caused in the lives of those around her foreshadowed that something horrible would happen to her.
Miss Havisham really believes that Pip will think she is not such a cold person and is willing to help someone out for their benefit. Pip feels she is responsible for much of his unhappiness and misguidedness and he berates her for being cold. She also believes she has been cold in her own way, for the path she pushed Estella on. Giving Pip the money would help him out and she wouldnt feel as bad about thinking she was heartless.
Miss Havisham realizes she has hurt more than steered estella away from a horrible fate. She should cry because she endorsed estella's demeanor and taught her coldness.
I dont remember correctly but could her fiery fate have come from foreshadowing earlier in the book?
Miss Havisham's actions in giving money for Herbert indicate that she was involved in business at one point and that she can still process and act efficiently. Miss Havisham is crying because she raised a girl who will not love and marry a gentleman who loves her, even without any encouragement, and professes that love even when there is no hope. Miss Havisham was living vicariously through Estella, but no regrets the was Estella was raised because she wishes Estella would marry Pip. In Pip she sees her own pain and rejection. Miss Havisham's fate is foreshadowed by her sitting in another room by a fire, and only being able to concentrate on business by looking into the fire.
Miss Havisham feels so horrible about how she has effected Pip's life that she quickly handles Herbert's affairs because she knows that it will all come to help Pip out as well. She handles it without any thought it would seem, making it seem as though she would do anything to help make amends. You can truly see that she feels horrible about how Estella was brought up and how she has toyed with Pip's emotions over the years. The amount regret in this chapter is unbelievable, but it shows that Miss Havisham is truly a dynamic character and that she really has had quite the (although mostly unfortunate) effect on Pip's life.
Miss Havisham has many reasons to be crying. For one she could be crying for herself now having realized haw she wasted the majority of her life feeling sorry for herself and trying to get her revenge on all men because of what someone did to her long ago. She also could be crying for the lives that she has screwed up. Foremost there is Estella who because of Miss Havishams parentage has become cold and heartless and is sent out in the world to break as many mens hearts as she can. This basically ensures that she will never have a happy normal life. Then there is Pip who, under Miss Havishams direction, has been tortured by Estella. But this is still partly Pip’s fault for not seeing what Estella was doing to him especially after her warning. Also she could be crying for the hurt she knows that Estella has yet to cause.
The quicknes of the transaction shows how prepared for Pip's arrival she is. She trusts what Pip is telling her, since she has no reason to not trust him. But I think it also shows how little she thinks of money. To her money could never bring back her lost love, so she has no need for it. After talking with Pip, Miss Havisham shocks Pip, and me, by falling to his feet and weeping. She repeats numerous times "What have I done?" She is now learning that not all men act as her ex-fiance. Pip is a great example for her on how men who love a woman should treat her. Upon realizing this she cries over all her lost years and for Estella, who she believes will never truly be able to love because of her.
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