David Feuerstein

Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations follows Pip who goes from being a blacksmith’s apprentice to being a gentleman in London, only to lose it all. Pip’s treatment of other characters within the story changes as his social standing changes. The higher he climbs up the social ladder, the worse his treatment of others becomes. By the end of the novel, Pip realizes his mistake, feels guilty, and seeks redemption from those he has wronged. Guilt and redemption is a major theme in Great Expectations and can be explored through many different characters. However, the two best characters that Dickens uses to explore this theme are Miss Havisham and Pip. Dickens explores the theme of guilt and redemption through Miss Havisham’s feelings and actions surrounding her raising of Estella and Pip’s belief that he must make amends with Joe and Biddy for his past treatment of them.

Dickens explores the theme of guilt and redemption through Miss Havisham. Miss Havisham begins to feel guilty for how she raised Estella when Pip confronts Estella about the way she acts and her potential marriage. Pip sees Miss Havisham “put her hand to her heart and hold it there, as she sat looking by turns at Estella and me” after he suggests that Miss Havisham’s raising of Estella has caused him “suffering” (Dickens 270). The heart is often associated with emotions. The act of placing one’s hand over their heart signifies that they have just connected emotionally with something. In Miss Havisham’s case, she connects with Pip’s feelings of sadness after being rejected by Estella (Dickens 270). This is the beginning of Miss Havisham recognizing the guilt she feels for the pain her raising of Estella has caused Pip.

Miss Havisham fully realizes her guilt after seeing Pip’s reaction to discovering who Estella will marry. Pip buries his face in his palms after learning who Estella will marry, and Miss Havisham looks at Pip with “such a ghastly look” (Dickens 271). The idea of “a ghastly look” implies a whiteness of the face and a horrified look (Dickens 271). One’s face would not look this way unless they had realized they have done something incredibly terrible. This is the moment Miss Havisham becomes fully aware of her guilt in bringing such sorrow to Pip. She begins to look at Pip with a “ghastly stare of pity and remorse” (Dickens 272). The word “pity” implies that Miss Havisham feels bad for Pip, and the word “remorse” implies that she regrets what has happened (Dickens 272). Miss Havisham regrets that her raising of Estella has caused Pip to suffer. She moves from simply being aware of her guilt to fully accepting it. 

Miss Havisham seeks forgiveness from Pip as a form of redemption. She “dropped on her knees at my feet; with her folded hands raised to me…” (Dickens 296-297). By lowering herself to “her knees,” she is becoming lower than Pip (Dickens 297). This shifts the power dynamic as now Miss Havisham must look up at Pip whilst he looks down at her. Her position is one of subservience. This position conveys that Pip is the only person with the power to provide the redemption she is seeking. Reaching up to Pip “with her folded hands” furthers this point (Dickens 297). This is an action typically seen performed by people begging for something. It is a way for them to plead with another person. Miss Havisham is pleading for Pip’s forgiveness through her body language. Obtaining this forgiveness is so important to Miss Havisham that she continues seeking it even after catching on fire (Dickens 300). Pip describes kissing the burnt Miss Havisham as she says, “Take the pencil and write under my name, ‘I forgive her’” (Dickens 301). This conveys the steadfastness of Miss Havisham’s search for redemption through Pip. She does not say a word about her injuries from the fire nor does she react to Pip’s kiss. Miss Havisham simply wants written confirmation that Pip forgives her for the way she raised Estella. 

Pip also highlights the theme of guilt and redemption. Once moved to London, Pip tries to avoid Joe. Pip responds to a letter announcing Joe’s imminent visit by feeling a “considerable disturbance, some mortification, and a keen sense of incongruity” (Dickens 168-169). These are negative reactions to learning someone close to him is visiting. Pip goes on to say, “If I could have kept him away by paying money, I certainly would have paid money” (Dickens 169). This conveys the extent Pip will go to avoid Joe and establishes the guilt for which he seeks redemption. 

Pip realizes his guilt when Joe comes to care for him in London. In response to this, Pip says, “O Joe, you break my heart! Look angry at me, Joe. Strike me, Joe. Tell me of my ingratitude” (Dickens 344). The actions Pip wants Joe to take against him are all forms of punishment. Punishments are typical consequences of doing something wrong. By asking for punishment, Pip is implying that he has done something wrong. This is an admission of guilt. He is seeking redemption for this guilt through the punishments. However, Joe does not punish Pip, so Pip is forced to seek redemption elsewhere.

Another person Pip feels guilty for treating badly is Biddy. Before leaving for London, Pip says to Biddy, “I am very sorry to see this in you… You are envious, Biddy, and grudging. You are dissatisfied on account of my rise in fortune…” (Dickens 117). The way Pip speaks to Biddy reduces her to something similar to a whining child. The sentence, “I am very sorry to see this in you,” is similar in tone to how a parent might speak to a child (Dickens 117). When Pip says, “I am very sorry,” he frames himself as the person forgiving Biddy despite being the one who caused the issue (Dickens 117). Pip’s language is also accusatory in nature. Phrases such as, “You are…” serve to place the blame on Biddy rather than Pip. It is Pip’s attempt to paint himself as right, and Biddy as wrong.

Pip (the narrator) expresses guilt in his narration of the conversation with Biddy. He describes the way he speaks to her as one “in a virtuous and superior tone” (Dickens 117). These terms are typically positive in nature. If someone is “virtuous,” then they are acting with good intent (Dickens 117). If someone is “superior,” then they are strong and confident (Dickens 117). Pip’s words to Biddy are anything but “virtuous and superior” (Dickens 117). By describing his own words in this way, these terms take on a negative connotation. Pip’s words are not “virtuous,” because they hold no good intent (Dickens 117). Instead of trying to help Biddy understand how he feels, he resorts to accusing her of being “envious” (Dickens 117). This is not an action with good intentions behind it, as it only serves to break Biddy down. Likewise, Pip’s words are not “superior” to Biddy’s (Dickens 117). Pip is unable to produce any meaningful argument against Biddy and seems to only be able to repeat, “… it’s a—it’s a bad side of human nature” (Dickens 117). Repeating the same claim with little expansion is not a characteristic of a “superior” speech (Dickens 117). Since Pip describes his own way of talking to Biddy with these terms despite them not being applicable, he creates a situation where the terms take on a negative connotation. His words to Biddy are not ones that are filled with good intent and strength, but rather they are ones cloaked in false virtue and superiority. Pip’s use of words with positive connotations in a negative way serves to convey the guilt he feels for talking to her this way. By describing a conversation these terms do not apply to, Pip is admitting that his way of speaking to Biddy was the opposite of these terms. 

In order to seek forgiveness from Joe and Biddy, Pip asks for it. He says, “… I know you have already done it in your own kind hearts, pray tell me, both, that you forgive me…” (Dickens 355). Pip understands that Joe and Biddy have already forgiven him for his past actions, but Pip needs confirmation that he has truly been forgiven. He receives the redemption he is seeking from Joe and Biddy who both tell him they forgive him (Dickens 355).

Dickens explores the theme of guilt and redemption in Great Expectations through Miss Havisham’s feelings around how she raises Estella and Pip’s desire to apologize to Joe and Biddy for how he acts in the past. Through these characters, Dickens weaves an overarching idea: those who feel guilt for past actions can not redeem themselves. Redemption must come from others. Neither Miss Havisham nor Pip are able to forgive themselves for the things they feel guilty for, so they seek forgiveness from others. Dickens conveys how guilt is built, and redemption sought through characters like Miss Havisham and Pip.

Works Cited

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Edited by Edgar Rosenberg, W. W. Norton & Company, 1999.