Miss Havisham: What Is Love?

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Love is hard to define. Merriam-Webster defines it to be “strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties.” In our daily lives, we are constantly surrounded by love. We choose to surround yourself with real people we genuinely love us for who we are. For the most port, we have been surrounded by love our whole lives. When babies are born, parents swaddle them with love, making them feel safe and warm. Mothers and fathers do everything to make their babies feel happy. The action of rocking, cradling, and singing to newborn babies creates a bond or relationships between parent and child. Although the first years of birth are essential to making connections with children and is also when babies learn to show affection and …show more content…
Having been adopted by Miss Havisham at a young age, Estella most likely wasn’t surrounded by their love and affection from her birth parents. Although Miss Havisham tries to show Estella love and affection, Miss Havisham is incapable of this. When Miss Havisham was left at the altar by her fiance, her outlook on men changed. She fought to be with this man, not listening to others who warned her because she was in love with him. These people who warned her thought that he would take the money and run, which is ironic because they would most likely do the same thing. When he didn’t show up, she was broken. Her outlook and her understanding of love was skewered. Miss Havisham thought she could buy Estella’s happiness and love, in turn expecting her appreciation and love. Even if Miss Havisham thought she was truly loving her, this love was ungenuine and hurt Estella. By surrounding her with fake love and by having her relatives that only wanted Miss Havisham for her money and teaching her to hate all men, Estella’s morals were twisted and this was detrimental to her ability to love. Miss Havisham lived vicariously through Estella so she can have her revenge. Miss Havisham's main target is to break Pip’s heart. As Estella becomes closer to Pip, Miss Havisham is able to guide Estella’s action so she get Pip to fall in love with her. As time passes and Pip and Estella meet again. Miss Havisham is still crazed by the idea of Estella breaking Pip. She yells, “Love her, love her, love her! If she favours you, love her. If she wounds you, love her. If she tears your heart to pieces - and as it gets older and stronger, it will tear deeper - love her, love her, love her”

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