Havisham Realizes Her Mistakes

After finding out that his benefactor is Magwitch, a convict of a low social class, Pip feels even more that he is not good enough for Estella. So, he goes to see Estella and Miss Havisham for the last time. When he arrives, he tells Havisham that he had all along thought that she was the benefactor, and she admits that she had done this on purpose, and that she had also made Pip think that Estella and him were meant to be together. This is when Pip tells Estella that he loves her, and always has, but Estella returns with the harsh news that she will marry Drummle. She also says that she never let Pip believe that she wanted to marry him or even loved him, which is true, because Estella has always acted coldy towards Pip and she acted like nothing more than a friend. It was all in Pip's mind that he thought that they would get married. Afterwards, Havisham realizes what she has done and the mistake that she has made in continuing to let Pip believe that he would marry Estella. She sees now the distress that Pip is in as his heart is broken by the only woman that he loved his entire life. Havisham breaks down saying "What have I done?" referring to what she has caused Pip. She can relate to this because as a young woman, she had her heart broken too and she knows how horrible it feels. Furthermore, she now knows that her entire life after she was stood up at the alter has been a waste. She wanted revenge so badly that she did not care who it was on, as long as it was someone of the male sex, but now she knows that this is wrong and that Pip has nothing to do with Compeyson, the man who stood her up and also the second convict, and should not take the blame. Havisham offers to help Pip with whatever he needs, and he asks her for money to help Herbert start his business. then, she tells him the story of how she adopted Estella and that Compeyson is her father. All the characters are becoming connected now, ad the novel comes to an exciting end.