Great Expectations that Dickens' attitude backs Britain's exploitation of Middle East "through trade and travel", and that "Great Expectations" affirms the idea of keeping the Empire and its peoples in their place—at the exploitable margins of British society. However, the novel's Gothic, and Romance genre elements, challenge Said's assumption that "Great Expectations" is a realist novel like Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe". Dickens's novel has influenced a number of writers, Sue Roe's "Estella: Her Expectations" (1982), for example explores the inner life of an Estella fascinated with a Havisham figure. Miss Havisham is again important in "Havisham: A Novel" (2013), a book by
Miss Havisham that "James Payn, a minor novelist, claimed to have given Dickens the idea for Miss Havisham – from a living original of his acquaintance. He declared that Dickens's account was 'not one whit exaggerated'." Although it is documented Dickens encountered a wealthy recluse called Elizabeth Parker on whom it is widely believed he based the character, whilst staying in Newport, Shropshire, at the aptly named Havisham Court. "Miss Havisham's Fire" (1979, revised 2001) is an opera composed by Dominick Argento with a libretto by John Olon-Scrymgeour, based on Dickens' character. The entire story is told in flashback during an inquiry