Great Expectations reclusive Miss Havisham in her decaying mansion, wearing her tattered bridal robes. "Great Expectations" incorporates elements of the new genre of crime fiction, which Dickens had already used in "Oliver Twist" (1837), and which was being developed by his friends Wilkie Collins and William Harrison Ainsworth. With its scenes of convicts, prison ships, and episodes of bloody violence, Dickens creates characters worthy of the Newgate school of fiction. "Great Expectations" contains elements of the Gothic genre, especially with Miss Havisham, the bride frozen in time, and the ruins of Satis House filled with weeds and spiders. Other characters that can
Estella (Great Expectations) but "coarse" ways, and from that point on, Pip grows dissatisfied with his position in life and, eventually, with his former values and friends as well. Pip spends years as companion to Miss Havisham and, by extension, Estella. He harbours intense love for Estella, though he has been warned that Estella has been brought up by Miss Havisham to inspire unrequited love in the men around her, in order to avenge the latter's disappointment at being jilted on her wedding day. Estella warns Pip that she cannot love him, or anyone. Miss Havisham herself eventually decries this coldness, for Estella