Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations Is an Early Exploration of “Romantic Fraud”

Havisham was abandoned by her unscrupulous fiancé on her wedding day, and modern readers can understand her as a victim of “romance fraud,” a scammer who manipulates someone for their own financial gain under the guise of courtship.

Although love fraud is a 21st century term, Dickens clearly demonstrates its often devastating effects through the character of Havisham.

In her youth, Havisham was manipulated by her fiancé, the conman Compeyson, and her half-brother Arthur into planning to rob her of her fortune.

Both the romance itself and the wedding were a ploy, and she was abandoned at the altar, losing not only her fortune but any hope of future romantic prospects through the ensuing scandal.

Alone, wealthy, and looking for a partner, Havisham was particularly vulnerable to criminals looking to take advantage. Although Dickens lost her fortune, she made it clear that romantic betrayal had the greatest psychological impact on her.

Romantic duplicity shapes her relationships with her adopted daughter Estella and the novel’s protagonist Pip, making her cold and hostile toward them.

The psychological impact of romance fraud

Since being abandoned, Havisham has become a recluse, “trapped” in the moment of abandonment. She remains in the house, with the clocks stopped, forever in her wedding dress. Her dashed hopes for romance are reflected in the decaying objects around her. As Pip mused:

Avoiding her gaze… I carefully observed the objects around me and found that her watch had stopped at nine-twenty, and a clock in the room also stopped at nine-twenty. “Look at me,” said Miss Havisham. “Aren’t you afraid of a woman who hasn’t seen the sun since she was born?”

As her promise of a future life ends, the clocks all stop – and when she receives Compeyson’s letter, the crime becomes apparent.

Herbert tells the story to Pip:

Some man, having sex with Miss Havisham…okay! This man pursues Miss Havisham intensely and claims to be devoted to her. I believe she had not shown much susceptibility up to that point, but all the susceptibility she had certainly showed itself then, and she loved him passionately.

This depiction reflects many modern elements of romance fraud. Compeyson “had sex” with her and she became “sensitive.” Like a contemporary romance con man, Compeyson inserts himself into Havisham’s life, manipulating and controlling her into believing that he loves her.

Romantic Fraud in Dickensian Britain

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In Dickens’s time, there was a lack of progress in anti-fraud laws. There were no real changes to the Fraud Act until 2006, when fraud by false representation became a criminal offense in the UK. Today, romance fraud is considered a “serious crime”.

Dickens discovered and drew attention to the prevalence of this most personal form of fraud long before it became illegal. Others followed in his path, such as Mary Elizabeth Braddon in Lady Audrey’s Secret, Arthur Conan Doyle in Identity Case and Agatha Christie in Death on the Nile.

Havisham can be viewed in two ways, either as a victim or as a fool. It is difficult to determine how Dickens wished to interpret her. Is she a typical hysterical Victorian woman like in other novels such as Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White or Bertha Rochester in Jane Eyre?

I don’t think so. Since Dickens dealt with so many other social issues, I believe Dickens was ahead of his time and actively worked to raise awareness of the crime of romance fraud and its impact on its victims.

beyond canon

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As part of our Rethinking the Classics series, we asked experts to recommend a book or piece of art that is thematically similar to a related classic work but is not considered a classic in its own right. Here’s Emma Linford’s advice:

If you’re interested in Dickens’s depictions of fraudsters and criminals, you might also like Dickens’s Villains: Melodrama, Character, and Popular Culture by Juliet John. In the book, John explores the complex villains and antiheroes of Dickens’s novels. She looks at the sources of inspiration for his writing, as well as the dramatic character of his work. SKS

SKS

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