Miss Havisham’s mental disorders in Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations: An Islamic Psychological analysis

ABSTRACT

Trouble can befall to everyone. Many people can not face the trouble favorably, so that they can become unbalanced or has mental disorders. According to Islamic psychology, mental disorder (kalbu marid) is every blamable behavior (akhlak madzmumah) that differs from human fitra. It is called by kalbu marid because it becomes disease inside of the heart. It is caused by the domination of desire that make people to do a bad thing. One of characters in the novel of Great Expectations, Miss Havisham, also shows that she has the characteristics of having mental disorders.

This study is aimed to know more about Miss Havisham’s mental disorders based on Islamic psychology. Beside that, it is important to know the causes and the effects of those mental disorders. By exploring the causes and the effects of mental disorders, we know the cases that lead people to have mental disorders and also the effect of it, whether good or bad.

This study uses literary approach to criticize the novel. One of the approaches that is suitable with this study is psychological approach. In this case, the theory that is used is Islamic psychological theory, especially based on Abdul Mujib and Yusuf Mudzakir’s thought.

As a result, the mental disorders that are suffered by Miss Havisham are revenge, doing injustice and despair. The main cause of those mental disorders is Miss Havisham’s canceled marriage. However, other causes that make her worse are anger, loneliness, and a lot of sadness, dissappointment, the lack of patient and heart pressure and failing to get something. With the result, she never recover from her mental disorders, moreover, it gives bad effects either toward herself and the other. She becomes unhealthy because she tortures herself, and she commits suicide because she feels despair and regret. Toward the other people, the mental disorders make people that are close with her also become suffered. Because of her revenge, Pip becomes broken heart and Estella becomes a cold-heart person.