Arthur Havisham.

About Arthur Havisham

In Charles Dickens' 1861 novel Great Expectations, Arthur Havisham is Miss Havisham's younger, rebellious half-brother who was a result of Mr Havisham's affair with the cook after Mrs Havisham died. He and Compeyson plot against her and swindle her to gain more money, despite the fact that Mr Havisham had left Arthur plenty. Arthur was jealous that Mr Havisham favoured his sister and was extravagantly greedy with his money. He is a subordinate character in Great Expectations, working with Compeyson. Towards the end of his life he suffered from paranoia; a constant haunting by his sister's supposed presence around him. He dies of an illness caused by the guilt of how he had treated his sister. Through his death Dickens provided a kind of poetic justice in the novel.