It was Miss Havisham, but when he looked again he "found no figure there" (64). He sees this same thing on his last visit to Miss Havisham's. He is not seeing what is reality, therefore what he sees is a fantasy.Fairy tales are told through the eyes of children. There is rarely an adult hero or main character. Pip, however, is an adult for the majority of the story. This would suggest that this story is not similar to that of a fairy tale in the way of narration. However it should be noted that even though Pip is physically older he is still the same young and caring loving Pip that he was at the beginning of the story and he "fancied that he was little Pip again" (467). The narration also follows the narration of a fairy tale because it is in the past tense. This is the same as most fairy tales (Haintock 7)are written. However it is in the first person and a fairy tale is usually in the third person.The ending is perhaps the strongest evidence against Great Expectations being a fairy tale. Fairy tales end happily ever after. "The happy ending,all complete fairy stories must have it" (Uses of Enchantment, pg.143) The ending is very ambiguous. It is not known if love wins and they live happily or if once again they part. This ending leaves a lot to be desired if a happy ending it what is expected. A fairy tale leaves no question that the two lovers end up together. In Great Expectations the ending is very uncertain. Estella says "we will continue friends apart" (484). Pip talks about "no parting from her" (484). It is very hard to understand whether or not they end up happily ever after or not.There is much evidence that points to the many similarities between fairy tales and Great Expectations. Many of the conventions of a fairy tale such as repetition, pure evil and pure good characters, and fantasy are satisfied with this tale. Nonetheless, the differences such as some of the rounded characters, the classes of the p...
