Villains are vital in literature as they allow the plot to surge ahead. They also provide the protagonist with an opponent. No matter where a person looks, there are many villains present, as well as examples of villainous behaviour.

Within the text Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, there is one very obvious villain - Miss Havisham. Pip calls Miss Havisham "the strangest lady I have ever seen." Miss Havisham is an old woman living in Satis House, a large house located close to Pip's village. She lives with her adopted daughter named Estella. Miss Havisham has not left the house since being jilted on her wedding-day, and she still wears her faded wedding dress. Her wedding cake is decaying on a table and the house is almost in ruins.

Miss Havisham is a villain because she isolates herself from the outside world. Dickens informs the audience of this...