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Guilt and shame are two emotions that relate to Freud's concept of the superego - the agent of consciousness that controls one's sense of morality. Helen Block Lewis (1971) defines the central difference between the two states: “The experience of shame is directly about the self, which is the focus of evaluation. In guilt, the self is not the central object of negative evaluation, but rather, the thing done or undone is the focus. In guilt, the self is negatively evaluated in connection with something but is not itself the focus of the experience” (Lewis, 1971, p. 30). In short, the modern conception is that specific behaviors arouse feelings of guilt, whereas distorted perceptions of the self arouse feelings of shame. The way in which these emotions manifest themselves in adults is, to a certain extent, related to the degree of attention received from caretakers during childhood. Thus, in Charles Dickens' (1861/2008) Great Expectations, Pip develops a guilt complex because of excessive criticism for his behavior during childhood, whereas Miss Havisham wallows in shame because excessive praise during childhood distorted her self-image and made her vulnerable to the injury of criticism and defeat. In addition, Miss Havisham's adopted daughter Estella serves as an extension or mediator of these emotions and gives rise to a complementary relationship between Pip and Miss Havisham based on sadomasochistic tendencies.
Pip's life of guilt results from his somewhat underprivileged adolescence. He grows up around adult figures only, and they seem to take on a pack mentality in order to discipline him, ganging up on him as a group without planned direction. During the scene at Christmas dinner, Pip relays his sister's remark about “all the times she had wished me in my grave, and I had contumaciously refused to go there” (Dickens, 1861/2008, p. 25). Thus, Pip is raised with the notion that by being born and continuing to live he has been a burden to society, and this becomes