Miss Havisham

Everyone that has read the book or seen a production of 'Great Expectations' would agree that Miss Havisham's character is both intriguing and spooky all at once. The way she is portrayed in the book when pip is first introduced to her is that she is barely there at all in mind or body 'she had the appearance of having dropped, body and soul, within and without, under the weight of a crushing blow.' Her appearance is described as almost ghost like as if she has nothing left to live for. Her watch and her clock were both stopped at twenty to 9 which seems to reiterate that she's living in the memory of being 'jilted' at the alter many years previously.

I recently watched the BBC's 3 part  production of 'Great Expectations' and noticed that Miss Havisham's character had a wound on her hand that she, when nervous or distressed would scratch and the wound would then reopen and never seemed to heal. I think this for me symbolized her life and how what happened in the past has molded her into the judging strange woman that she appeared to be, with a vendetta against men for what her husband to be had done; it seems as if the wound had never healed.

When I read the book I thought of Miss Havisham to be a frail pale looking woman with sunken eyes and grey features as that's what my mind had made her up to look like. The BBC's film sort of confirmed what I had imagined her to be whereas other versions of 'Great Expectations' saw Miss Havisham to look slightly different. The 2013 version of 'Great Expectations' starring Helen Bonham Carter portrays Miss Havisham to be a slightly larger woman with greyer hair that was alot more 'wild and unkept than the BBC's interpretation of the character. Other versions have also given their own spin on the character; the 1946 version of Miss Havisham also makes her look slightly larger and her hair more wispy on the top of her head with what looks like a very weathered veil hanging behind her.

My imagination thinks of Miss Havisham as a small framed old looking woman and I think I enjoyed the BBC's portrayal of her the best. Her curls at the sides of her head seemed more of the Georgian era as she was living in the memory of the past and as the film went on they appeared to become more disheveled as Estella her adopted daughter seemed to be drifting away from her, it seemed her life no longer really had meaning so her appearance didn't either.

I find Miss Havisham such an interesting character to observe and it's interesting seeing others perception of her after reading the book as your mind makes up what her character should look like creating almost your own character of Miss Hasvisham.

Picture: Telegraph,co.uk (2015). Gillian Anderson, Helen Bonham Carter and Miss Havisham on film - Telegraph. [online] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/8907506/Gillian-Anderson-Helena-Bonham-Carter-and-Miss-Havisham-on-film.html [Accessed 21st Jan 2015]

Video: Youtube.co.uk (2012) Great Expectations| Clip | Starts Sunday, 4 March, 7:30pm, ABC1 - Youtube. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJgomNXezxQ [Accessed 21st Jan 2015]