The Gothic, Grotesque, and Uncanny...

There are many things I think about and feel when I think of Great Expectations and the feeling of uncanny is one of them. Miss Havisham has completely baffled me in terms of her personality, social anxiety and fear for love. It makes me think what she must be thinking when all alone in that mansion with only Estella to keep her company and her own past horrors to reminisce upon. I'm sure all women can relate to being heart broken or let down by love so looking at Miss Havisham from that perspective you can feel what she must have felt all those years ago when she was jilted by the man that she loved and trusted. I see Miss Havisham as a once beautiful woman turned sour by heartbreak, her face would appear still with her wedding makeup on but hair disheveled from the tossing and turning in her bed at night from the nightmares of her past, I imagine her skin to still be very clear as she has not been outside in the sunlight for quite sometime but her hands to be old and withered from a nervous fidgeting that occurred overtime,

Miss Havisham brings a grotesque element to the book, film and tv series because thinking of it, she's been living in a huge home for a very long time without cleaning or showering. There was no electricity so large candles made from lard would be burning leaving a mess everywhere. I think the fact that Miss Havisham has no intention of keeping clean or keeping her house in a fit state makes the audience cringe in disgust at the thought of entering such a home, Satis House itself brings the Gothic feel as it's dark gloomy windows look like eyes from which ghosts and mysetrious things watch you and the layer of mist and fog surrounding it would make you think twice about entering! The colours that the book makes you imagine also creates a picture of fear, black and grey without any brightness makes you feel like everything has been drained from Satis House andsurely nothing that dwells there could be happy?

I took some pictures myself of some strange uncanny places from different angles and levels to see what effect they had.