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| http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Havisham.jpg Miss Havisham |
The book 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens was set in the nineteenth century England. In the book, Miss Havisham's character is described as a pity and mad woman. She also described by Dickens as a person who looks like 'the witch of the place'. She is around mid fifties and is a rich, callous lady. She lives in a big house call Satis House and it is a covert, mysterious place. Miss Havisham is also described living in a dark environment and the way she lived away from the sunlight for a long time aged her. Pip describes her as the strangest lady he ever seen before and she looks like a waxwork and a skeleton with dark moving eyes.
On below is the description from Pip when the first time he met her:
'It was not in the first few moments that I saw all these things, though I saw more of them in the first moments than might be supposed. But I saw that everything within my view which ought to be white, had been white long ago, and had lost its lustre and was faded and yellow. I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes. I saw that the dress had been put upon the rounded figure of a young woman, and that the figure upon which it now hung loose had shrunk to skin and bone. Once, I had been taken to see some ghastly waxwork at the Fair, representing I know not what impossible personage lying in state. Once, I had been taken to one of our old marsh churches to see a skeleton in the ashes of a rich dress that had been dug out of a vault under the church pavement. Now, waxwork and skeleton seemed to have dark eyes that moved and looked at me. I should have cried out, if I could.'
Pip's further description in the book about Miss Havisham:
'She was dressed in rich materials,—satins, and lace, and silks,—all of white. Her shoes were white. And she had a long white veil dependent from her hair, and she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table. Dresses, less splendid than the dress she wore, and half-packed trunks, were scattered about. She had not quite finished dressing, for she had but one shoe on,—the other was on the table near her hand,—her veil was but half arranged, her watch and chain were not put on, and some lace for her bosom lay with those trinkets, and with her handkerchief, and gloves, and some flowers, and a Prayer-Book all confusedly heaped about the looking-glass.'
In the story, Miss Havisham invited the protagonist Pip to her house and play, but her main purpose is to let him fall in love with her adopted daughter Estella. Estella was raised to hate men and break their hearts as Miss Havisham wants to take revenge on men. Miss Havisham is wearing a bridesmaid dress because long time ago, her partner didn't turn up on their wedding day, leaving her alone with the guests while feeling ashamed and after that, she still wearing her wedding dress everyday and that is the reason why she hated men and wants to take revenge on men. Also another reason is that she found out what her partner wanted was just her money. She was around twenty-five years old when she was jilted and it was around 1780s at that time. I think Dickens is clever as he wrote in the book where Miss Havisham just wearing one shoe and it symbolizes that her partner will never turn up. I feel sympathy for Miss Havisham's character, but on the other hand I also don't agree with her selfishness which cause people heart broken and the fact she uses Estella to take revenge. The fire scene at miss Havisham's Satis house symbolize a Christian image of cleansing and punishment.
Book reference:
Charles Dickens (2002), Great Expectations, published by Penguin Classics; Revised edition.
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