Gothic Beauty: 'Love is Death'

Miss Havisham Character Portrayals

Miss Havisham on Film through the years-

Clockwise: Maxine Audley, Joan Hickson, Helena Bonham Carter and Charlotte Rampling as Miss Havisham

Florence Reed - 1934
Martita Hunt - 1946
Maxine Audley - 1967 (top left)
Margaret Leighton - 1974
Joan Hickson - 1981 (top right)
Jean Simmons - 1989
Anne Bancroft - 1998
Charlotte Rampling - 1999 (bottom left)
Gillian Anderson - 2011
Helena Bonham Carter - 2012 (bottom right)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16047263

The actress Helena Bonham Carter who played Miss Havisham in the 2012 film 'Great Expectations' is interviewed by Hilary Oliver as she speaks about taking on the role as Miss Havisham, how she wanted to portray the character and what Miss Havisham was like. Carter went really indepth with finding out what the character would be like after years of no sunlight to the skin and not much movement.

What Miss Havishams is described like- Quotes from book 'Great Expectations'
"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 dependant 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." page 57

"I saw that everything within my view which ought to be white, had been white long ago, and has 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." page 57-58

"She sat, corpse-like, as we played cards." page 60

"I should have felt almost sure that Miss Havisham's face could not smile. It had dropped into a watchful and brooding expression - most likely when all the things about her had become transfixed - and it looked as if nothing could ever lift it up again. Her chest had dropped, so that she stooped; and her voice had dropped, so that she spoke low, and with a dead lull upon her; altogether, she had the appearance of having dropped, body and soul" page 61

All of these above quotes have been selected from the book itself 'Great Expectations'. While reading back through the book I wanted to find the part where Pip first met Miss Havisham and how he firstly described her when he first laid eyes on her. All of theses quotes are focusing on Miss Havisham's features, colour, clothes, bridal items, body positions and her tone of voice. I feel the way she looks and how she is, is because of being left at the alter and stood up on the day she thought she was going to be married. Therefore the way she speaks as she no care in the world as to her, her life is over. Physically she looks the way she does because of the lack of movement to the body and sun light to her skin. Even the fact that living in such a dark, dirty room causes the garment colour to change and decay. Below is a video clip of a scene in the 2012 film 'Great Expectations' of Miss Havisham and Pip. This scene shows the very room Miss Havisham was left at on her wedding day and you can see the room has been untouched for many years. This clip shows her personality through the way she speaks to Pip and you can see how old and decaying her wedding dress is and how pale white her skin and hair has become over the years. In a certain way see is described as cold hearted through the film as its know to be pasted on to how she brought up Estella (her adopted daughter) however I feel she seems quite vulnerable about the whole situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCgbVNChs9I

Florence Reed - 1934