There have been a number of adaptations of Charles Dickens' character 'Miss Havisham', dating back from 1934 right up to 2012, and each time the character has been represented in a variety of ways. Up until recently Miss Havisham has been represented by older looking women, such as Florence Reed, Margaret Leighton and Joan Hickson. All portrayed the character as old and senile, someone who never quite got over being jilted before her wedding. However in recent years actresses such as Gillian Anderson (2011) and Helena Bonham Carter (2012) have taken on a new approach to playing the character. When looking at the finer details of Dickens' novel producers found that the character was in actual fact only in her late forties to early fifties as she had been inside for 20-30 years but got married when she was in her early twenties. This provided a fresh take to the character that people had come to know and these recent adaptation were my inspiration for my own portrayal of Miss Havisham.
In order to gather as much information about the character as I could, I made an effort to highlight any description relating to the character that Dickens had provided, this meant not only visual descriptions, but also any information provided about the characters behaviours and state of mind. This then enabled me to draw up a character profile for Miss Havisham which I could then use to create my own adaptation for assessment.
I first considered her physical appearance, this description included notes of her still wearing her wedding dress after all these years which according to Pip's initial descriptions was made up of 'rich materials' such as satins, lace and silks. The character had just one shoe on as she had not yet put on the other when she heard of her fiancé Compeyson's betrayal and she wore a veil over her hair along with some flowers that had been placed in her locks before her life broke down. In the novel Miss Havisham's hair is claimed to be white, possibly from age and distress but also it could be due to her sitting in the same room for so many years while dust has settled on and around her. In addition to this, Miss Havisham is also described as wearing some jewels on her hands and around her neck.
Pips description of the captivating character continued to describe how the sparkling white dress she put on so many years before had now become a faded yellow colour. He then goes on to describe how the dress that once would have been a perfect fit for a young woman now hung off Miss Havisham's skin and bones. Pip goes on to describe the rejected lonely woman as looking sunken and gaunt.
To gain an even further understanding of Miss Havisham's character, I also had to consider her behaviours and how her past experiences may have affected her judgements. It is clear that she has never been able to move on from Compeyson's rejection, her constant harbouring of the past has clearly affected her mind in more ways than one. First of all she stopped all of the clocks at 20 minutes to 9 - the time she found out her fiancé had rejected her and from that point onwards it appears she sought revenge on the whole male species. In order to gain this revenge she spent years manipulating and brain washing Estella to play and manipulate boys into falling in love with her and then breaking their hearts, she has made it impossible for Estella to ever love a man, making Miss Havisham come across as almost like an evil fairy godmother.
All of this information assisted me to create some of my look for the Miss Havisham assessment, for example the hairstyle - Pip described her hair as white and I would assume it would look dry and brittle from having had no care or treatment for so many years. Therefore I think it would be perfect to use dry shampoo as it comes out white but also gives the hair a dull look to it. In addition to this, Miss Havisham hasn't changed since the day she was supposed to get married, leading me to assume that her hair would still be in somewhat of a wedding hairstyle but perhaps messy and fallen out due to time. I think the hairstyle should be kept simple so simply pinning the front section of the hair back with stray strands fallen out would be effective. As for the makeup, she would be in her late 40's / early 50's so I don't think the skin should be aged but instead pale and contoured to make the character look sunken and withdrawn. A basic makeup would be much more effective.
I would also add some of my own personal ideas to make the character my own such as dry, peeling skin around the lips and the top of the head as she was inside in the dark for so long without daylight so her skin would be dry.
Both this hair and makeup combined with her old and discoloured wedding dress and Miss Havisham's manipulative behaviour should lead viewers to feel a mixture of emotions. In some ways they should feel sorry for the seclusive and lonely woman that Miss Havisham has become, but at the same time her manipulative and cruel behaviour leads an audience to feel angry and repulsed by her and her treatment of Pip.
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