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{{Short description|Fictional character in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2013}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox character
{{Infobox character
| name = Miss Havisham
| colour = rainbow
| series = [[Great Expectations]]
| colour text = black
| name = Miss Havisham
| image = Havisham.jpg
| series = [[Great Expectations]]
| caption = Miss Havisham, by [[Harry Furniss]]
| image = [[Image:Havisham.jpg|200px]]
| creator = [[Charles Dickens]]
| based_on = Possibly [[Eliza Emily Donnithorne]] or Margaret Catherine Dick
| caption = Art by [[Harry Furniss]]
| portrayer = [[Gillian Anderson]]<br>[[Anne Bancroft]]<br>[[Helena Bonham Carter]]<br>[[Joan Hickson]]<br>[[Martita Hunt]]<br>[[Margaret Leighton]]<br>[[Tuppence Middleton]]<br>[[Charlotte Rampling]]<br>[[Florence Reed]]<br>[[Jean Simmons]]<br>[[Tabu (actress)|Tabu]]<br>[[Olivia Colman]]
| first =
| occupation = None ([[Inheritance|heiress]] and [[recluse]])
| last =
| full_name =
| cause =
| gender = Female
| creator = [[Charles Dickens]]
| significant_other = [[Compeyson]] (former fiancé)
| episode =
| family = [[Arthur Havisham]] (half brother)
| nickname =
| children = [[Estella (Great Expectations)|Estella]] (adoptive daughter)
| alias =
| relatives = [[Herbert Pocket|Pocket family]] (cousins)<br>Cousin Raymond<br>Georgiana<br>Camilla<br>Bentley Drummle (son-in-law)
| gender = Female
| family =
| nationality = English
| religion = [[Church of England]]<ref>In Chapter VIII, mention is made of her having "a [[Book of Common Prayer|Prayer-Book]] all confusedly heaped about the looking-glass."</ref>
}}
}}


'''Miss Havisham'''
'''Miss Havisham''' is a significant character in the [[Charles Dickens]] [[novel]] ''[[Great Expectations]]'' (1861). She is a wealthy [[spinster]], who lives in her ruined [[mansion]] with her adopted daughter, [[Estella Havisham|Estella]], whom she has sent to France, while she herself is described as looking like "the witch of the place."
is a character in the [[Charles Dickens]]' 1861 novel ''[[Great Expectations]]''. She is a wealthy [[spinster]], once jilted at the altar, who insists on wearing her wedding dress for the rest of her life. She lives in a ruined [[mansion]] with her adopted daughter, [[Estella (Great Expectations)|Estella]]. Dickens describes her as looking like "the witch of the place". In the novel, she schemes to have the young orphan, [[Pip (Great Expectations)|Pip]], fall in love with Estella, so that Estella can "[[Broken heart|break his heart]]."


Although she has often been portrayed in film versions as very elderly, Dickens's own notes indicate that she is only in her mid-fifties. However, it is also indicated that her long life away from the sunlight has in itself aged her, and she is said to look like a cross between a [[waxwork]] and a [[skeleton]], with moving eyes.
Although she has often been portrayed in film versions as very elderly, Dickens's own notes indicate that she is only in her mid-thirties at the start of the novel. However, it is indicated in the novel that her long seclusion without sunlight has aged her. She is one of the most [[Gothic fiction|gothic]] characters in the work of Dickens.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Gothic in Great Expectations |url=https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/videos/the-gothic-in-great-expectations |access-date=16 August 2021 |agency=[[British Library]]}}</ref>


==Character history==
== Character history ==
Miss Havisham's mother died when her daughter was a baby. Her father, a wealthy brewer, spoiled their daughter as a result. When he died, he left most of his money as inheritance for her.


Miss Havisham's father was a wealthy [[brewer]] and her mother died shortly after she was born. Her father remarried and had an [[Legitimacy (family law)|illegitimate]] son, Arthur, with the household cook. Miss Havisham's relationship with her half-brother was a strained one.
As an adult, she fell in love with a man named Compeyson, who was only out to swindle her of her riches. Her cousin Matthew Pocket warned her to be careful, but she was too much in love to listen. At twenty minutes to nine on their wedding day, while she was dressing, Havisham received a letter from Compeyson and realized that he had defrauded her and she had been left at the altar.
She inherited most of her father's fortune and fell in love with a man named [[Compeyson]], who conspired with the jealous Arthur to swindle her of her riches. Her cousin, [[Herbert Pocket|Matthew Pocket]], warned her to be careful, but she was too much in love to listen. On the wedding day, while she was dressing, Miss Havisham received a letter from Compeyson and realised he had [[Breach of promise|defrauded]] her and she had been left at the altar.
[[Image:Breakhisheart.jpg|Miss Havisham with Estella and Pip. Art by [[H. M. Brock]].|thumb]]
[[File:"It's a great cake. A bride-cake. Mine!".jpeg|thumb|upright|left|"It's a great cake. A bride-cake. Mine!" – Miss Havisham]]
Humiliated and heartbroken, Havisham had all the clocks stopped at the exact point in which she had learned of her betrayal. From that day on, she remained by herself in her decaying mansion, [[Satis House]], never removing her wedding dress (as a result of being in the process of getting dressed when she receives the letter, she only has one shoe on), leaving the wedding cake uneaten on the table and only allowing a few people to see her.
[[File:Breakhisheart.jpg|thumb|upright|Miss Havisham with Estella and Pip ([[H. M. Brock]])]]


Humiliated and heartbroken, Miss Havisham suffered a [[mental breakdown]] and remained alone in her decaying mansion [[Satis House]] – never removing her [[wedding dress]], wearing only one shoe, leaving the [[wedding breakfast]] and [[wedding cake|cake]] uneaten on the table, and allowing only a few people to see her. She also had the clocks in her mansion stopped at twenty minutes to nine: the exact time when she had received Compeyson's letter.
Miss Havisham later had her lawyer, Mr. Jaggers, adopt a daughter for her.


Time passed and Miss Havisham had her lawyer, [[Great Expectations#Mr Jaggers and his circle|Mr. Jaggers]], adopt a daughter for her.
{{quote|''I had been shut up in these rooms a long time (I don't know how long; you know what time the clocks keep here), when I told him that I wanted a little girl to rear and love, and save from my fate. I had first seen him when I sent for him to lay this place waste for me; having read of him in the newspapers, before I and the world parted. He told me that he would look about him for such an orphan child. One night he brought her here asleep, and I called her [[Estella Havisham|Estella]].''}}
{{quote|I had been shut up in these rooms a long time (I don't know how long; you know what time the clocks keep here), when I told him that I wanted a little girl to rear and love, and save from my fate. I had first seen him when I sent for him to lay this place waste for me; having read of him in the newspapers, before I and the world parted. He told me that he would look about him for such an orphan child. One night he brought her here asleep, and I called her [[Estella (Great Expectations)|Estella]]. (Chapter XLIX)}}


===From protection to revenge===
===From protection to revenge===
While Miss Havisham's original goal was to prevent Estella from suffering as she had at the hands of a man, it changed as Estella grew older:


{{quote|Believe this: when she first came, I meant to save her from misery like my own. At first I meant no more. But as she grew, and promised to be very beautiful, I gradually did worse, and with my praises, and with my jewels, and with my teachings, and with this figure of myself always before her a warning to back and point my lessons, I stole her heart away and put ice in its place. (Chapter XLIX)}} While Estella was still a child, Miss Havisham began casting about for boys who could be a testing ground for Estella's education in breaking the hearts of men as vicarious revenge for Miss Havisham's pain. [[Great Expectations|Pip]], the narrator, is the eventual victim; and Miss Havisham readily dresses Estella in jewels to enhance her beauty and to exemplify all the more the vast social gulf between her and Pip. When, as a young adult, Estella leaves for France to receive education, Miss Havisham eagerly asks him, "Do you feel you have lost her?"
While wishing Estella never to suffer as she had at the hands of a man was Miss Havisham's original goal, it changed as Estella grew older:


===Repentance and death===
{{quote|''Believe this: when she first came, I meant to save her from misery like my own. At first I meant no more. But as she grew, and promised to be very beautiful, I gradually did worse, and with my praises, and with my jewels, and with my teachings, and with this figure of myself always before her a warning to back and point my lessons, I stole her heart away and put ice in its place.''}}
[[File:HavishamFraser.png|thumb|Miss Havisham is begging Pip for his forgiveness ([[F. A. Fraser]])]]
Miss Havisham [[repentance|repents]] late in the novel when Estella leaves to marry Pip's rival, [[Great Expectations#Antagonists|Bentley Drummle]]; and she realises that she has caused Pip's heart to be broken in the same manner as her own; rather than achieving any kind of personal revenge, she has only caused more pain. Miss Havisham begs Pip for forgiveness.


{{quote|Until you spoke to [Estella] the other day, and until I saw in you a looking-glass that showed me what I once felt myself, I did not know what I had done. What have I done! What have I done! (Chapter XLIX)}}
While Estella was still a child, Miss Havisham began casting about for boys who could be a testing ground for Estella's education in breaking the hearts of men as [[vicarious]] revenge for Miss Havisham's pain. [[Great Expectations|Pip]], the narrator, is the eventual victim, and Miss Havisham readily dresses Estella in jewels to prettify her all the more, and to exemplify all the more the vast social gulf between her and Pip. It is this that drives Pip to ultimately agree to become a gentleman, and when, as a young adult, Estella leaves for [[France]] to receive education, Miss Havisham eagerly asks him, "Do you feel you have lost her?"

===End===
[[Image:HavishamFraser.png|Miss Havisham is begging Pip for his forgiveness. Art by F.A. Fraser.|thumb]]
Miss Havisham is [[repentance|repentant]] late in the novel when Estella leaves to marry Pip's rival, Bentley Drummle, and she realises that she has caused Pip’s heart to be broken in the same manner as her own; rather than achieving any kind of personal revenge, she has only caused more pain. Miss Havisham begs Pip for forgiveness.

{{quote|''Until you spoke to [Estella] the other day, and until I saw in you a looking-glass that showed me what I once felt myself, I did not know what I had done. What have I done! What have I done!''}}


After Pip leaves, Miss Havisham's dress catches on fire from her fireplace. Pip rushes back in and saves her. However, she has suffered severe burns to the front of her torso (she is laid on her back), up to the throat. The last words she speaks in the novel are (in a [[delirium]]) to Pip, referencing both Estella and a note she, Miss Havisham, has given him with her signature: "Take the pencil and write under my name, 'I forgive her!'"
After Pip leaves, Miss Havisham's dress catches on fire from her fireplace. Pip rushes back in and saves her. However, she has suffered severe burns to the front of her torso (she is laid on her back), up to the throat. The last words she speaks in the novel are (in a [[delirium]]) to Pip, referencing both Estella and a note she, Miss Havisham, has given him with her signature: "Take the pencil and write under my name, 'I forgive her!'"


A surgeon dresses her burns, and says that they are "far from hopeless". However, despite rallying for a time, she dies a few weeks later, leaving Estella as her chief beneficiary, and a considerable sum to Herbert Pocket, as a result of Pip's reference.
A surgeon dresses her burns, and says that they are "far from hopeless". However, despite rallying for a time, she dies a few weeks later, leaving Estella as her chief beneficiary, and a considerable sum to Herbert Pocket's father, as a result of Pip's reference.


==Historical inspirations==
==Claimed prototypes==
Eliza Emily Donnithorne (1827–1886) of [[Camperdown, New South Wales|Camperdown]], [[Sydney]], was jilted by her groom on her wedding day and spent the rest of her life in a darkened house, her rotting wedding cake left as it was on the table, and with her front door kept permanently ajar in case her groom ever returned. She was widely considered at the time to be Dickens' model for Miss Havisham, although this cannot be proven. Although Charles Dickens had a deep-seated interest in Australia, saw it as a place of opportunity and encouraged two of his sons to emigrate there, the writer never visited it himself, but it features in detail in many of his works, notably ''Great Expectations'' itself. He obtained his information on colonial life in New South Wales from two Sydney researchers. He also had numerous friends and acquaintances who settled in Australia who sent him letters detailing curious aspects of life in the colonies, knowing he could use it as source material for future novels. They could easily have conveyed the Donnithorne story to him. Australia features prominently in ''Great Expectations'', and New South Wales is where Pip’s benefactor Abel Magwitch made his fortune.
In the 1850s, [[Eliza Emily Donnithorne]] of [[Newtown, New South Wales|Newtown]], Sydney (then part of the [[Colony of New South Wales]]), was jilted by her groom on her wedding day and spent the rest of her life alone in a darkened house, her wedding breakfast left to rot, and with a chained front door.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article100032953|title=Eliza Donnithorne's Tragedy.|date=17 September 1946|work=Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder (NSW : 1913 - 1954)|access-date=2018-03-15|pages=5}}</ref> Donnithorne was widely considered at the time to be Dickens' model for Miss Havisham, although this cannot be proven.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/donnithorne-eliza-emily-3426|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Ryan|first=J. S.|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|location=Canberra|chapter=Donnithorne, Eliza Emily (1826–1886)}}</ref>


Another contemporary inspiration might have been Margaret Catherine Dick of [[Bonchurch]], [[Isle of Wight]], who lived at "Uppermount" house and was the daughter of Captain Samuel Dick. Dickens spent the summer of 1849 staying in Bonchurch writing chapters of ''David Copperfield''; during his time in the coastal village he took regular walks up [[St Boniface Down]] with Charles George Dick, the brother of Margaret. The character of Mr Dick (who boarded with Miss Betsy Trotwood) in ''David Copperfield'' is based on Charles. In 1860 Margaret Dick was jilted at the altar and began living a reclusive life. In the 1860s, Dickens' daughters stayed with the vicar in Bonchurch that was to marry Margaret Dick. Dickens may have based the character of Miss Havisham on Margaret Dick; but named her after her neighbour Miss Haviland.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://onthewight.com/lockdown-research-uncovers-the-true-identities-of-two-dickens-characters-and-they-lived-in-bonchurch/ |title=Lockdown research uncovers the true identities of two Dickens’ characters, and they lived in Bonchurch|website=OntheWight.com|accessdate=16 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=24 September 2023 |title=YouTube launch of short film Dickens Island about author's links with Bonchurch |url=https://www.countypress.co.uk/news/23810004.isle-wight-links-charles-dickens-explored-new-youtube-film/ |access-date=2023-09-27 |website=Isle of Wight County Press}}</ref>
In the 1965 Penguin edition, Angus Calder notes at Chapter 8 that "James Payn, a minor novelist, claimed to have given Dickens the idea for Miss Havisham - from a living original of his acquaintance. He declared that Dickens's account was 'not one whit exaggerated'." Although it is documented Dickens encountered a wealthy recluse called Elizabeth Parker on whom it is widely believed he based the character, whilst staying in [[Newport, Shropshire]] at the aptly named Havisham Court.


In the introduction to the 1965 Penguin edition of ''Great Expectations'', writer [[Angus Calder]] notes that "[[James Payn]], a minor novelist, claimed to have given Dickens the idea for Miss Havisham – from a living original of his acquaintance. He declared that Dickens's account was 'not one whit exaggerated'."<ref>{{cite book|first=Charles|last=Dickens|author-link=Charles Dickens|title=Great Expectations|editor-first=Angus|editor-last=Calder|editor-link=Angus Calder|date=1861|edition=1965|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0393960693|title-link=Great Expectations}}</ref> Dickens reportedly encountered a wealthy recluse called Elizabeth Parker while staying in [[Newport, Shropshire]], which has an aptly named Havisham Court.<ref>{{cite web|first=Emma|last=Kasprzak|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-shropshire-16489952|title=Dickens bicentenary: Shropshire celebrates links|work=[[BBC News]]|publisher=[[BBC]]|location=London, England|date=11 January 2012|access-date=30 June 2018}}</ref> However, research by the Newport History Society has found no evidence to support the stories that Dickens ever stayed in Newport, met Miss Parker, or was an inspiration for Miss Havisham. Despite the reports Miss Parker (born 1802) spent the rest of her life as a recluse, census records of the period show she was at [[Chester]] (1851), then [[Whitchurch, Shropshire|Whitchurch]] (1861), before moving to Chetwynd House, Newport in 1863. She was not even living in Newport when Dickens started to write ''Great Expectations'' in 1859.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/politics/2017/06/17/has-linda-disproved-a-towns-dickens-of-a-legend/|title=Has Linda disproved a town's Dickens of a legend?|newspaper=[[Shropshire Star]]|date =17 June 2017}}</ref>
==Alternate versions==
===''Miss Havisham's Fire''===


Since the publication of ''Great Expectations'', the character of Miss Havisham has seen numerous comparisons and parallels with many real jilted brides (life imitating art), such as the widely-reported case of Alice Pinard-Dôges in [[Neuilly]], France who committed suicide in her bridal gown in 1894.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bridal Suicide, Miss Havisham, and Charles Dickens' Great Expectations|year=2023|website=www.academia.edu|author=Dr Ian McCormick |url=https://www.academia.edu/99236894/Bridal_Suicide_Miss_Havisham_and_Charles_Dickens_Great_Expectations}} </ref>
''Miss Havisham's Fire'' (1979, revised 2001) is an opera composed by [[Dominick Argento]] with a libretto by [[John Olon-Scrymgeour]], based on Dickens' character. The entire story is told in flashback during an inquiry into Miss Havisham’s death.


==Alternative and derived versions ==
===Use in the Thursday Next series===
''[[Miss Havisham's Fire]]'' (1979, revised 2001) is an [[opera]] composed by [[Dominick Argento]] with a libretto by John Olon-Scrymgeour, based on Dickens' character. The entire story is told in flashback during an inquiry into Miss Havisham's death. The opera gives her first name as "Aurelia".
Dickens's Miss Havisham is a major character in the comic detective/mystery series of novels, [[Thursday Next]] by [[Jasper Fforde]]. The stories are set in a fantasy/alternate universe milieu in which characters borrowed from classic literature, including the Dickens, play a prominent role.


[[Ronald Frame]]'s 2013 novel, ''Havisham'', is a non-canonical story about Miss Havisham's early life. The story tells how Miss Havisham (given the name of Catherine) is the daughter of a brewer. The story tells of more than just the infamous trauma of being left behind by her fiancé and goes on with her taking charge of her family's business before descending into vengeful madness, adopting Estella, and arranging the meeting of Estella and Pip.
In Fforde's world, Mrs Havisham, now a great fan of fast cars, is one of the leading operatives of [[Jurisfiction]], the organisation that polices the world in which all fiction resides, the BookWorld. Her capabilities are portrayed as very advanced, she takes Thursday on as an Apprentice, and one of their first assignments together is to circumvent a plot hole in ''Great Expectations'' as it is never explained in Dickens's novel how the heavily-manacled Magwitch was able to make it to land from the prison ship where he was incarcerated.


Both ''[[Sunset Boulevard (film)|Sunset Boulevard]]'' and ''[[What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962 film)|What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?]]'' were inspired by [[David Lean]]'s adaptation of ''[[Great Expectations (1946 film)|Great Expectations]]'', as were, by extension, the characters of [[Norma Desmond]] and [[Baby Jane Hudson]], and their homes.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mazur |first=Matt |date=January 5, 2011 |title=The Devil is a Woman: Sunset Boulevard, Norma Desmond, and Actress Noir |url=https://icsfilm.org/essays/the-devil-is-a-woman-sunset-boulevard-norma-desmond-and-actress-noir/ |access-date=June 30, 2018 |website=International Cinephile Society}}</ref>
Also, in the series, Miss Havisham dies as a result of a car crash, rather than being set alight. To make this fit in, the ending familiar to readers in this world is improvised, changing the plot to say her dress caught fire. This is similar to the plot of [[The Eyre Affair]], the first story in the [[Thursday Next series]] where the ending of the story is changed to the familiar one.


==In film and television==
==In film and television==
In film adaptations of ''Great Expectations'', Miss Havisham has been played by a number of distinguished actresses, including:
In [[Great Expectations#Adaptations|film adaptations]] of ''Great Expectations'', Miss Havisham has been played by a number of actors, including:
*[[Grace Barton]] (1917)
*[[Marie Dinesen]] (1922)
*[[Florence Reed]] (1934)
*[[Florence Reed]] (1934)
*[[Martita Hunt]] (1946)
*[[Martita Hunt]] (1946)
*[[Estelle Winwood]] (1954)
*[[Marjorie Hawtrey]] (1959)
*[[Maxine Audley ]] (1967)
*[[Margaret Leighton]] (1974)
*[[Margaret Leighton]] (1974)
*[[Joan Hickson]] (1981)
*[[Joan Hickson]] (1981)
*[[Jill Forster]] (1987)
*[[Jean Simmons]] (who had previously played Estella in 1946 opposite Hunt) (1989)
*[[Jean Simmons]] (who had previously played Estella in 1946 opposite Hunt) (1989)
*[[Anne Bancroft]] (1998) (a version which modernized the story to the twentieth century and changed the names of several characters)
*[[Anne Bancroft]] (1998) (a version which modernised the story to the twentieth century and changed the names of several characters)
*[[Charlotte Rampling]] (1999)
*[[Charlotte Rampling]] (1999)
*[[Gillian Anderson]] (2011, 3-part TV movie adaptation)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018wmhr/characters/miss-havisham |title=BBC One – Great Expectations – Miss Havisham |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=1 January 1970 |access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Osborn |first=Michael |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16047263 |title=BBC News – Great Expectations: Miss Havisham given 'youthful' air |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=24 December 2011 |access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Gillian Anderson |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/2011/12/great-expectations-gillian-anderson.shtml |title=TV blog: Great Expectations: Falling in love with Miss Havisham |publisher=BBC |access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref>
*(Jamie H Scrutton) (2010)
*[[Helena Bonham Carter]] (2012) (in this version the character is given the name "Eleanor" but no one addresses her by it)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/9712167/Great-Expectations-review.html|title=Great Expectations, review|access-date=9 March 2013 | location=London|work=The Daily Telegraph|first=Robbie|last=Collin|date=29 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Gothic expectations: look at Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2011/nov/04/helena-bonham-carter-miss-havisham |access-date=16 August 2021 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>
*[[Gillian Anderson]] (2011) TV Movie
*[[Tuppence Middleton]] (2015) (in the multiplot TV series ''[[Dickensian (TV series)|Dickensian]]''; in this version the character is given the name "Amelia" and is referenced as such)
*[[Helena Bonham-Carter]] (Upcoming, 2012)
*[[Tabu (actress)|Tabu]] (2016) (in ''[[Fitoor]]'', a [[Hindi]] version; as Begum Hazrat)

*[[Olivia Colman]] (2023) (in this version the character is given the name "Amelia" and is referenced as such)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1731254/Olivia-colman-miss-havisham-great-expectations | title=Olivia Colman is unrecognisable as Miss Havisham in Great Expectations | date=6 February 2023 }}</ref>
==Characters inspired by Miss Havisham==
Both ''[[Sunset Boulevard (film)|Sunset Boulevard]]'' and ''[[What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (film)|What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?]]'' were inspired by [[David Lean|David Lean's]] adaptation of ''[[Great Expectations (1946 film)|Great Expectations]]'', as were, by extension, the characters of [[Norma Desmond]] and [[Baby Jane Hudson]] and their homes.<ref>[http://www.filmsite.org/suns.html Filmsite.org ''Sunset Boulevard'']</ref> In ''Sunset Boulevard'', [[Joe Gillis]] even compares Norma Desmond to Havisham during his narration.

A character in the cartoon show ''[[Chowder (TV series)|Chowder]]'', Endive, has had a similar event to Havisham when her fiancé never showed up on the wedding day. She also has an apprentice, Panini, whom she teaches to avoid men.


==In science==
==In science==
The condition of "The Miss Havisham effect" has been coined by scientists to describe a person who suffers a painful longing for lost love, which can become a physically addictive pleasure by activation of reward and pleasure centers in the brain, which have been identified to regulate addictive behavior - regions commonly known to be responsible for craving and drug, alcohol and gambling addiction.<ref>Craving love? Enduring grief activates brain's reward center" Mary-Frances O'Connor, et al., 2008 NeuroImage</ref>
The condition of the "Miss Havisham effect" has been coined by scientists to describe a person who suffers a painful longing for lost love, which can become a physically addictive pleasure by activation of reward and pleasure centres in the brain, which have been identified to regulate addictive behaviour – regions commonly known to be responsible for craving and drug, alcohol and gambling addiction.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Mary-Frances|last1=O'Connor|first2=David K.|last2=Wellisch|first3=Annette L.|last3=Stanton|first4=Naomi I.|last4=Eisenberger|first5=Michael R.|last5=Irwin|first6=Matthew D.|last6=Lieberman|title=Craving love? Enduring grief activates brain's reward center | doi=10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.04.256|volume=42|number=2|pages=969–972|pmid=18559294|pmc=2553561|journal=NeuroImage|date=15 August 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Keith|last=Perry|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2211085/Pining-for-lost-love-can-be-physically-addictive.html|title=Pining for lost love can be physically addictive|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London, England|date=28 June 2008|access-date=25 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Jennifer|last=Selway|url=http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/jennifer-selway/361836/Charles-Dickens-greatest-heroine|title=Charles Dickens' greatest heroine|work=[[Daily Express]]|publisher=[[Trinity Mirror]]|location=London, England|date=1 December 2012|access-date=25 March 2014}}</ref>


==References==
==In popular culture==
{{Reflist|2}}


==External links==
*In "[[Pip (South Park episode)|Pip]]," a ''[[South Park]]'' episode based on ''[[Great Expectations]],'' Miss Havisham is depicted similar to her novel counterpart, with the twist that she ultimately plans to fuse her soul into Estella's body in order to extend her life, using a "Genesis Device." She controls an army of [[robot]]ic [[monkey]]s.
{{Commons category|Miss Havisham}}
{{Wiktionary|Havishamesque|Miss Havishamesque}}


{{Great Expectations}}
*Her character was an inspiration for Melanie Ravenswood in the [[Phantom Manor]] attraction at [[Disneyland Paris]]. In Melanie's case, her groom was murdered by a mysterious phantom by hanging, though she did not find out what happened to him, wandering the haunted house searching for him to her dying day.


*The poem "Havisham," by [[Carol Ann Duffy]] is based on the character Miss Havisham.

*The song "Goodbye Miss Havisham" by [[Sullivan (band)|Sullivan]] directly relates to her character.

*In the film ''[[P.S. I Love You (film)|P.S. I Love You]]'', the character Holly, who is depressed over the death of her husband, says to her friend Sharon, "...Become the Miss Havisham of the Lower East Side. Never leave my apartment 'til I'm old. Sit in my wedding dress. With an old piece of wedding cake." Other characters also compare her to Havisham throughout the film implicitly and explicitly.

*In the [[webcomic]] ''[http://nonadventures.com/ The Non-Adventures of Wonderella]'' Miss Havisham is a member of The Order of Prodigious Noblewoman (a parody of ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'') alongside [[Jane Eyre (character)|Jane Eyre]], [[Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)|Alice]] from [[Lewis Carroll|Lewis Carroll's]] novels and [[Rappaccini's Daughter|Beatrice Rappaccini]]. Miss Havisham is said to have the ability to "eviscerate a man with hate"[http://nonadventures.com/2007/02/03/victorian-secret/]. The titular [[Superhero#Female superheroes|superheroine]] declines an offer to join them. In a later strip, Miss Havisham has become a freelance [[mohel]]. It is implied she botches [[circumcision]]s on purpose.[http://nonadventures.com/2008/04/12/eyre-apparent/].

==References==
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[[Category:Fictional hermits]]
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Revision as of 13:03, 26 March 2024

Miss Havisham
Great Expectations character
Miss Havisham, by Harry Furniss
Created byCharles Dickens
Based onPossibly Eliza Emily Donnithorne or Margaret Catherine Dick
Portrayed byGillian Anderson
Anne Bancroft
Helena Bonham Carter
Joan Hickson
Martita Hunt
Margaret Leighton
Tuppence Middleton
Charlotte Rampling
Florence Reed
Jean Simmons
Tabu
Olivia Colman
In-universe information
GenderFemale
OccupationNone (heiress and recluse)
FamilyArthur Havisham (half brother)
Significant otherCompeyson (former fiancé)
ChildrenEstella (adoptive daughter)
RelativesPocket family (cousins)
Cousin Raymond
Georgiana
Camilla
Bentley Drummle (son-in-law)
ReligionChurch of England[1]
NationalityEnglish

Miss Havisham is a character in the Charles Dickens' 1861 novel Great Expectations. She is a wealthy spinster, once jilted at the altar, who insists on wearing her wedding dress for the rest of her life. She lives in a ruined mansion with her adopted daughter, Estella. Dickens describes her as looking like "the witch of the place". In the novel, she schemes to have the young orphan, Pip, fall in love with Estella, so that Estella can "break his heart."

Although she has often been portrayed in film versions as very elderly, Dickens's own notes indicate that she is only in her mid-thirties at the start of the novel. However, it is indicated in the novel that her long seclusion without sunlight has aged her. She is one of the most gothic characters in the work of Dickens.[2]

Character history

Miss Havisham's father was a wealthy brewer and her mother died shortly after she was born. Her father remarried and had an illegitimate son, Arthur, with the household cook. Miss Havisham's relationship with her half-brother was a strained one. She inherited most of her father's fortune and fell in love with a man named Compeyson, who conspired with the jealous Arthur to swindle her of her riches. Her cousin, Matthew Pocket, warned her to be careful, but she was too much in love to listen. On the wedding day, while she was dressing, Miss Havisham received a letter from Compeyson and realised he had defrauded her and she had been left at the altar.

"It's a great cake. A bride-cake. Mine!" – Miss Havisham
Miss Havisham with Estella and Pip (H. M. Brock)

Humiliated and heartbroken, Miss Havisham suffered a mental breakdown and remained alone in her decaying mansion Satis House – never removing her wedding dress, wearing only one shoe, leaving the wedding breakfast and cake uneaten on the table, and allowing only a few people to see her. She also had the clocks in her mansion stopped at twenty minutes to nine: the exact time when she had received Compeyson's letter.

Time passed and Miss Havisham had her lawyer, Mr. Jaggers, adopt a daughter for her.

I had been shut up in these rooms a long time (I don't know how long; you know what time the clocks keep here), when I told him that I wanted a little girl to rear and love, and save from my fate. I had first seen him when I sent for him to lay this place waste for me; having read of him in the newspapers, before I and the world parted. He told me that he would look about him for such an orphan child. One night he brought her here asleep, and I called her Estella. (Chapter XLIX)

From protection to revenge

While Miss Havisham's original goal was to prevent Estella from suffering as she had at the hands of a man, it changed as Estella grew older:

Believe this: when she first came, I meant to save her from misery like my own. At first I meant no more. But as she grew, and promised to be very beautiful, I gradually did worse, and with my praises, and with my jewels, and with my teachings, and with this figure of myself always before her a warning to back and point my lessons, I stole her heart away and put ice in its place. (Chapter XLIX)

While Estella was still a child, Miss Havisham began casting about for boys who could be a testing ground for Estella's education in breaking the hearts of men as vicarious revenge for Miss Havisham's pain. Pip, the narrator, is the eventual victim; and Miss Havisham readily dresses Estella in jewels to enhance her beauty and to exemplify all the more the vast social gulf between her and Pip. When, as a young adult, Estella leaves for France to receive education, Miss Havisham eagerly asks him, "Do you feel you have lost her?"

Repentance and death

Miss Havisham is begging Pip for his forgiveness (F. A. Fraser)

Miss Havisham repents late in the novel when Estella leaves to marry Pip's rival, Bentley Drummle; and she realises that she has caused Pip's heart to be broken in the same manner as her own; rather than achieving any kind of personal revenge, she has only caused more pain. Miss Havisham begs Pip for forgiveness.

Until you spoke to [Estella] the other day, and until I saw in you a looking-glass that showed me what I once felt myself, I did not know what I had done. What have I done! What have I done! (Chapter XLIX)

After Pip leaves, Miss Havisham's dress catches on fire from her fireplace. Pip rushes back in and saves her. However, she has suffered severe burns to the front of her torso (she is laid on her back), up to the throat. The last words she speaks in the novel are (in a delirium) to Pip, referencing both Estella and a note she, Miss Havisham, has given him with her signature: "Take the pencil and write under my name, 'I forgive her!'"

A surgeon dresses her burns, and says that they are "far from hopeless". However, despite rallying for a time, she dies a few weeks later, leaving Estella as her chief beneficiary, and a considerable sum to Herbert Pocket's father, as a result of Pip's reference.

Historical inspirations

In the 1850s, Eliza Emily Donnithorne of Newtown, Sydney (then part of the Colony of New South Wales), was jilted by her groom on her wedding day and spent the rest of her life alone in a darkened house, her wedding breakfast left to rot, and with a chained front door.[3] Donnithorne was widely considered at the time to be Dickens' model for Miss Havisham, although this cannot be proven.[4]

Another contemporary inspiration might have been Margaret Catherine Dick of Bonchurch, Isle of Wight, who lived at "Uppermount" house and was the daughter of Captain Samuel Dick. Dickens spent the summer of 1849 staying in Bonchurch writing chapters of David Copperfield; during his time in the coastal village he took regular walks up St Boniface Down with Charles George Dick, the brother of Margaret. The character of Mr Dick (who boarded with Miss Betsy Trotwood) in David Copperfield is based on Charles. In 1860 Margaret Dick was jilted at the altar and began living a reclusive life. In the 1860s, Dickens' daughters stayed with the vicar in Bonchurch that was to marry Margaret Dick. Dickens may have based the character of Miss Havisham on Margaret Dick; but named her after her neighbour Miss Haviland.[5][6]

In the introduction to the 1965 Penguin edition of Great Expectations, writer Angus Calder notes that "James Payn, a minor novelist, claimed to have given Dickens the idea for Miss Havisham – from a living original of his acquaintance. He declared that Dickens's account was 'not one whit exaggerated'."[7] Dickens reportedly encountered a wealthy recluse called Elizabeth Parker while staying in Newport, Shropshire, which has an aptly named Havisham Court.[8] However, research by the Newport History Society has found no evidence to support the stories that Dickens ever stayed in Newport, met Miss Parker, or was an inspiration for Miss Havisham. Despite the reports Miss Parker (born 1802) spent the rest of her life as a recluse, census records of the period show she was at Chester (1851), then Whitchurch (1861), before moving to Chetwynd House, Newport in 1863. She was not even living in Newport when Dickens started to write Great Expectations in 1859.[9]

Since the publication of Great Expectations, the character of Miss Havisham has seen numerous comparisons and parallels with many real jilted brides (life imitating art), such as the widely-reported case of Alice Pinard-Dôges in Neuilly, France who committed suicide in her bridal gown in 1894.[10]

Alternative and derived versions

Miss Havisham's Fire (1979, revised 2001) is an opera composed by Dominick Argento with a libretto by John Olon-Scrymgeour, based on Dickens' character. The entire story is told in flashback during an inquiry into Miss Havisham's death. The opera gives her first name as "Aurelia".

Ronald Frame's 2013 novel, Havisham, is a non-canonical story about Miss Havisham's early life. The story tells how Miss Havisham (given the name of Catherine) is the daughter of a brewer. The story tells of more than just the infamous trauma of being left behind by her fiancé and goes on with her taking charge of her family's business before descending into vengeful madness, adopting Estella, and arranging the meeting of Estella and Pip.

Both Sunset Boulevard and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? were inspired by David Lean's adaptation of Great Expectations, as were, by extension, the characters of Norma Desmond and Baby Jane Hudson, and their homes.[11]

In film and television

In film adaptations of Great Expectations, Miss Havisham has been played by a number of actors, including:

In science

The condition of the "Miss Havisham effect" has been coined by scientists to describe a person who suffers a painful longing for lost love, which can become a physically addictive pleasure by activation of reward and pleasure centres in the brain, which have been identified to regulate addictive behaviour – regions commonly known to be responsible for craving and drug, alcohol and gambling addiction.[18][19][20]

References

  1. ^ In Chapter VIII, mention is made of her having "a Prayer-Book all confusedly heaped about the looking-glass."
  2. ^ "The Gothic in Great Expectations". British Library. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Eliza Donnithorne's Tragedy". Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder (NSW : 1913 - 1954). 17 September 1946. p. 5. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  4. ^ Ryan, J. S. "Donnithorne, Eliza Emily (1826–1886)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  5. ^ "Lockdown research uncovers the true identities of two Dickens' characters, and they lived in Bonchurch". OntheWight.com. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  6. ^ "YouTube launch of short film Dickens Island about author's links with Bonchurch". Isle of Wight County Press. 24 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  7. ^ Dickens, Charles (1861). Calder, Angus (ed.). Great Expectations (1965 ed.). New York City: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0393960693.
  8. ^ Kasprzak, Emma (11 January 2012). "Dickens bicentenary: Shropshire celebrates links". BBC News. London, England: BBC. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Has Linda disproved a town's Dickens of a legend?". Shropshire Star. 17 June 2017.
  10. ^ Dr Ian McCormick (2023). "Bridal Suicide, Miss Havisham, and Charles Dickens' Great Expectations". www.academia.edu.
  11. ^ Mazur, Matt (5 January 2011). "The Devil is a Woman: Sunset Boulevard, Norma Desmond, and Actress Noir". International Cinephile Society. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  12. ^ "BBC One – Great Expectations – Miss Havisham". Bbc.co.uk. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  13. ^ Osborn, Michael (24 December 2011). "BBC News – Great Expectations: Miss Havisham given 'youthful' air". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  14. ^ Gillian Anderson. "TV blog: Great Expectations: Falling in love with Miss Havisham". BBC. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  15. ^ Collin, Robbie (29 November 2012). "Great Expectations, review". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  16. ^ "Gothic expectations: look at Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  17. ^ "Olivia Colman is unrecognisable as Miss Havisham in Great Expectations". 6 February 2023.
  18. ^ O'Connor, Mary-Frances; Wellisch, David K.; Stanton, Annette L.; Eisenberger, Naomi I.; Irwin, Michael R.; Lieberman, Matthew D. (15 August 2008). "Craving love? Enduring grief activates brain's reward center". NeuroImage. 42 (2): 969–972. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.04.256. PMC 2553561. PMID 18559294.
  19. ^ Perry, Keith (28 June 2008). "Pining for lost love can be physically addictive". The Daily Telegraph. London, England. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  20. ^ Selway, Jennifer (1 December 2012). "Charles Dickens' greatest heroine". Daily Express. London, England: Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 25 March 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Miss Havisham.
Look up Havishamesque or Miss Havishamesque in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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