Miss Havisham
| Miss Havisham | |
|---|---|
| Great Expectations character | |
 Miss Havisham, by Harry Furniss | |
| Created by | Charles Dickens |
| Portrayed by | Gillian Anderson Anne Bancroft Helena Bonham Carter Joan Hickson Martita Hunt Margaret Leighton Tuppence Middleton Charlotte Rampling Florence Reed Jean Simmons Tabu |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Heiress Hermit |
| Family | Arthur Havisham (half brother) |
| Children | Estella (adoptive daughter) |
| Relatives | Pocket family (cousins) Cousin Raymond Georgiana Bentley Drummle (son-in-law) |
| Nationality | British |
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, Satis House, with her adopted daughter, Estella. Dickens describes her as looking like "the witch of the place".
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.
In film and television
In film adaptations of Great Expectations, Miss Havisham has been played by a number of distinguished actresses, including:
- Florence Reed (1934)
- Martita Hunt (1946)
- Margaret Leighton (1974)
- Joan Hickson (1981)
- Jean Simmons (who had previously played Estella in 1946 opposite Hunt) (1989)
- Anne Bancroft (1998) (a version which modernised the story to the twentieth century and changed the names of several characters)
- Charlotte Rampling (1999)
- Gillian Anderson (2011, 3-part TV movie adaptation)[1][2][3]
- Helena Bonham Carter (2012) (in this version the character is given the first name "Eleanor" but no one addresses her by it)
- Tuppence Middleton (2015) (in this version the character is given the first name "Amelia" and referenced as such)
- Tabu (2016) (in Fitoor, a Hindi version as Begum Hazrat [Miss Havisham] )
Characters inspired by Miss Havisham
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.[4] In Sunset Boulevard, Joe Gillis compares Norma Desmond to Miss Havisham during his narration.
A character in the animated series Chowder, Endive, has had a similar experience to Miss Havisham in that her fiancé did not show up on their wedding day. Endive also has an apprentice, Panini, whom she teaches to avoid men.
Miss Habersham, a character in William Faulkner's novel Intruder in the Dust, is likely derived from Miss Havisham.[citation needed]
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.[5][6][7]
References
- ^ "BBC One – Great Expectations – Miss Havisham". Bbc.co.uk. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ^ Osborn, Michael (24 December 2011). "BBC News – Great Expectations: Miss Havisham given 'youthful' air". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ^ Gillian Anderson. "TV blog: Great Expectations: Falling in love with Miss Havisham". BBC. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ^ "Sunset Boulevard". Filmsite.org. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ^ "Craving love? Enduring grief activates brain's reward center". NeuroImage. 42: 969–972. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.04.256. PMC 2553561. PMID 18559294.
- ^ Perry, Keith (28 June 2008). "Pining for lost love can be physically addictive". Telegraph. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- ^ Selway, Jennifer (1 December 2012). "Charles Dickens' greatest heroine". Daily Express. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
External links
