Whenever you read, you always imagine how the characters look and you start to build up a picture of what they look like. Everyone will imagine something different which is why there are so many interpretations of them! I have found a few images of Miss Havisham to compare the similarities and differences between them all.
Illustrations
Illustrations
Harry Furniss - 1910
Image from: http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/furniss/1.html
Marcus Stone
Image from: http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/mstone/6.html
Charles Green - 1877
Image from: http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/green/2.html
John McLenon - 1860
Image from: http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/mclenan/13.html
F. A. Fraser
Image from: http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/fraser/25.html
Although all of these illustrations appear different, if you study close enough you can see that they all portray an old, crippled looking lady. To me, this is obvious by her posture - the way her back is hunched over from the lack of sunlight and nutrition. It is also clear by her wrinkles and how thin and fragile she looks. I find it interesting studying illustrations from books as these are the most factual and historically correct versions of characters.
Film Adaptations
Great Expectations (2011)
Image from: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02063/Gilian-Anderson5_2063010i.jpg
Great Expectations (2012)
Image from: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02063/Bonham-Carter_2063039i.jpg
Great Expectations (1981)
Image from: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02062/Joan-Hickson_2062998i.jpg
There are many film adaptations and interpretations of Miss Havisham and they tend to usually have a twist to make them stand out. My favourite film version of Miss Havisham is the BBC TV-Mini Series, purely because she is very similar to how I first imagined Miss Havisham to look. I didn't really imagine her to look extremely old, I just thought about what her skin must look like if she hasn't seen sunlight for years! It would be in a very bad condition and I think the fact she has kept herself in her house for so many years is more important than what she should look like for her age.
Contemporary Interpretations
I was looking through contemporary portrayals of Miss Havisham and I came across a website where a few people created a whole photo shoot based around her! I looked at the website and the photographs they took and I was amazed to see how they interpreted Miss Havisham and how well their designs came out. Below is the website and a few of my favourite photographs.
As you can see, Miss Havisham has been manipulated and portrayed in so many different ways because we won't all imagine her to look the same. One persons idea can be completely different to some one else's and I think that makes the different versions of her so exciting to look at/watch. It is also fascinating to see how other people imagine what she looks like and I have enjoyed researching the different styles of her character.
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