My Interpretations of the Characters

On my way to Southampton, I drive past this little house on the motorway. (I wasn't driving whilst I took the picture!) It reminds me of Pips house in the marshes.

When I first read the book, I started to imagine what the characters would look like. Here are my quick initial sketches of the main characters. As this is only my first thought of how the characters look, I will continue to change and adapt them throughout my project, until I am happy with a final outcome.

Pip

Pip is the main character in the novel, everything centres around Pip and his experiences. Pip is the narrator, telling the story years afterwards, from his point of view as an adult. He is looking back on his younger self, sounding much more wiser and mature. 

 Estella

Estella's name means "star", which suggests she is beautiful but out of reach. Estella is sophisticated and rich; representing everything that Pip wants and can't have. But her upper class upbringing doesn't make her happy which shows that social status and money doesn't please everyone. 

Miss Havisham

Miss Havisham was once engaged to Compeyson. He didn't turn up on their wedding day, he was never going to marry her - he just wanted her money. She never recovered from her heartbreak. Dickens uses strong imagery to suggest how obsessive Miss Havisham is over her past. 

Joe Gargery

"In his working clothes, Joe was a well-knit, characteristic-looking blacksmith; in his holiday clothes, he was more like a scarecrow in good circumstances, than anything else. Nothing that he wore then, fitted him or seemed to belong to him; and everything that he wore then grazed him."

Abel Magwitch

"A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg." At first, Magwitch comes across as a violent and aggressive character. However Magwitch has good qualities, he never harms Pip and he lies to protect him. Magwitch reveals that he "made a gentlemen" of Pip, rewarding Pip for helping him on the marshes, showing that he's grateful and generous. 

Development:

After reading ahead on the brief, I know I need to create Miss Havisham twice (continuity) and either Pip or Estella. I have decided I want to create Estella as I feel I can create more of a story behind her. For this reason, I have developed the two characters how I see them. 

I imagine Miss Havisham being in her late 40s/early 50s. I used ink to create this as I wanted to create the effect of Miss Havisham being "withered". 

This is my interpretation of Estella, I have created her younger here. I am still indesicive whether to create her older or younger. Hopefully future research will help me decide.