Miss Havisham

There are so many different styles that have been translated from the Charles Dickens book into films of Miss Havisham. The two styles of Miss Havisham I have researched on so far is Helena Carter in the 2012 film and Gillian Anderson in the BBC series.

Helena Carter's interpretation of Miss Havisham appears quite theatrical as her dress is extravagant aswell as her makeup and hair. Her hair is a mixture of black grey and white colours with frizzy curls. Her makeup gives her a worn out look and continues to look more tired throughout the story. Although her hair looks super crazy she still shows wealth in her look by having jewels in her hair. Throughout the film Helena Carter gets more playful with her character messing around with her veil as it is placed differently in some scenes. I do think this is a good portrayal of Miss Havisham as it is what I imagined her to look like but alot thinner. I don't think she shows any heartbreak throughout the film at all but only Havisham's evil side. When she receives the letter on her wedding day she seems distraught but not in a way that I expected as her gasp just seemed cringy and unrealistic to me.

Gillian Anderson's version of Miss Havisham is slightly more reserved than Helena Carter's style. Anderson plays the character as a more timid woman. But I think this timid side makes sense as having her heart broken is what has made her act this way. As the story goes on she becomes more outspoken and once her revenge is revealed she acts so awful towards Pip. I found this scene more emotional to watch than in the 2012 film as it showed her true colours and I could feel the heartbreak that Pip was feeling. In the series she is very pale and cold looking. Her hair is white and is quite normal at the beginning but as the story goes on her hair gets more and more disheveled looking throughout the scenes. Her dress isn't extravagant as it should be as Victorian wedding dresses were a lot bigger. She also self harms herself as you see her constantly scratching away at her hand. Overall I prefer the characteristics of Miss Havisham in this film as I felt like I learnt more about who she was and the pain she was feeling compared to the 2012 film.