MISS HAVISHAM AT THE MOVIES--Gary Swafford If we have any doubt of Charles Dickens genius in discerning the human condition-and we shouldnt of course--look no further than the character of Miss Havisham in Great Expectations. Fair to say, most of us have been broken hearted at least once (or twice, or thrice or--wait a minute...where was I?) in our lives, but its a safe bet none of us quite in the way of Miss Havisham. Dickens classic novel, first published in serial form in 1861, is one of the greats of literature. The story of the orphan boy, Pip, and the hardships he endures while living with his cruel aunt and kindly uncle is one of the classic pieces of literature. Chosen as a paid companion to the beautiful young ward of the wealthy and reclusive eccentric Miss Havisham, Pips life undergoes radical changes when he becomes the beneficiary of a mysterious benefactor, who he takes to be Miss Havisham. We follow Pip from childhood to young manhood as he experiences some difficult life lessons. If youre like me, you probably cant remember when Great Expectations the book, the movies and plays, even comic book adaptations werent a part of your life. And Ive always found the character of Miss Havisham a fascinating case study. As a wealthy young woman Miss Havisham was engaged to be married. On the day of the grand wedding at her palatial estate she receives a letter that her intended, uncovered for being a treacherous scoundrel who had only intended to marry her for her money and abscond with it, has been fled, leaving her alone at the altar. Stunned, Miss Havisham has all the clocks stopped in the house and commands that everything must remain as it is forever. From that frozen heartbroken moment on all remains static for her, both emotionally and in her corporeal world. The windows of her mansion are to be shrouded against all sunlight-the dynamic outside world is to be shunned and treated with disdain, at best. She assumes her role as a recluse, barely moving about the rooms of her increasingly dusty, moldering, cobweb-laden mansion the rest of her life like a living ghost as rats move about the rotting wedding cake and dust laden banquet table. She and her home become mummified, shrines to her heartbroken despair. In the book she even goes about wearing just one shoe, having not finished dressing for her wedding when she received the horrible news. One day the boy Pip (the main protagonist of the novel) enters her shadowy world to be a paid companion to the beautiful young girl Miss Havisham has adopted, Estella. Pip is to be a companion for Estella and amuse them both. Unbeknownst to the innocent and trusting Pip, Estella is being groomed by Miss Havisham to be conceited and a deliberate heartbreaker. With the overseeing, patient eye of a cold reptile Miss Havisham encourages Pip to fall in love with Estella. She encourages this doomed to fail relationship with the intent of seeing someone other than herself be heartbroken, to enact a drama of revenge for her own lost love. Pip and Estella grow up and after some back and forth Pip does indeed feel the deep sting of rejection. When he professes all this to Miss Havisham at the end of the story she realizes what a horrid mistake she has made. Through a tragic accident (and fate?) a shroud is torn away from a window, allowing the sunlight into her room for the first time in decades just as an accident occurs and she is consumed in flames. There was been many adaptations of Dickens great novel in the movies, on stage, opera, television and radio since the tales publication serially in 1861. In the century and a half time since Miss Havisham has been portrayed by a wonderfully heady array of fine actresses since the first movie version of the film back in 1917. Over the decades the role has been essayed by such very fine actresses as Martita Hunt (1946, above photo and in the David Lean version video clip), the wonderful Margaret Leighton, Joan Hickson (the TV Miss Marple in the eighties), Charlotte Rampling, and the outlandish take by Anne Bancroft (see enclosed photo and video clip below) in the modern update from 1998. In 1991 Jean Simmons, who had played Estella in the 1948 Lean version, took on the role of Miss Havisham on television. Though Dickens never addressed it, it is believed that there may have been at least two inspirational prototypes for Miss Havisham. He knew of a wealthy Australian recluse, Eliza Emily Donnithrone, who had been left at the altar and refused to remove her wedding cake from her home. Dickens had also met another wealthy recluse, Elizabeth Parker, at her home which was named Havisham Court. It seems that the character may have well been an amalgam of these women and perhaps others as well. The character has had a far reaching influence on the creation of other unforgettable characters, in film at least. Theres little doubt that Gloria Swansons Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard and Bette Davis Jane Hudson in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? were directly inspired by Miss Havisham. As we go to press with this essay it is said that Helena Bonham Carter is in talks to don Miss Havishams dusty wedding veil. Most actresses have portrayed Miss Havisham traditionally, mirroring Martita Hunts faithful to the book portrayal in the Lean film. Hunt, the Buenos Ares born British character actress had played Miss Havisham on stage in 1939 with her co-star John Mills (who played the grown Pip). Hunts performance is the epitome of operatic grand guignol melodrama, dripping in disdain and getting delight in her living mummy status within the confines of her dusty, moldering mansion with the windows shrouded, blocking out all sunlight. Hunt is wonderful in this role. When I reread Great Expectations, or even hear the name of Miss Havisham, it is Hunt I think of first. And David Leans film is indeed a classic from the forties and for all movie-going time. In 1998 the wonderful Anne Bancroft played Miss Havisham (Miss Dinsmoor) in director Alfonso Cuarons modern updating of the tale with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow playing the Pip and Estella roles. On the surface it may seem that Bancrofts depiction is the antithesis of the tradition portrayals. She obviously is having a field day portraying this great character. She is Miss Havisham as a laughing, outrageous and demented Auntie Mame. Bancrofts rambunctious Miss Dinsmoor sings and dances, drinks and smokes to abandon within the confines of her crumbling mansion, yes, but the heartbreak and bitter resolve to wreck vengeance is no different than in the more traditional portrayals of Miss Havisham. Whether you prefer your classics updated or more traditional, Dickens insightful depiction speaks mightily of a facet in human nature: following severe heartbreak, or any emotional trauma for that matter, the walking wounded remain such until either they have a breakthrough epiphany, or somehow manage to deal with the grief in a constructive manner head-on. Those who dont or cant are doomed to be forever stuck in that unresolved trauma all their lives, emotionally static, and like Miss Havisham take a jaundiced joy in seeing others suffer similarly. Miss Havisham eventually has her epiphany in sunlight, but too late. Martita Hunt and Anne Bancroft-two very different and wonderful Miss Havishams. If Helena Bonham Carter does indeed don the dusty veil (or Bancrofts cigarette holder), she will have some powerful shoes to fill. Or perhaps I should say: shoe.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 17:59:48 +0000
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