In the story of Great Expectations, Charles Dickens' does not only go in depth with descriptions of the various characters but also explores the worlds surrounding them throughout their lives in great detail. By describing the environments so greatly, it gives the reader an idea of their life story and background. When Pip first meets Miss Havisham, Dickens' describes her dressing room in great detail, 'It was then I began to understand that everything in the room had stopped, like the watch and the clock, a long time ago. I noticed that Miss Havisham put down the jewel exactly on the spot from which she had taken it up...Without this arrest of everything, this standing still of all the pale decayed objects, not even the withered bridal dress on the collapsed form could have looked so like grave-clothes, or the long veil so like a shroud.' All the objects in her room have a symbolic reference to her identity. For example, the stopped clock demonstrates her refusal to move forward past a painful abandonment. 'The yellowing room and its yellowing objects reveal a former glory that once belonged to its main occupant. In addition to mirroring her past, Satis House actively shapes Miss Havisham by isolating her from “a thousand natural and healing influences." Both Satis House and Miss Havisham decay from the inside out.' (Brown University, 2008). It is important for me as a designer to take into account the characters surroundings as they heavily affect how she will appear.
A historical reference for the type of environment Miss Havisham would've been living in is Marlborough House in 1890. Even though the building is photographed in the late part of the era, the wealth and furnishing are much like what has been described of Satis House. This house was owned by The Prince of Wales. Marlborough house would've been constantly full of servants. 'Out of eighty-eight servants - twenty-nine female and fifty-nine male - seventeen had nowhere to sleep in the house, and servants of any visitors who came to stay had to boarded out'. This gives us an idea of how busy stately homes in the Victorian era would've been. In contrast to this, Miss Havisham lives with only her daughter for a period of the book then she is alone. Other people of her status of the time would constantly be surround by people and would've been waited on, making their lives easier and full of life. However, for Miss Havisham, life would've been lonely and empty in a great house like Satis House and this would've taken a toll on her mentality throughout years of loneliness after being abandoned on her wedding day.
In the 1946 adaptation by David Lean of Great Expectations, the description of Miss Havisham's house in chapter eight is explored visually. As Pip enters the house, he travels through a dark hallway and stairway with just a candlelight to see - making the house classically gothic and scary with not knowing whats in the darkness and creating an eery atmosphere as so far there are no furnishing or signs of life. As he enters Miss Havisham's room, there are huge spiderwebs crawling across the ceilings and travelling between pieces of furniture. The decor and furniture is all very elaborate and beautiful and reflects her previously elegant life. As a viewer, I can notice subtly in the background that her mirror is covered in a layer of dust and this is suggesting that she cannot or has not seen her reflection for some time. This setting reflects her abandonment of herself and her life.
In BBC1's 2011 adaptation, there is a scene where Pip returns to Satis house nearing the end to visit Miss Havisham one last time. At this point, it has been many, many years since she would've had visitors as her daughter has moved away and Pip has been living in London. Everything is covered in a layer of dust and the walls are damp-ridden. The decay of her home runs parallel with her self destruction and deterioration. This is the section of the story I would like to focus my character design on so it is important to take in the surroundings and how it would've affected her physically. Interpreting her surroundings into the design could mean that dirt and grim that would've built up in the rooms could have caused her to be ill or affected her skin. Damp and mouldy environments can cause nasal irritation, coughing, eye irritation or skin complaints. Living in an environment that is full of dust can also cause dangerous lung diseases. All these symptoms would take its toll on someone's appearance and health, meaning they would look more skeletal if they were not well or have a visible skin irritation. These tell-tale signs of a unhealthy environment are ones I would like to experiment with whilst designing.
References
- Brown University, 2008. Defining Characters By Their Chosen Environment. [14th February] Available from: http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/ge/lii6.html
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Susan Lusdan. 1981. Victorians At Home. London: George Weidenfeld and Nicolson Limited.
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