Critical Analysis Of Miss Havisham

‘Havisham’ is a poem told by a woman called Miss Havisham, who is a character in ‘Great Expectations’ written by Charles Dickens, and in the book she is portrayed as a rich but pathetic woman. Through reading the poem, the readers are able to realise that she detests her ‘title’, and it can also be seen when she does not use the ‘Miss’ in Miss Havisham (she is emphasizing her individuality). The poem is about her anger and fury, and through her choice of words the readers are able to picture her, alone in a dark room, shouting, almost madly, at her lover who betrayed her; he left nothing behind but a small note telling her that he wasn’t arriving on their wedding day, probably forever. The poem is written as a dramatic monologue, where she

The readers can sense that Havisham is extremely justified in her feelings and she blames her ex-fiance entirely for this. Her lover was the one who made her who she is now; she is isolated, angry, and even mad. Ever since the day of their scheduled marriage, Havisham believes that love is like a “red balloon” bursting - love does not last forever. Love is fragile. Love is nothing but an illusion. Her emotions of love are shattered, and Havisham herself is broken as well; she has been living in the same room, and has dressed in the exact same wedding dress for the past 20 years or so. This can be interpreted as her way of remembering that single day, the day she would never ever forget. The readers can imagine Havisham sitting in the room, now so old that there are “ropes on the back of my [her] hands”, and with “dark green pebbles for eyes” as she has cried so much in grief - she can no longer sense the pain. The colour green stands for emotions such as greed, envy, and jealousy. The pebbles represent Havisham’s eyes, which are so hard, cold, and unfeeling. Pebbles are round rocks smoothed by the action of water - in this case, the water is Havisham’s

For example, onomatopoeia is used in “Bang”, which is the sound of both a “red balloon bursting” and Havisham stabbing at her wedding cake after she receives the message from her ex-fiance. This shows how she is both heart-broken and furious due to her lover’s betrayal and all the shame he gave to her. In addition, the “Bang” can also be when Havisham wakes up from her dreams, with long-gone memories of her lover. In addition, the poet opens by describing Havisham’s ex-fiance, who deceived her completely, as “beloved sweetheart bastard”. This oxymoron is used, and this causes an extreme confusion - strong fragments are used to express Havisham’s anger. These three words also do not form a full sentence, as it is consists of nouns only. These words are a clash of ideas, which causes the paradox. The brief and powerful statements within the poem show Havisham’s extreme fury, but the readers can also sense the confusion and the strong tension between Havisham’s feelings of love and hate. Meanwhile, “Puce” is a rich, dark purple, similar to the colour of wine, which turns brown as time passes by. This can be described as blood - again, this reveals Havisham’s