| Miss Havisham | |
|---|---|
| Great Expectations character | |
 Miss Havisham, by Harry Furniss | |
| Created by | Charles Dickens |
| Based on | Possibly Eliza Emily Donnithorne or Margaret Catherine Dick |
| Portrayed by | Gillian Anderson Anne Bancroft Helena Bonham Carter Joan Hickson Martita Hunt Margaret Leighton Tuppence Middleton Charlotte Rampling Florence Reed Jean Simmons Tabu Olivia Colman |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | None; heiress |
| Family | Arthur Havisham (half brother) |
| Significant other | Compeyson (former fiancé) |
| Children | Estella (adoptive daughter) |
| Relatives | Pocket family (cousins) Cousin Raymond Georgiana Camilla Bentley Drummle (son-in-law) |
| Religion | Church of England[1] |
| Nationality | English |
Miss Havisham is a character in Charles Dickens' 1861 novel Great Expectations. She is a wealthy spinster, once jilted at the altar, who insists on wearing her wedding dress for the rest of her life. She lives in a ruined mansion with her adopted daughter, Estella. Dickens describes her as looking like "the witch of the place". In the novel, she schemes to have the young orphan, Pip, fall in love with Estella, so that Estella can "break his heart".
Although she has often been portrayed in film versions as very elderly, Dickens's own notes indicate that she is only in her mid-thirties at the start of the novel. However, it is indicated in the novel that her long seclusion without sunlight has aged her. She is one of the most gothic characters in the work of Dickens.[2]
- ^ In Chapter VIII, mention is made of her having "a Prayer-Book all confusedly heaped about the looking-glass."
- ^ "The Gothic in Great Expectations". British Library. Retrieved 16 August 2021.