Havisham Quotes & Analysis Flashcards
“Not a day since then I Haven’t wished him dead”
Word choice highlights how strongly she feels about wanting him dead and has preyed so hard (with eyes closed and hands pressed together) that her eyes have shrunk and become demonic. Her hands have sinews strong enough to strangle with- this fits her murderous wish for revenge and creates a sinister character.
“Beloved Sweetheart Bastard”
A tortured Miss Havisham, riven by the conflict between being in
love and hating the man who jilted her is summed up in this line
The oxymoron (contradiction) shows that she suffers an inner
conflict in relation to the man who jilted her.
“Dark Green Pebbles”
The psychological damage done to Miss Havisham is presented in the physical image of her eyes as this. Darkness is associated with evil.
The plosive ‘b’ and ‘d’ sounds immediately establish the bitterness and violent aggression in the persona’s tone of voice.
“Ropes” she “Could strangle with”
The tendons of her hands
“Spinster”
The fact that she is a spinster gives us the root for her hatred. The word in the sentence is alone and isolated. It mirrors the persona rotting alone in her house.
She is judged by society in relation to her unmarried state.
“Cawing Noooo at the wall”
She is so obsessed by her predicament that she spends entire days doing this. Emphasises her sense of denial- she can’t come to terms with this.
“Cawing”
This onomatopoeia suggests that she is like an encaged parrot endlessly repeating the same sound. This implies that she is in a metaphorical prison of pain.
“Stink and remember”
She still wears her wedding dress and so plays the role of bride. She knows that she stinks and stays in bed and screams in denial. Remembering her ordeal plagues her. The wearing of the dress implies that she wants to stop time, this is very sad as it suggests that she is still waiting for him as she loves him.
“Slewed mirror”
The sight of the yellowing dress is seen here. This suggests that when she sees herself in the broken mirror it rekindles her hatred of the man who deserted her, resulting in the “puce curses”
“Puce curses”
Puce- Brownish/ Purple colour
The curses being dark in colour are to reflect that was she is saying is most likely dark and aggressive.
“Fluent Tongue”
It explores his body but as she moves towards his loins. “I suddenly bite awake.”
This w/c suggests that in doing so she could emasculate him by
rendering him impotent with her teeth. He has hurt her emotionally and she wants revenge by hurting him physically.
This re-establishes the overriding emotion of anger that she still feels. This creates a sinister character as her hatred and anger provoke such savage aggression and murderous thoughts. She
wishes to take away his manhood.
“Love’s hate behind a white veil”
This oxymoron in the first line develops her mixture of emotion.
This veil, like Havisham has decayed; it has yellowed and she is physically and mentally diminished.
This has a sad impact on the reader as we can see that this jilting has had a distressing affect on her to the point were she cannot move on.
“Red balloon bursting in my face. Bang.”
The power of this is conveyed through the use of plosives. This creates a bitter tone. She is consumed with resentment and bitterness.
Also, through the onomatopoeic “Bang” we see her
faced with the truth of her situation erupting through the “veil” of her dream as becomes fully conscious.
There is also a subconscious reference to the rupturing of the hymen that she has never experienced and longs for.
“Give me a male corpse for a long slow honeymoon.”
This implies that she wants to take revenge on another male – preferably the one who jilted her.
This allows us to understand how deeply disturbed she has become. However, we are also incredibly shocked and appalled as we can see how sinister she has become.
“I stabbed at a wedding cake.”
She remembers stabbing her wedding cake, which
leads to a disturbing articulation of both homicidal and necrophilia tendencies when she states “Give me a male corpse for a long slow honeymoon”
