Coincidence in events- almost supernatural in nature.

Both of these images are from Gothic texts because they hold the uncertainty of the characters fate. The first is from the text 'The Bloody Chamber' in a room of mirrors, which create an eerie atmosphere. The second is from the novel 'Frankenstein' in which the creature, who holds a similar fate to Pip because they are both sufferers of their creators wrath. 

Unrequited Love...evoL detiuqernU

This shows the immaturity of Pip's love for Estella in the beginning of the novel. I think the fact that the images are black and white adds age to the images. The setting of the first image really reminds me of Great Expectations and the uncertainty of the image is slightly Gothic. 

Gloomy tone and mood.

The general gloom at the start of Great Expectations foreshadows the metaphorical gloom towards the end of the novel. 

A fainting, weak female, perhaps sick or bedridden.

Vanity is a woman's weakness...

Suffering

The suffering that occurs in 'Great Expectations' is usually a result of another characters actions. The reason Miss Havisham live a life hidden away, angry at men i because she was jilted on her wedding day by Compeyson. Moreover, Estella, Miss Havisham's adopted daughter is brought up to be cold hearted towards men; therefore not having a functional relationship with men. Lastly, Pip is the victim of both Miss Havisham and Estella's actions. Miss Havisham welcomes Pip into her home and gives him the idea that he could potentially be a Gentleman. Estella toys with his heart by making him believe she is interested only to find out that Estella can't be in love let alone with a boy lower class than herself.

I feel as though each character triggers a domino effect in order to create destruction and suffering. I chose this image because I feel it highlights the inequality in class and status. It shows two slightly higher class men looking down on a child or young man while he pulls cargo along. I think this image is relevant to not only the suffering in 'Great Expectations' but the suffering that occurred during the Victorian era. I feel a lot of it was down to choice and the fact that there wasn't any, everybody had everything pre-planned and set out for them. Which is how the main protagonist, Pip is treated. The novel sees a series of events happening to him, all that appear to be coincidence but really his fate is sealed because he is controlled by people with higher power or more defiance than himself.

Essentially Pip suffered at the hand of everyone else. As did Miss Havisham and Estella.

An Introduction to the Gothic

GOTHIC. MYSTERY. MACABRE. SUSPENSE. Not that I am complete Gothic NUT! I studied the Gothic for A Level English and I completely loved it. Having not known a lot about the Gothic and Gothic Horror before studying the course I found that my eyes were opened so many literary techniques in order to create the perfect tense yet horrifying moment. Having studied the novel 'Frankenstein', the play 'Doctor Faustus' and short stories from 'The Bloody Chamber' I learnt how the thrills and chills could be conveyed through each method of literacy.

Taking on board all the Gothic knowledge I have (if there is such a thing) I think this unit of work is going to be incredibly exciting. I have previously studied 'Great Expectations' I have an in depth understanding of the characters. But like I said, it is from a literary perspective so coming from a design angle it enables room for exploration and interpretation.

When posed the question "Is 'Great Expectations' a Gothic novel?" My answer is YES all the way. YES to the bleak and eerie setting. YES to the sinister characters. But most of all YES to the storyline. On the surface the novel seems to be about a young boy undergoing a series of events that appear to be luck but he is a pawn in a larger game. The fact that the characters plot Pip's future behind his back, for instance the fact that Miss Havisham brings Estelle up to be heartless so that she doesn't have her heart broken, knowing that Pip would fall in love with her, only to be rejected.

Having watched all three versions of 'Great Expectations' the biggest variation in characterisation is in Miss Havisham. In the original version she is portrayed as an older woman who is very stern. Despite the fact that she is jilted on her wedding she appears to have been hardened by the situation. Whereas in the modern interpretation of the film Miss Havisham is played by Helena Bonham-Carter and her characterisation of spinster is extravagant yet dazed. Her dress, hair and make-up is very theatrical with a corpse bride vibe.I believe that the styling in the modern adaptation of Great Expectations was based on how Pip views the situation. Miss Havisham is this rich, secluded, cold woman who to a young boy is intimidating and overwhelming. So I feel like her eccentric appearance is just a projection of what Pip's sees. Whereas, the television interpretation of Miss Havisham sees Gillian Anderson playing a fragile, scared woman who is literally afraid of everything. Her dress is very low key and her personality is very small. One thing that is very apparent in the TV series is that Miss Havisham seems fairly young or middle aged which originally I thought was very odd because she is meant to have lived in the house for years and years. However it occurred to me that during the Victorian times women would marry very young. So although the Miss Havisham in the original film was quite old I think that was intended to emphasise how long she had been living in the house.

Having watched an interview of Gillian Anderson who played Miss Havisham in the TV Series of 'Great Expectations' she revealed that she characterised Miss Havisham completely by herself and then only when they began filming did she reveal the character of Miss Havisham. I feel like this helped with the true portrayal of the character from the perspective of the character Pip, purely because from Pip's point of view she is a woman that has hidden herself from the world for a large portion of her life and she comes into contact with a boy who has only interacted with people from his own class and people of familiarity. So by Gillian revealing her character at the last moment there is an all round awe from all the cast of her actions and hostility around everyone.

MISS HAVISHAM IS MY NUMBER 1 SPINSTER! You can pretty much guess that she is my favourite character. Purely because there are so many ways to interpret her, which has already been done! But I feel like there is still room for interpretation. So I cannot wait to get started on designs...