GCSE English Literature Poetry

Havisham

• This poem is a monologue spoken by Miss Havisham, a character in Charles' Dickens Great Expectations.
• She is sour after having been abandoned at the altar, and she continues to wear her white wedding dress while plotting sinister revenges on men.
• Language:
• "Beloved sweetheart *******" - an oxymoron suggesting the character's conflicting emotions. She loves him yet she hates him for what he did to her.
• The use of colorful language helps to create strong imagery for the reader. The metaphor "green pebbles for eyes" portrays her bitterness and jealousy towards her liberated fiancé. Her dress is described as yellowing and the phrase "puce curses" refers to an unpleasant purple/brown color. In the last stanza, the imagery of her white veil is contrasted with a red balloon bursting. The white veil represents her purity before the wedding and the red balloon…