Havisham Review
Havisham
Havisham is a 16 line and four stanza poem with four lines making up each stanza. This poem shows the nature of an old woman after being devastated after being left at her wedding day and having lost her fortune to the man who left her. The four stanza poem is a harsh reflection of anger, pain, and disbelief; it’s a sad tale of a wedding and life gone horribly wrong that still haunts the character. In my review, I will explore the poem through each line and comment on the literary terms and the meaning of each line.
The title of the poem is very important in understanding the poem. The title is the name of a character from Charles Dickens’ famous book called Great Expectations. Ms. Havisham is an eccentric character from the book who lives in the past, she had been left at the alter and she has never took off her wedding dress and had her clocks had stopped at that time. Carol Ann Duffy has taken a big risk as she implies with the title that the reader has read the book and would understand the relationship between the book and poem as she uses the same story to base her poem on. The poem is a dramatic monologue as Ms. Havisham is speaking in the poem and she is speaking with a tone of anger, grief and distaste.
The first line starts off with an oxymoron which is “beloved sweetheart bastard”. Oxymoron’s are used to show conflicting ideas and feelings and with the use of this oxymoron it is clear that Carol Ann Duffy wants to show that Ms. Havisham has these conflicting feelings about the man who is both sweetheart and a bastard. In line 2, Ms Havisham tells the reader that she not only has she wished that the man died but she has prayed for it to happen so hard, this shows how she is scornful of the man and she believes that the best punishment is death. In line 3, there is a metaphor used which is “I’ve dark green pebbles for eyes”, Green represents the colour of jealousy, greed and in some cases sickness; Pebbles are small stones that are
Havisham is a 16 line and four stanza poem with four lines making up each stanza. This poem shows the nature of an old woman after being devastated after being left at her wedding day and having lost her fortune to the man who left her. The four stanza poem is a harsh reflection of anger, pain, and disbelief; it’s a sad tale of a wedding and life gone horribly wrong that still haunts the character. In my review, I will explore the poem through each line and comment on the literary terms and the meaning of each line.
The title of the poem is very important in understanding the poem. The title is the name of a character from Charles Dickens’ famous book called Great Expectations. Ms. Havisham is an eccentric character from the book who lives in the past, she had been left at the alter and she has never took off her wedding dress and had her clocks had stopped at that time. Carol Ann Duffy has taken a big risk as she implies with the title that the reader has read the book and would understand the relationship between the book and poem as she uses the same story to base her poem on. The poem is a dramatic monologue as Ms. Havisham is speaking in the poem and she is speaking with a tone of anger, grief and distaste.
The first line starts off with an oxymoron which is “beloved sweetheart bastard”. Oxymoron’s are used to show conflicting ideas and feelings and with the use of this oxymoron it is clear that Carol Ann Duffy wants to show that Ms. Havisham has these conflicting feelings about the man who is both sweetheart and a bastard. In line 2, Ms Havisham tells the reader that she not only has she wished that the man died but she has prayed for it to happen so hard, this shows how she is scornful of the man and she believes that the best punishment is death. In line 3, there is a metaphor used which is “I’ve dark green pebbles for eyes”, Green represents the colour of jealousy, greed and in some cases sickness; Pebbles are small stones that are