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Havisham Essay
Carol Ann Duffy’s “Havisham” is a dramatic monologue which gives voice to one of Charles
Dickens most famous and eccentric characters, Miss Havisham
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The title of the poem “Havisham” draws the reader’s attention to her
unmarried title and her status as a spinster
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The theme of the
corrosive nature of hatred on the human psyche is emphasised as Miss Havisham has been
left in the past and her mental state has deteriorated
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“Beloved sweetheart bastard”
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The minor
sentence emphasises this and shows the short space of time from which her love turned into
hate
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The grudge she holds has made her go insane and this is shown in the structure of the
poem
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The disordered structure of the poem replicates her wild and illogical
thoughts
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The corrosive to her psyche as she is unable to progress with her life and is a
constant state of depression, hate and love
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She expresses this hate when she says
“Not a day since then
I haven’t wished him dead”
She is stuck in the moment of her pain when she was so brutally abandoned
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The fact that she wants her fiancé to die
indicates the violence entwined with her hatred
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Her devotion to this hate is shown in the next line
“Prayed for it so hard I’ve dark green pebbles for eyes”
Duffy makes use of assonance on “hard” and “dark” which intensifies her praying and makes
it seem more sinister
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This is emphasised as the colour green is generally associated
with jealousy
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All her joy and warmness has
been taken away from her and all that is left is cold dark shell of her previous self, clearly
showing the extremely corrosive nature of hate and rage
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In
stanza 2 line 1, Havisham describes herself as:
“Spinster
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”
Duffy starts the stanza with a single word opening sentence creating impact and
emphasising Havisham’s isolated status
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Havisham describes herself as
stinking creating a stark image of her remaining in her wedding dress
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The theme is shown as
her hates is not only decaying her mind, but also her body as she is stinking and dirty

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