Hair- Romantic, Cruel and Eccentric.

I choose the words, Romantic, Cruel and Eccentric. I then found images of hair which i thought represented them. I then choose one from each of my Pinterest boards which i felt in kept the most with the chosen word.

• Romantic- I choose this image because of the soft waves, and the volume of the hair. I thought they gave off a really sexy feel which romance is based a lot around. 

http://www.pinterest.com/lailahamidi/romantic/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/481322278897233474/

• Cruel- When i started looking for hair images which i thought represented the word cruel i began looking a fringes because of the bluntness and sharpness a fringe can create, i felt like it would really fit in well with the word cruel. I chose this image as my final one because the fringe is so harsh, covering a lot of her face, and is almost seems like its 'armour' like, which i really felt gave a really cruel vibe.

http://www.pinterest.com/lailahamidi/cruel/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/481322278897233454/

• Eccentric- The reason i chose this image was because it's completely over the top, in terms of shape, texture, structure, colour and general style. It's very eccentric and not something someone would wear everyday. 

http://www.pinterest.com/lailahamidi/eccentric/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/481322278897233461/

Research- Osbourne house.

I started to do some research on the victorian era after finding out about our project. My first initial thought, was Osborne house. Osborne house was Queen Victoria and Alberts guest/spare house in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. It was built in 1845-1850 and was actually where Queen Victoria died. Living on the Isle of Wight my whole life, i have visited Osborne house a few times during my childhood on school trips. I decided to visit again to gain research for this project and being so young when i last went however you are not allowed to take photographs when you are inside the house.
I found a few images online of the Osbourne house.

The size of the house and the decor is what i would imagine Miss Havishams house to look like at the beginning, big rooms, expensive looking furniture, grand chandleries hanging from the high ceiling. And then i can imagine it like herself as times goes on, you can see elements that once was grand and expensive but now worn and un cared for, like her appearance. 

English-heritage.org.ukOsborne | English HeritageIn-text: (English-heritage.org.uk, 2014)Bibliography: Englishheritage.org.uk, (2014). Osborne | English Heritage. [online] Available at: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/osborne/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2014].

Macaulay, J.

Discover the Island’s Royal Palace – Osborne House | My Isle of Wight

In-text: (Macaulay, 2014)

Bibliography: Macaulay, J. (2014). Discover the Island’s Royal Palace – Osborne House | My Isle of Wight. [online] Redfunnel.co.uk. Available at: http://www.redfunnel.co.uk/my-isle-of-wight/features/discover-the-islands-royal-palace-osborne-house/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2014].

Fog.

This is an image i took whilst walking in the park on a foggy morning. The silhouettes of the trees coming through the fog and the cross like figure feels really creepy and ghostly. Reminding me of the beginning scenes of Great Expectations with Pip in graveyard.

Research- Post mortem photography

Whilst researching i came across Post mortem photography. This started in the Victorian Era and was a way of families remembering their loved ones. Death was very common back then, and the photographs of the dead children or adults were probably the only photographs the families had of them as photography was still very new. It was mainly children as the infant mortality rate was much higher. The photos were normally of the body not in a coffin and in pretty normal surroundings. Eg. a child sitting on a chair with its toys, Or an adult doing what they did for a living. Some the rest of the family would pose around the dead member. Great preparation was taken to make sure the subject still appeared alive or sleeping in the photo. For me and many others this seems extremely morbid and dark, although they are only grieving and that was their was of showing it. . Which is why i felt it is part of the gothic side to the Victorians and in keeps with the feel of Miss Havisham.

Megan McRae. (2011). pale flowers, vicotrian post mortem photogprahy. Available: http://www.cvltnation.com/pale-flowers-victorian-post-mortem-photography/. Last accessed 21 jan 2014.

Megan McRae. (2011). pale flowers, vicotrian post mortem photogprahy. Available: http://www.cvltnation.com/pale-flowers-victorian-post-mortem-photography/. Last accessed 21 jan 2014.

Research- Pre Rapaelite movement.

This week in a lecture we were told about the Pre- Raphaelite movement. I had never heard of this before so decided to look a little further into it, and found some of the pictures look quite gothic.
The Pre-Raphaelite movement was a group of english painters, poets and critics who created paintings that were very radical and controversial in the 1850's-80's. They were inspired by the medievil ages, fables, literature etc. I found a lot of the paintings are of women with red hair, red lips and some with a lot of skin exposed. Which is not how women were portrayed in those times so was changing the role of women.

Here is a painting of Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet by Sir John Everett Millais.

DcoetzeeBo. (2011). File:John Everett Millais - Ophelia - Google Art Project.jpg. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Everett_Millais_-_Ophelia_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg. Last accessed 21st Jan 2014.

It is currently being held in the Tate Britain in London and has an approximate value of 30 million.
Although this photo isn't your typical 'gothic' as it is bright and colourful. The image still to me has a real sense of morbidity as she is singing before she drowns in the river.

My initial thoughts after observing without having researched the painting of Ophelia, was that it was of a woman drowning in a lake. Even though i saw this, i still felt a sense of calm and tranquillity throughout the painting as a whole. The surroundings have very vibrant bright colours of leaves and flowers flourishing, which are completely opposite too what Ophelia is portraying. I feel like the background is portraying life, growth and future, where as she is portraying death and termination.

I do not feel like the scenery overpowers her or draws attention away, she is still the main focal point of the painting and all the colours go hand in hand giving off a feel of serenity and harmony. The fact that Ophelia is holding flowers that have blossomed and not dead ones gives off this mood to me even more so. However, looking closely there appears to be a poppy which can symbolise death and remembrance.

After researching the underlying meaning of the photo, I found out that Ophelia had fallen into the river by accident and was completely oblivious to her fate. I began to see the stillness that the painting is portraying and no longer interpret the image as traumatic. Ophelia’s open arms, upward gaze and relaxed body makes her appear as though she is lost in her own time and thoughts, singing in the river, unaware of what is about to happen.  

As i attempt to unpack the painting further, i notice that the fallen tree gives a sense of decay and destruction within a natural environment. It is surrounded by imagery that represents my initial thoughts of life and growth; however the tree produces a contradiction. The construction within the surroundings forms a binary opposite to the death and deconstruction of the tree, and perhaps Ophelia’s fate.

Isle of Wight research

I found some pictures from a book on the history of the Isle of Wight from 1884, and some of the pictures from that time have a really errie, haunting feel, like the start of great expectations It really gave a sense to me how accurate the film was at that time, as these images remind me of that.

Brian greening (2001). Read all about it. Devon: Cross Print design and print. 143.

5 Gothic Victorian Images.

These are the 5 images that i have chosen:

The first is a picture of the Albert Memorial. This was built after queen Victorias husband Albert died in the gothic revival style. The whole structure i feel has a gothic feel with the spikes and sharpness of it. I could really see this looking ghostly and eerie on a dark foggy night.

Dilif. (2008). File:Albert Memorial, London - May 2008.jpg. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Albert_Memorial,_London_-_May_2008.jpg. Last accessed 20th Jan 2014.

 The second is a picture i found in a book called, 'A victorian household' of a house called westwood lodge. The features (windows, black roof, spires, general shape and structure) really give off a ghostly haunting perception. Looking at the whole picture and not just the house, the bare branches of the tree look claw like poking above the blunt edge of the hedge give a more creepy feel. The horse and carriage outside the front, the fact the horses appear black or dark instead of white horses also in keep with the gothic haunting feeling.

Shirley Nicholson (1998). A Victorian Household. Gloucesteshire: Sutton Publishing LTD. 224.

This is a picture of it now. It is now a pet crematorium. 

Treasured friends. (). Pet crematorium . Available: http://www.treasured-friends.co.uk/pet-crematorium.html. Last accessed 20th Jan 2104.

 This is a picture i also found in the book of a family in the Victorian times. The black clothing, cramped room and whole appearance i feel is really gothic. The picture feels to me really suffocating and claustrophobic.

Shirley Nicholson (1998). A Victorian Household. Gloucesteshire: Sutton Publishing LTD. 224.

 This is a photo of a Victorian bed which i feel the detail has a gothic appearance. I could picture this bed in an old haunted house.

Richmond Huntley. (3rd April 2009). Flashback: Victorian furniture.Available: http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/victorian-furniture/. Last accessed 20th Jan 2014.

Lastly, this photograph of a dead girl holding a flower. Photographing the dead was very popular in the Victorian Era and i feel this picture sums up morbid nature of the Victorians. 

Violet. (October 16th 2012). Dead or not?. Available: http://www.theskullillusion.com/2012/10/16/dead-or-not-lady-flowers-post-mortem/. Last accessed 20th Jan 2014.

Gothic Elements

These are the five general characteristic that i have chosen that i believe fit in with the text. Although i have summarised my general thoughts about individual characters who i think these elements apply to, they could also apply to many other characters in the book.

1. Gloomy tone and mood- I have chosen this because the whole feel of the book is depressing, cold, dark and eerie. When Pip is visiting the gravestone and the beginning it especially shows this in the settings and in the characters, Magwitch and Pip. 
2. Unsatisfied yearning, cloaked, secreat passion, verbal coquettishness or flirting- I feel this relates to Estella and the love she realises she has over the years for Pip, but being brainwashed by Miss Havisham, she doesn't feel like she is allowed to show it as she feels like she's owes Miss Havisham to inflict misery upon men because of her own misfortune. 
3. Mystery and suspense- This to me summarises the entire storyline. Throughout the book and films i was wondering what was going to happen next, kept guessing and on the 'edge of my seat' with a lot of the characters. Particularly with Miss Havisham as i found her the most mystical with all her secrets and the want to know why and what she was up too. I also found myself wanting to know more about Magwitch and why he had been Pips benefactor?
4. Fairy tale characteristics with the cruel stepmother/stepsister motif- a character made to work or suffer, or brought down in the world, somehow, wasting away, suffering near death in a mansion setting in which its wild outside, weatherise, and cold, damp, and lonely inside with the character steeped in bridled passion, waiting for some relief from the constant suffering and depression- This to me summarises Estella. Although she acts like she wants to be there with Miss Havisham, i feel like deep down Estella would rather be outside being who she wants to be not what Miss Havisham has created. Being stuck in the house, being forced to use people and then even when she leaves having to fulfil her adopted mothers desires. Does she think about what would have happened if Miss Havisham didn't adopt her?
5. Fantasising, dreaming, reveries- Pip goes through a stage in the book after meeting up with Estella he has a realisation about who he really is and he doesn't want to accept it. I think this is where he begins to dream about being wealthy and a 'gentleman' and not a blacksmith. Although this could easily apply to Magwitch dreaming about his lost child and what a life not as a criminal would have been like. Or Estella dreaming about living her own life and not in Miss Havisham's shadow.  

Introduction.

Over the christmas break i was asked to read Charles Dickens, Great Expectations. I had never read Great Expectations before, but had heard of it as its such a well known novel. After starting to read the book, i found it quite difficult to follow and understand due to being written in old English, so i used spark notes and watched Great Expectations (the 2012 version) to familiarise myself more with the plot and storyline, whilst continuing to read the book alongside this. After watching the film, i had a much better understanding of the story and found the text followed the film quite well. Especially so in the BBC version we watched in class this week. It was just how i had imagined the beginning to look when i was reading the book. I think the tv series captured the darkness and gloominess of the opening scenes. It really brought a realisation about how times were so different in the Victorian Era. Not only with the surroundings feeling morbid and cold, the music was creaky and creepy which in kept with the  eerie atmosphere.
During the start of the book, i found myself instantly taking a liking to Pip, due to his kind hearted nature. He seemed innocent, he didn't care about money and he wanted to be a blacksmith, like Jo. Even when he first started visiting Estella, he would not react or bite to the way she was treating him. However further on my opinion and views of Pip seemed to rapidly change and i found myself really disliking him and his whole attitude. He appeared to only care about what other 'gentlemen' thought of him and how he came across, neither did he care about Jo who had raised him. He was driven by money, love for Estella and his dream of being a gentleman.
Be that as it may, the character i was most drawn to was Miss Havisham. Her intriguing secret past kept me wanting to know more and why, along with her unusual character. I felt like i had so many questions and i was captivated with her. Why was she so wealthy as a woman in that era? What caused her to be the way she is? Why was she inviting Pip and other boys round? And did she have a hidden agenda? I was slightly surprised at Gillian Anderson's portrayal of Miss Havisham compared to Helen Bowham Carters. I feel Helen Bowham Carters was a more realistic version of how i saw Miss Havisham (and how pip is seeing Miss Havisham. Also the audience for the BBC version would be different to the 2012 version and would have to be toned down as families would have been watching it.) In looks and character, because i feel that no one in the mental state that Miss Havisham was in, would look so groomed and pretty looking as Gillian Anderson does. Her her hair is neat and looks as though she has make up on, which wasn't common in that era.
I feel like after reading and analysing, the book has more to it than i originally thought. It is interesting seeing the variety of different views and the different actors take on the characters. I am looking forward to analysing more in depth and really understanding the novel.