Miss Havisham Women
Although the Victorian era was a significant time for development as far as technology and science were concerned, the same cannot be said for the position of women in society. Whereas in previous centuries people would typically find employment within the confines of their own property (and it was therefore reasonable that women would handle some lesser duties in the interest of helping their families and decreasing the workload) the dawn of industrialisation saw a rise in the number of men going out to find better-paid work in factories and offices. As men increasingly disassociated themselves with the home, the divide between the sexes became more apparent, and dialogue began to surface over whether or not women were capable of undertaking
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the same tasks as their male equivalents.
While the idea of separate gendered spheres is not unique to the nineteenth century, French political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville was one of the first to apply them to the worlds of the personal and political, thereby solidifying the positions of men and women in a society governed by patriarchal values. Women were confined to the private sphere of the home while men continued to live their lives in the public sphere, with the two rarely meeting outside of the institution of marriage. The inequality between the two sexes was largely based on the premise that men were physically stronger than women, and therefore more capable of enduring the world’s hardships, whereas women acted as centres of morality that were responsible for realigning their husbands when they returned home from work. This moral superiority and gentility of spirit characterised the ideal woman of the era, a figure who came to be known as the ‘Angel in the House’ (named for the poem by Coventry Patmore).
In a literary context, Virginia Woolf stated that “Killing the Angel in the House was part of the occupation of the women writer” , and this is something that Emily Bronte does successfully with the female characters of her celebrated novel Wuthering Heights. Although many of the women do attempt to conform to the milestones of heteronormativity through marriage and childbirth, none of them are particularly well-suited to the role of wife and mother, with the older Catherine (hereafter referred to as Catherine Earnshaw) suffering so greatly under the pressure to contradict her nature and behave as the perfect lady that it drives her mad and eventually to her death. In the end she cannot deny her true self any longer, and reclaims her agency by stating “they can’t keep me from my narrow home out yonder: my resting-place, where I’m bound before spring is over! There it is: not among the Lintons ... but in the open air” .
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens similarly inverts the idea of the Angel in the House with the character of Miss Havisham, a jaded spinster who is referred to as looking like “the witch of [Satis House]” during one of her initial encounters with the young protagonist. Miss Havisham was denied the fulfilment of the nineteenth century ideal when she was jilted and defrauded by her fiancé on the day of her wedding, and has since allowed her home to fall into a state of disrepair that mirrors not only her damaged mental state, but her failure to become the paragon of domesticity that society expected her to be.
As the ideal woman should have no need to work, and since she could only inherit property from her father, her livelihood would have heavily relied on her male family members first of all, and then on making a respectable marriage to a man who could provide for her and any children she may provide him with. After marriage, any assets a woman may have inherited from her father would automatically be transferred to her husband, who would then have ultimate control of how the household was run. The truth of this is displayed in Great Expectations when, following the death of her wealthy father, Miss Havisham became heiress to the fortune left by his public house, which made her a desirable candidate for betrothal (“looked after as a great match” ) as well as a target for fraud. Had her father lived, she likely would have been spared from Compeyson’s betrayal, as he would have been involved in the process of their engagement instead of her brother, who was involved in the scam.
The nineteenth century family’s involvement in marital affairs is seen again in the reveal of Hindley Earnshaw’s wife, Frances, after the pair return to Wuthering Heights for his father’s funeral. The household domestic, Nellie Dean, states that Frances must have "neither money nor name to recommend her, or he would scarcely have kept the union from his father." This is also telling of Victorian society’s preoccupation with what makes a suitable partner for a person of means: women in particular were treated as accessories to a man’s wealth, and somebody like Frances (who the audience can only assume is from a lower social class than the Earnshaws) would have been considered unworthy.
However, a higher social status is not indicative of the extent to which a person is objectified.
Estella Havisham was raised as a lady, but she is still treated as a possession by the men in her life and by her own adopted mother. Though Pip’s intentions are largely innocent, he has always seen her as the ideal, an unattainable object that is the epitome of refined social status, the claiming of which would reflect his own upward social mobility. It can be inferred that this is the reason his affection for her does not wane, even though she is undeniably cruel to him. Miss Havisham’s treatment of Estella differs in that she treats her like a doll, shaping her into an instrument of vengeance, as well as the person she wishes she could have been: a beauty with a heart cold enough to protect her from the callous behaviour of men. Although as a child Estella understandably does not challenge Miss Havisham’s way of raising her, as an adult she seems aware of how her influence has affected her personal growth, stating, “I am what you have made of me. Take all the praise, take all the blame” . ... even though Miss Havisham resents men and the role they have played in ruining her life, she has still designed her daughter to directly appeal to them with her education and good looks – another fact of which Estella is keenly aware: “All that you have given me is at your command to have again. Beyond that, I have
nothing.”
The theme of entrapment is also significant to the major female characters of both novels, all of whom are imprisoned by some aspect of patriarchal society over the course of their narratives. Miss Havisham, for example, becomes trapped inside her own home after Compeyson’s betrayal, as the implications of being left at the altar were that there was some fault with her, and that her future groom no longer wanted her, the result of which is Estella also becoming trapped in a cycle of misandry perpetuated by her adoptive mother. The same is also true of the women of Wuthering Heights, and the young Catherine (hereafter called Catherine Linton) in particular, who is locked away inside Wuthering Heights by Heathcliff in the interest of forcing a match between her and his son, Linton Heathcliff. It is interesting to note, however, that while the women of Wuthering Heights are frequent victims of physical and mental entrapment, they are the ones who frequently travel back and forth between the two houses, while the men are fixed in place by their pride and resentment of each other.
An interesting parallel between the most prominent female characters of each novel is found in their respective descents into insanity. Gubar and Gilbert note the significance of the almost ghost-like quality afforded to mentally ill women in nineteenth century literature, which is symbolised in many works by a long white dress. Both the agoraphobic Miss Havisham in her ragged wedding dress as the eternal maiden and Catherine Earnshaw in her “loose white dress” as the expectant mother are inversions of the milestones expected of a good Victorian lady, and are therefore acts of rebellion against the patriarchy.
Victorian society is famous for reaching previously unrealised levels of sexual repression (thanks to a society-wide moral panic over the changing religious landscape), and while it was possible for men to go to prostitutes if they were discreet, female sexuality was considered virtually non-existent, and where it did exist, it was seen as inherently deviant. It was expected that women would only be interested in sex for the sake of producing children, and as such, many of them were uneducated in matters of sexual health or the activity in general. As a result of this, it could be argued that the crumbling Satis House serves as a metaphor for Miss Havisham’s caged sexuality in the wake of being jilted, and her tarnished wedding dress as one for her lingering virginity, with Gilbert and Gubar referring to her as “a mad nun of romance” .
The era’s fascination with scandal meant that the narrative of the ‘fallen woman’ became a popular topic amongst nineteenth century authors, and though Dickens himself believed in the reform of fallen women (and was personally involved with charities that sought to improve their lifestyles), it could be argued that without her fortune, Miss Havisham could have been written into a similar position. Though she was denied the traditional life of a Victorian lady, and in spite of her mistreatment at the hands of men, Miss Havisham still cannot entirely escape the compulsion to do as society dictates she should, and is shown to want a child of her own. This may be as a result of Havisham’s “mad clinging to romance” as much as it is born of her desire for revenge.
In conclusion, the women of both texts are victims of entrapment as a result of the patriarchal society they exist in, and while it could be argued that both Estella and Catherine Linton are ultimately freed from their respective prisons (namely the prejudice of Miss Havisham and the tyranny of Heathcliff) with their marriages, their so-called happy endings have two strong female characters conforming to the behaviour expected of their sex. However, it must be considered that in the nineteenth century a woman had little choice but to marry if she had any hope of maintaining a stable lifestyle, and even women of great fortune, such as Isabella Linton and Miss Havisham, are shown to struggle when left to survive alone.
the same tasks as their male equivalents.
While the idea of separate gendered spheres is not unique to the nineteenth century, French political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville was one of the first to apply them to the worlds of the personal and political, thereby solidifying the positions of men and women in a society governed by patriarchal values. Women were confined to the private sphere of the home while men continued to live their lives in the public sphere, with the two rarely meeting outside of the institution of marriage. The inequality between the two sexes was largely based on the premise that men were physically stronger than women, and therefore more capable of enduring the world’s hardships, whereas women acted as centres of morality that were responsible for realigning their husbands when they returned home from work. This moral superiority and gentility of spirit characterised the ideal woman of the era, a figure who came to be known as the ‘Angel in the House’ (named for the poem by Coventry Patmore).
In a literary context, Virginia Woolf stated that “Killing the Angel in the House was part of the occupation of the women writer” , and this is something that Emily Bronte does successfully with the female characters of her celebrated novel Wuthering Heights. Although many of the women do attempt to conform to the milestones of heteronormativity through marriage and childbirth, none of them are particularly well-suited to the role of wife and mother, with the older Catherine (hereafter referred to as Catherine Earnshaw) suffering so greatly under the pressure to contradict her nature and behave as the perfect lady that it drives her mad and eventually to her death. In the end she cannot deny her true self any longer, and reclaims her agency by stating “they can’t keep me from my narrow home out yonder: my resting-place, where I’m bound before spring is over! There it is: not among the Lintons ... but in the open air” .
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens similarly inverts the idea of the Angel in the House with the character of Miss Havisham, a jaded spinster who is referred to as looking like “the witch of [Satis House]” during one of her initial encounters with the young protagonist. Miss Havisham was denied the fulfilment of the nineteenth century ideal when she was jilted and defrauded by her fiancé on the day of her wedding, and has since allowed her home to fall into a state of disrepair that mirrors not only her damaged mental state, but her failure to become the paragon of domesticity that society expected her to be.
As the ideal woman should have no need to work, and since she could only inherit property from her father, her livelihood would have heavily relied on her male family members first of all, and then on making a respectable marriage to a man who could provide for her and any children she may provide him with. After marriage, any assets a woman may have inherited from her father would automatically be transferred to her husband, who would then have ultimate control of how the household was run. The truth of this is displayed in Great Expectations when, following the death of her wealthy father, Miss Havisham became heiress to the fortune left by his public house, which made her a desirable candidate for betrothal (“looked after as a great match” ) as well as a target for fraud. Had her father lived, she likely would have been spared from Compeyson’s betrayal, as he would have been involved in the process of their engagement instead of her brother, who was involved in the scam.
The nineteenth century family’s involvement in marital affairs is seen again in the reveal of Hindley Earnshaw’s wife, Frances, after the pair return to Wuthering Heights for his father’s funeral. The household domestic, Nellie Dean, states that Frances must have "neither money nor name to recommend her, or he would scarcely have kept the union from his father." This is also telling of Victorian society’s preoccupation with what makes a suitable partner for a person of means: women in particular were treated as accessories to a man’s wealth, and somebody like Frances (who the audience can only assume is from a lower social class than the Earnshaws) would have been considered unworthy.
However, a higher social status is not indicative of the extent to which a person is objectified.
Estella Havisham was raised as a lady, but she is still treated as a possession by the men in her life and by her own adopted mother. Though Pip’s intentions are largely innocent, he has always seen her as the ideal, an unattainable object that is the epitome of refined social status, the claiming of which would reflect his own upward social mobility. It can be inferred that this is the reason his affection for her does not wane, even though she is undeniably cruel to him. Miss Havisham’s treatment of Estella differs in that she treats her like a doll, shaping her into an instrument of vengeance, as well as the person she wishes she could have been: a beauty with a heart cold enough to protect her from the callous behaviour of men. Although as a child Estella understandably does not challenge Miss Havisham’s way of raising her, as an adult she seems aware of how her influence has affected her personal growth, stating, “I am what you have made of me. Take all the praise, take all the blame” . ... even though Miss Havisham resents men and the role they have played in ruining her life, she has still designed her daughter to directly appeal to them with her education and good looks – another fact of which Estella is keenly aware: “All that you have given me is at your command to have again. Beyond that, I have
nothing.”
The theme of entrapment is also significant to the major female characters of both novels, all of whom are imprisoned by some aspect of patriarchal society over the course of their narratives. Miss Havisham, for example, becomes trapped inside her own home after Compeyson’s betrayal, as the implications of being left at the altar were that there was some fault with her, and that her future groom no longer wanted her, the result of which is Estella also becoming trapped in a cycle of misandry perpetuated by her adoptive mother. The same is also true of the women of Wuthering Heights, and the young Catherine (hereafter called Catherine Linton) in particular, who is locked away inside Wuthering Heights by Heathcliff in the interest of forcing a match between her and his son, Linton Heathcliff. It is interesting to note, however, that while the women of Wuthering Heights are frequent victims of physical and mental entrapment, they are the ones who frequently travel back and forth between the two houses, while the men are fixed in place by their pride and resentment of each other.
An interesting parallel between the most prominent female characters of each novel is found in their respective descents into insanity. Gubar and Gilbert note the significance of the almost ghost-like quality afforded to mentally ill women in nineteenth century literature, which is symbolised in many works by a long white dress. Both the agoraphobic Miss Havisham in her ragged wedding dress as the eternal maiden and Catherine Earnshaw in her “loose white dress” as the expectant mother are inversions of the milestones expected of a good Victorian lady, and are therefore acts of rebellion against the patriarchy.
Victorian society is famous for reaching previously unrealised levels of sexual repression (thanks to a society-wide moral panic over the changing religious landscape), and while it was possible for men to go to prostitutes if they were discreet, female sexuality was considered virtually non-existent, and where it did exist, it was seen as inherently deviant. It was expected that women would only be interested in sex for the sake of producing children, and as such, many of them were uneducated in matters of sexual health or the activity in general. As a result of this, it could be argued that the crumbling Satis House serves as a metaphor for Miss Havisham’s caged sexuality in the wake of being jilted, and her tarnished wedding dress as one for her lingering virginity, with Gilbert and Gubar referring to her as “a mad nun of romance” .
The era’s fascination with scandal meant that the narrative of the ‘fallen woman’ became a popular topic amongst nineteenth century authors, and though Dickens himself believed in the reform of fallen women (and was personally involved with charities that sought to improve their lifestyles), it could be argued that without her fortune, Miss Havisham could have been written into a similar position. Though she was denied the traditional life of a Victorian lady, and in spite of her mistreatment at the hands of men, Miss Havisham still cannot entirely escape the compulsion to do as society dictates she should, and is shown to want a child of her own. This may be as a result of Havisham’s “mad clinging to romance” as much as it is born of her desire for revenge.
In conclusion, the women of both texts are victims of entrapment as a result of the patriarchal society they exist in, and while it could be argued that both Estella and Catherine Linton are ultimately freed from their respective prisons (namely the prejudice of Miss Havisham and the tyranny of Heathcliff) with their marriages, their so-called happy endings have two strong female characters conforming to the behaviour expected of their sex. However, it must be considered that in the nineteenth century a woman had little choice but to marry if she had any hope of maintaining a stable lifestyle, and even women of great fortune, such as Isabella Linton and Miss Havisham, are shown to struggle when left to survive alone.