Arthur Havisham

Last updated

In Charles Dickens' 1861 novel Great Expectations , Arthur Havisham is Miss Havisham's younger, rebellious half-brother who was a result of Mr Havisham's affair with the cook after Mrs Havisham died. He and Compeyson plot against her and swindle her to gain more money, despite the fact that Mr Havisham had left Arthur plenty. Arthur was jealous that Mr Havisham favoured his sister and was extravagantly greedy with his money. He is a subordinate character in Great Expectations, working with Compeyson. Towards the end of his life he suffered from paranoia; a constant haunting by his sister's supposed presence around him. He dies of an illness caused by the guilt of how he had treated his sister. [1] Through his death Dickens provided a kind of poetic justice in the novel.

Representations

Descriptions in the book were kept minimal. The only reference to him was in chapter 42, where Abel Magwitch described his past experiences:

"There was another in with Compeyson, as was called Arthur – not as being so christened but as a surname. He was in a Decline, and was a shadow to look at. Him and Compeyson had been in a bad thing with a rich lady some years afore, and they'd made a pot of money by it; but Compeyson betted and gamed, and he'd have run through the king's taxes." [2]

References to Arthur are generally absent from screen adaptations of the novel. In the 2011 BBC television series of Great Expectations, Arthur is mentioned as deceased and had a collection of butterflies on his wall.

The most recent representation of Arthur was portrayed by actor Joseph Quinn in the BBC 2015–2016 television series Dickensian in which he helps Compeyson to jilt his sister, to take back the brewery, and to inherit the remainder of his father's money. However, this does not go to plan because Compeyson is too manipulative, Compeyson implies strongly that the reason Arthur's father disinherited him was that he discovered Arthur was homosexual, which at the time was illegal and scandalous. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Great Expectations</i> 1860–1861 novel by Charles Dickens

Great Expectations is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after David Copperfield, to be fully narrated in the first person. The novel was first published as a serial in Dickens's weekly periodical All the Year Round, from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. In October 1861, Chapman & Hall published the novel in three volumes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miss Havisham</span> Fictional character in Charles Dickens Great Expectations

Miss Havisham is a character in the Charles Dickens' 1861 novel Great Expectations. She is a wealthy spinster, once jilted at the altar, who insists on wearing her wedding dress for the rest of her life. She lives in a ruined mansion with her adopted daughter, Estella. Dickens describes her as looking like "the witch of the place". In the novel, she schemes to have the young orphan, Pip, fall in love with Estella, so that Estella can "break his heart."

<i>The Mystery of Edwin Drood</i> 1870 novel by Charles Dickens

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is the final novel by the English author Charles Dickens, originally published in 1870.

<i>Nicholas Nickleby</i> 1838–1839 novel by Charles Dickens

Nicholas Nickleby, or The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, is the third novel by Charles Dickens, originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839. The character of Nickleby is a young man who must support his mother and sister after his father dies.

<i>Dombey and Son</i> 1846–1848 novel by Charles Dickens

Dombey and Son is a novel by English author Charles Dickens. It follows the fortunes of a shipping firm owner, who is frustrated at the lack of a son to follow him in his footsteps; he initially rejects his daughter's love before eventually becoming reconciled with her before his death.

Estella (<i>Great Expectations</i>) Dickens novel character

Estella Havisham is a significant character in Charles Dickens' 1861 novel Great Expectations.

Pip (<i>South Park</i>) 14th episode of the 4th season of South Park

"Pip" is the fourteenth episode in the fourth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 62nd episode of the series overall, it first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 29, 2000. Going by production order, it is the fifth episode of the fourth season instead of the fourteenth. The episode is a parody and comedic retelling of Charles Dickens's 1861 novel Great Expectations, and stars the South Park character Pip, who assumes the role of the protagonist of the novel, who is his eponym. "Pip" features no other regular characters from the show. The story is narrated in a live action parody of the anthology television series Masterpiece Theater, with the narrator played by Malcolm McDowell.

<i>Great Expectations</i> (1946 film) 1946 film by David Lean

Great Expectations is a 1946 British drama film directed by David Lean, based on the 1861 novel by Charles Dickens and starring John Mills and Valerie Hobson. The supporting cast included Bernard Miles, Francis L. Sullivan, Anthony Wager, Jean Simmons, Finlay Currie, Martita Hunt and Alec Guinness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abel Magwitch</span> Fictional character

Abel Magwitch is a major fictional character from Charles Dickens' 1861 novel Great Expectations.

Great Expectations is a British-American television serial based on Charles Dickens' 1861 novel of the same title. The serial was first broadcast in the US in three parts on The Disney Channel in 1989, and in the UK in six parts on the ITV network in 1991.

<i>Great Expectations</i> (1981 TV series) British TV series or programme

Great Expectations is a 1981 BBC drama serial based on the 1861 novel by Charles Dickens. It was directed by Julian Amyes and adapted by James Andrew Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compeyson</span> Fictional character

Compeyson is the main antagonist of Charles Dickens' 1861 novel Great Expectations, a 'George Wickham'-esque man, whose criminal activities harmed two people, who in turn shaped much of protagonist Pip's life.

<i>Great Expectations</i> (2011 TV series) 2011 TV serial directed by Brian Kirk

Great Expectations is a three-part BBC television drama adaptation by Sarah Phelps of the Charles Dickens’s 1861 novel of the same name, starring Ray Winstone as Magwitch, Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham, Douglas Booth as Pip, Vanessa Kirby as Estella and David Suchet as Jaggers. The adaptation was first broadcast on British television over the Christmas period in 2011.

<i>Great Expectations</i> (2012 film) 2012 British film

Great Expectations is a 2012 British-American film adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1861 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Mike Newell, with the adapted screenplay by David Nicholls, and stars Jeremy Irvine, Helena Bonham Carter, Holliday Grainger, Ralph Fiennes and Robbie Coltrane. It was distributed by Lionsgate.

<i>Dickensian</i> (TV series) British drama television series

Dickensian is a British drama television series that premiered on BBC One from 26 December 2015 to 21 February 2016. The 20-part series, created and co-written by Tony Jordan, brings characters from many Charles Dickens novels together in one Victorian London neighbourhood, as Inspector Bucket investigates the murder of Ebenezer Scrooge's partner Jacob Marley.

<i>An Orphans Tragedy</i> 1955 Hong Kong film

An Orphan's Tragedy is a 1955 Hong Kong drama film co-written and directed by Chu Kei and starring Bruce Lee, Ng Cho-fan, Lau Hak-suen, Josephine Siao and Cheung Wood-yau. The film is a loose adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1861 novel Great Expectations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mr. Dick</span> Dickens character

Mr. Dick, whose full name is Richard Babley, is a character in the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield and its many adaptions. His main role in the story is as a wise fool – amiable and innocent but also perceptive and effective.

<i>Great Expectations</i> (1967 TV series) British TV series or programme

Great Expectations is a British television series which first aired on BBC 1 in 1967. It is an adaptation of the 1861 novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, which follows a humble orphan suddenly becoming a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor.

Great Expectations is a historical fiction series developed by Steven Knight, based on the 1861 novel by Charles Dickens. It premiered on BBC One on 26 March 2023, followed by its US premiere on FX on Hulu later the same day.

References

  1. ↑ "Arthur Havisham in Great Expectations". www.shmoop.com. Retrieved 2016-06-05.
  2. ↑ "Great Expectations by Charles Dickens: Summary Chapter 42". www.online-literature.com. Retrieved 2016-06-05.
  3. ↑ "Dickensian - Arthur Havisham - BBC One". BBC. Retrieved 2016-06-09.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.