Choose a poem which expresses a point of view you find disturbing. Explain
what distubs you about the poet's point of view and discuss to what extent
you are nevertheless able to admire the way the poem is written.
Carol Ann Duffy's poem 'Havisham' is a dramatic monologue written from the eyes
of the infamous character Miss Havisham who is extracted from Dickens’s 'Great
Expectations'. Miss Havisham is a very disturbing character for a number of different
reasons conceived by the pain and hurt she has endured throughout her life after
being jilted at the altar many years before the poem is set. Throughout Havisham we
learn that there is more underlying problems to Havisham than what was once
acknowledged. Hatred completely destroys Havisham and that instead of helping
her to get revenge, it makes her worse which results in her hating all men.
In the first stanza of the poem, we immediately learn about Miss Havisham through
her gritty honesty. She is expressing the pain of being jilted at the altar as she
reveals her personal feelings of the man she was about to marry.
“Beloved sweetheart bastard.”
Here we see Duffy opening the poem in an oxymoronic way. She uses this
technique to entice us in to the poem and to emphasise the contrast of her hectic
feelings towards her ex-lover. This is also a very controversial way of opening the
poem, possibly throwing us in at the deep end right at the start to establish what type
of person Havisham is and to prepare us for the roller-coaster ahead. 'Beloved' being
the man she once loved, 'Sweetheart' a word we typically call our loved ones and
'Bastard' an offensive swear word. All highly contrasting words which makes us feel
disturbed as we enter the poem. This opening of the poem is very abrupt and it's
almost as if we've walked in on Miss Havisham in the midst of a breakdown. It's also
climatic, something in which we'd typically see at the end of a poem, building
tension but controversially Duffy opens in this way to lead us in to the scheming mind
set of Havisham.
“Not a day since then
I haven't wished him dead”
The more animalistic side of Havisham is apparent in these lines. The man she so
loved, she is now wishing death upon. This conveys Havisham as a heartless and
conniving person. To wish someone dead is disgustingly disturbing and not
something someone of a normal state of mind would do, these ideas all conclude
Miss Havisham as being very unpleasant.
“...ropes on the back of my hands I could strangle with.”
This is one of the most alarming lines of the poem where repetition is present as
Havisham is once again plotting more revenge on her ex-fiancé. Duffy's use of
imagery is dark and torturous making it uncomfortable for us to read as we
imagine the long, rough and ugly ropes strangling a man from the hands of an old
hag (Havisham). The fact that she wants to beset this man suggests that her hatred
towards other men could be more widespread opening up the idea that Havisham
may not just hate one man but many.
“Prayed for it so hard
I've got dark green pebbles for eyes.”
The colour green is typically associated with symbolisms of envy and this
suggests that Miss Havisham is jealous of every happy person in the world. Her
dreams of marrying a man were destroyed so she wants to eradicate everyone
else’s happiness including everyone around her. The imagery Duffy has created
provokes disturbing images of horror and something almost alien like about this
deranged woman. One connotation of bright green is prosperity, Duffy uses 'Dark
Green' which creates the oppositional effect that maybe Havisham is not prospering
in life but instead she is envious and miserable to not only herself, but to others
around her.
In the second stanza of the poem, Miss Havisham's erratic and lonely behaviour is
continued.
“Whole days
in bed cawing Nooooo at the wall;”
Firstly, the word 'cawing' is very striking. Duffy is comparing Havisham to a crow
crying out raucously. This is greatly effective because it helps to build Miss
Havisham's demented characteristics as crows are seen to be Godess' of war and
death. This line of the poem also paints a picture of Havisham lying in a bed lonely,
perhaps without a man. It also emphasises the cruel reality of her life, emphasising
the fact that she will never get over this. 'at the wall' suggests that Havisham is
always surrounded by four walls and that she has always been reclusive since her
wedding day.
“Love's
hate behind a white veil; a red balloon bursting
in my face.
Similarly to the beginning of the poem. Duffy opens the last stanza oxymoronicilly.
'Loves hate' are complete opposites of each other. Perhaps they are both on
different stanzas to emphasise how different they are and to also express the
confusion is Havisham's mind also emphasising Havsisham's hate for love but
drive for revenge. 'white veil' obviously describing the veil that she's wearing, Duffy
adding to the setting to create a wedding type atmosphere. The third stanza also
opens with enjambment which is a technique used to create tension or to
interest/attract the reader, breaking up lines to make the brain respond better to a
poem. 'a red balloon bursting in my face' is however the most interesting line of the
stanza opening many ideas for imagery. Balloons are typically associated with
celebrations and parties, this creates the impression that Havishams
celebration was destroyed in an instant like the burst balloon and- like a burst
balloon- she could never be repaired. It could also symbolise Havishams heart
breaking and continuing to break. The idea of a balloon bursting in Havishams face
is a very unusual and disturbing though but this is one of the only points in the poem
where we feel a slight empathy for Havisham.
“Give me a male corpse for a long slow honeymoon.
Don't think it's the only heart that b-b-b-breaks.”
Duffy started off the poem in a very enticing and abrupt way, but she evidently ends
the poem in a very disturbing way. 'Give me' is a very casual way of asking for
something, understanding that Havisham is very rude. Havisham's mental decline
is also very clear as she asks for a 'male corpse'. She is so affected by this man that
she is asking for a dead corpse to take for 'long slow' honeymoon. For the third time,
Duffy has used an oxymoronic technique, contrasting two different words. This
suggests drawn out pain and torture highlighting how disturbed Havisham has
become. Also she has generalised all men by asking for ‘a male corpse’- it is
not solely her ex-fiancé that she displays hatred towards but the whole male
race reinforcing the depth of her misery. In the last line of the poem, the poet
uses onomatopoeia disturbingly to mock the sound of a heartbeat or the heart slowly
b-b-b-breaking in to pieces. The chaotic sound created highlights that it is not
merely Havisham’s heart that is broken but her mind too, we see a woman
breaking down completely.
Through out the poem, Duffy has re-created the character that Dicken's began. Here,
we get a more in-depth feeling to this very vulnerable and troubled woman. We
follow her through a journey in which Duffy has created through the use of
techniques being repeated, Oxymoronic being the most used technique,
enjambment falling ever so slightly behind.
Duffy's simple but complicated imagery establishes the mind set of Miss Havisham
and makes the reader disturbed and uncomfortable. By the end of the poem we feel
drained but in a satisfying way.