My Pintrest

This is my Pintrest, i have been creating mood boards relating to Great Expectations and other things surrounding our project: http://www.pinterest.com/SodaMeganPoppy/

Mourning,The Woman In Black.

When in mourning in Victorian times women had to dress in a full black dress, with a black cap, long black veil, basically no skin showing and in all black. There were also strict mourning times; a woman would have to mourn for his husband for around 2 years, a family who lost a child for 9 months. As soon as death occurred, mourning began clocks would be stopped, curtains drawn and mirrors covered up, in great expectation Miss Havisham stopped the clocks at the time her husband to-be ran away, the curtains were drawn and her mirrors where infect broken much like she was in mourning over her own heart dyeing.  This reminded me of the “Woman in black” who was mourning her dead son, so I watched the woman in black and I realised it was also set in the same time period, I also spoke to my sister who has seen the stage production, she reminds me very much of a slightly more sinister version of Miss Havisham, as she is such mourning over her son she commits suicide and haunts Ell marsh House, every time someone living sees her a child in the near town dies in some kind of horrible accident. She seeks revenge by killing other people’s children because her child died much like Miss Havisham seeks revenge by making Estella break other people’s hearts because hers was broken.

The Woman In Black Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPYMUnJGURI

Victorian Superstitions

Superstitions:

From weddings to funerals, death to life Victorian life came with many superstitions,

Here is a taster: It is bad luck to meet a funeral procession head on. If you see one approaching, turn around. If this is unavoidable, hold on to a button until the funeral cortege passes.

·         Stop the clock in a death room or you will have bad luck.

·         If you hear a clap of thunder following a burial it indicates that the soul of the departed has reached heaven

·         If you don’t hold your breath while going by a graveyard you will not be buried.

·         If the deceased has lived a good life, flowers would bloom on his grave; but if he has been evil, only weeds would grow.

·         If you smell roses when no one is around, someone is going to die.

·         If you see yourself in a dream, your death will follow.

·         If a sparrow lands on a piano, someone in the home will die.

·         If a picture falls off a wall, there will be a death of someone you know.

·         A single snowdrop growing in the garden foretells death.

Victorian Photographs of the dead - Memento Mori

Victorian’s and the dead.  

Referring back to my post about “The Victorian Home” disease and illness where very common throughout the Victorian Era, from there way of life and surroundings. Death had become an everyday thing, and along with that came there everyday superstitions. Death had almost become ritualistic.

Photographs of the Dead:

To begin this process first they had to dress the dead, a man in his favorite attire, but women were usually dressed in white cashmere gowns. They would dress there dead and then they would pose them with the rest of the family for a post death photograph, as they believed that there spirit lived on through the photographs, which is sad as this would normally be the only photograph that would be taken of you your whole life, they would arrange the deceased in very “living” pose sometimes using a frame to keep the body upright, in some of the photographs you can’t tell who is dead. They would then leave them in pone of the rooms in the house which they had died in, and one family member had to watch them at all times 24/7 until the funeral which would normally be a couple of weeks, it was said they had to be watched just in case they either woke up, as coma’s where very common, but they did not have the equipment to tell either the person was dead or actually in a coma, which resulted in many people being buried alive in the Victorian Era hence why they started installing bells into the coffins so just in case you did wake up you could inform someone. Even worst when it came to the death of a very small infant, the family would be known to keep the baby’s body until it had become mummified then they would dress it up in babies clothes and have it out on display.

The Victorian Home

The Victorians where living through a domestic revolution, outside and inside their homes Britain was changing around them. Life at home for the Victorians was foul, dirty and unsanitary. I was intrigued by this after thinking about when Pip moved from the lower class up into a gentleman and how his environment around him must have changed dramatically.

So I began researching into a normal atmosphere of a Victorian home and watching clips and reading articles on the BBC. Here is a link so the research I found: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25259505

After reading this article I began to realise the extent of the dangers in Victorian everyday life, and why death was such an everyday thing for them. It kicked off me thinking about Miss Havisham and how decayed she must have been, from all these hazards she never left the house, wore the same clothes, and never washed. She truly must have stunk of a foul decaying creature, her skin would have many boils and sores all over it from uncleanliness and her hair were probably falling out. Not to mention her teeth which must have been rotting stubs. 

Vlogging - First Thoughts

Five Images That I Feel Represent Victorian Gothika

Jack the Ripper's Letter From Hell

The Scream Painted By Edvard Munch

Victorian Photograph of The Dead

The Victorian Crystal Palace Burning Down

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

Gothic Elements - Great Expectations

I have chosen five of these adjectives to describe the text i have read so far, I feel these are general characteristics of everyone throughout the novel :

Firstly- A Gloomy tone and mood
I feel that Gloomy Tone and mood reflects allot of the atmosphere created by Dickens, The smoggy London and the foggy moors.

Secondly- Death Abounds
Death was always a massive everyday part  Victorian life, i feel Dickens was trying to captivate a specific theme and style of Victorian fatalities be that though disease which was common, poor sanitation, or simply though loneliness.

Thirdly- The Parting Of Lovers
As with most literature love and relationships form the defining plot in the story, the parting of lovers is ever present throughout great expectations, ranging from suppressed torture of gilted romance, or the agony of young lovers torn my distance and class.

Fourthly- Slightly Overbearing Males
From a 21st century perspective we are able to clearly identify the way great expectations clearly illustrates  gender inequality  of the Victorian era.

Fifthly- Hero's That Are Romantic, Wild and Fraught With Jealously.

 Great Expectations centralizes around Pip, a poverty stricken boy in the 18th century. the plot follows his love and desire for Miss Havisham adopted daughter Estella, and his journey through the story depicts his raw jealousy and hunger to ascend to the upper echelons of the British class system, with the ultimate goal of winning the heart of the girl he loves, and proving himself worthy in her eyes and the eyes of her peers.

Introduction

Dear Reader,

This is an introduction to my make-up in Motion blog, which will be based around Victorian Culture, Gothic horror and the classic novel Great Expectations. When I first received this project brief it intrigued me incredibly, I have always been very interested in the Victorian culture and their superstitions surrounding death, having done projects about the Victorian photos of dead at school. But one character has always fascinated me, Miss Havisham, her ominous aura and captivating stare, her character carries so many unanswered questions. I have so far read almost half of the book but I am struggling as it is a heavy read, I have also watched the version directed by Mike Newell, which stars Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham and the BBC series version which is very different but I found it a lot easier to watch. During this project I hope to find my own understanding and answer these questions, through creating my own version of Miss Havisham, using make-up and hair design to show how I would make her look as if I was making a BBC documentary.  

Vlogging