Tonight, we’ll read an excerpt from Charles Dickens “Great Expectations” where young Pip visits the mysterious Miss Havisham at her decaying mansion. There he meets Estella, a beautiful but scornful girl who treat him with cold disdain, making him painfully aware of his lower social status. Miss Havisham, frozen in time since being jilted at the altar, encourages Estella to toy with Pip’s emotions. This encounter leaves Pip deeply ashamed of his humble background, planting the seed of his desire to become a gentleman.

Miss Havisham’s tragic and eerie presence has left a lasting impact on literature, film television and music. She appears in Havisham by Carol Ann Duffy, which reimagines her bitter longing, and influences characters like Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard and Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre. Artists like Tori Amos and Florence and The Machine reference her ghostly figure in music, while The Simpsons parody her infamous heartbreak and decay, solidifying her as a timeless gothic archetype.

— read by 'N' —

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