Re: Ideas for your stories
Charles Dickens (cdickens@RMPLC.CO.UK)
Thu, 16 Oct 1997 11:34:15 -0100
My dear Mr Jones,
The roots of imagination are buried deep, and not all of them are
accessible, even to the author himself. Miss Havisham grew in part, I think
I can say, out of my preoccupation, around 1860, with the effects of
brooding upon ancient wrongs, something I had experienced myself, dwelling
upon painful episodes in my childhood. But there was an eternal stimulus
too. Readers of "Household Words," the weekly journal I edited in the
1850s, during the first part of that decade also received a monthly
supplement entitled "The Household Narrative of Current Event." Study that
and you will find an account of a poor mad creature who wandered the West
End of London at that time, dressed all in white, and believed to have been
a wronged bride. It was impossible for her not to enter my mind, when I was
conceiving Miss Havisham.
Estella, as I recall, grew out of no such direct stimulus. I knew what it
was to long for a young woman. What man doesn't? And my longing,
doubtless, informed the effect she has on Pip. But I cannot recall, in my
own experience, a young woman as cool and self-contained as Estella. I
imagined her because she was what my story needed.
Faithfully yours,
Charles Dickens
________________________________________________________________________________
>Dear Mr Dickens
> I am from a school in Colchester, England. For GCSE we are studying Great
>Expectations for our novel and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I would like to
>ask you a question,
>Where did you get your inspiration for the characters, Miss Havisham and Miss
>Estella.
>
>Yours Sincerely
>Chris Jones
>
>
======================
Charles Dickens
charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
Author