Estella contributes to two central ironies in the novel’s plot, firstly because Pip’s infatuation with her makes him more susceptible to Miss Havisham’s deception. When he hears of his expectations he believes his anonymous benefactor is Miss Havisham, and what is more, that by giving him money she is signalling his intention for Estella. Secondly, Estella treats Pip with disdain, making him ashamed of his lowly origins and determined to better himself with money to gain her love, only to find that she is the daughter of two criminals: much lower in society than Pip’s parentage. Estella not only has a direct influence over Pip, but has links by parentage with both Jaggers and Magwitch, and therefore she is inextricably interconnected with the development of Pip’s expectations.

 

Estella is presented to us when Pip first visits Miss Havisham in Chapter Eight, the girl who “was very pretty and seemed very proud” to Pip as he was conducted smartly about the “large and dismal house”. Estella’s beauty (together with her name's connotations of star-like radiance) seems at odds with the clear suggestions of emptiness and decay in the setting, where “there were no pigeons in the dove cot, no horses in the stable”, and where “there was a wilderness of empty casks, which had a certain sour remembrance of better days lingering about them”, an effective metaphor for the “immensely rich and grim lady” who brought up Estella.

 

The alliteration of “pretty” and “proud” appropriately conveys Estella’s aloofness towards Pip, which she extends to the point of unkindness, treating him “as insolently as if he were a dog in disgrace”. Pip explains that she was “as scornful of me as if she had been one-and-twenty, and a queen”, emphasising the fact that she is beyond Pip’s reach. Yet Pip is captivated by Estella and determined to better himself and reach her level; from his very first meeting with her he “began deeply revolving that I was a common labouring boy . . that I was much more ignorant than I had considered myself last night, and generally that I was in a low-lived bad way”, showing the reader the deep and early extent of Estella’s influence. This is particularly noticeable when we examine how Pip talks of his life at home. Before visiting Satis House, Pip “dated a new admiration of Joe . . [and] had a new sensation of feeling conscious that I was looking up to Joe in my heart”; clearly he respected his guardian and felt contented. But by Chapter 14 Pip could report that, “I had believed in the forge as the glowing road to manhood and independence . . . Now all this was changed, and I would not have had Miss Havisham and Estella see it on any account”. In this way Dickens shows us how Estella affects Pip’s happiness and alters his perceptions of those whom he had wholeheartedly loved.

 

Throughout the novel, Estella’s behaviour sets the tone for Pip’s emotions. He is disturbed when she rebuffs him, mournfully telling us that “I was inwardly crying for her then, knowing what I know of the pain she cost me afterwards”. She throws Pip into deep despair when she marries Drummle: “I dropped my face into my hands . . . what agony it gave me to hear her say those words”. Dickens’ graphic metaphor, “The rhapsody welled up within me, like blood from an inward wound, and gushed out”, shows us the passionate love Pip craves with Estella, and emphasises the fact that he cannot control his feelings. He says he “loved her simply because I found her irresistible . . . I loved her without reason . . . against all discouragement that could be”. Estella becomes almost a part of Pip: “to the last hour of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil”. It is not so much that Estella cannot chose but remain a part of Pip, but that Pip cannot chose but continue to love her. Quite simply, he has no escape from his all-embracing love of her, and no escape from the detrimental effect this love has on his morals. As Estella’s influence grows, Pip adopts the trappings of external opulence, becoming a cad in order to gain her love.

 

It is a pleasing irony that Pip and Estella had similar origins: both were orphans and both suffered cruelty from their female guardians. It seems they should suit each other in love, until we see how Estella behaves towards Pip. Whilst it could be argued that she spurns Pip (and marries Drummle) in recognition of her own damaged state, the ambiguity of the ending does not convince us that she eventually loves Pip. Pip’s love for Estella had undoubtedly been the greatest motivation of his early life. Once redeemed, however, it seems that Pip felt it was unimportant for the reader to know whether he and Estella ever found love together. It could be argued that the emphasis of the final sentence in the novel (italics mine) is on Pip’s perception of his relationship with Estella; determined to put his mistakes behind him, he “saw no shadow of another parting from her”. Perhaps Estella is central to Pip’s life only during the period of his expectations.

 

One character worthy of comparison with Estella is Biddy, for she is the only woman whom Pip ever loves as much as Estella. Like Joe, Biddy exudes a constant innate goodness and warmth which contrasts with the coldness of Estella. However, having met Estella, Pip describes Biddy as “most noticeable in respect of her extremities; for, her hair always wanted brushing, her hands always wanted washing, and her shoes always wanted mending and pulling up at the heel”. This is indicative of the way Pip, blinded by his love for Estella and desire to better himself, comes to value external appearances of opulence and high social standing above innate personal qualities. Pip seems to realise that, could he release himself from the hold of Estella’s love, he might be happier, for “if Estella were beside me instead of Biddy she would make me miserable” and because “I was clear that Biddy was immeasurably better than Estella”. Clearly Pip’s early infatuation for Estella is too great to allow him to appreciate Biddy’s qualities.

 

Estella may also be compared with Miss Havisham, who conditioned Estella with hatred for men. Throughout the novel, Estella’s heartlessness emphasises the injured passion of her guardian, making the contrasts between them clear. Estella is “proud” and always maintains “perfect composure” with an “unmoved countenance”, while Miss Havisham frequently displays anger and frustration, behaving “passionately” and speaking with “a certain terrible vivacity”. Because of her highly emotional characteristics, Miss Havisham is angry that Estella does not love her; the irony is that it is Miss Havisham’s upbringing which has made Estella unable to love. It is unreasonable for her to expect Estella even to understand her craving for love, for her cool aloofness is a direct product of Miss Havisham’s fury. Estella is right when she says “I am what you have made me”; it is Miss Havisham’s own fault when Estella’s “graceful figure and beautiful face expressed a self-possessed indifference to the wild heat of the other, that was almost cruel”, for the cruelty is Miss Havisham’s. The character of Estella highlights the destructive passion of Miss Havisham, one of Dickens’ most haunting characters. Both women are central to the development of Pip’s expectations, and in combination both are equally damaging to him.

 

Central to the plot, Estella’s character helps to portray several of Dickens’ themes in Great Expections. Pip’s infatuation with Estella forces him to choose between the world of love represented by Joe and the world of money represented by Miss Havisham. Both Pip and Miss Havisham crave Estella’s love and she gives them both a purpose in life: Miss Havisham must bring her up and Pip must gain her love. In this way, she makes them the people they become, yet she pains them because she never returns the love they continually work for. Dickens shows the reader that all humans, whatever their wealth or class, need love and friendship, yet if love is bought or forced, it can only be destructive to all concerned: like “the spectral figure of Miss Havisham, her hand still covering her heart, [who] seemed all resolved into a ghastly stare of pity and remorse.”

 

 

Charles Dickens (1861) Great Expectations. London: Penguin Group, 1994.