Estella Havisham
Encyclopedia
Estella Havisham is a significant character in the Charles Dickens
novel
Great Expectations
.
Like the protagonist
, Pip
, Estella is introduced as an orphan
, but where Pip was raised by his sister and her husband to become a blacksmith
, Estella was adopted and raised by the wealth
y and eccentric Miss Havisham
to become a lady
.
interest, which continues through much of the story, Pip's meeting with Estella marks a turning point in his young life: her beauty, grace, and prospects represent the opposite of Pip's humble existence. Estella criticizes Pip's honest but "coarse" ways, and from that point on, Pip grows dissatisfied with his position in life and, eventually, with his former values and friends as well.
Pip spends years as companion to Miss Havisham and, by extension, Estella. He harbours intense love for the latter, though he has been warned that Estella has been brought up by Miss Havisham to inspire love, unrequited in the men around her, to avenge
the latter's disappointment at being jilted on her wedding day (cf. Pandora
and Eve
). Estella warns Pip that she cannot love him, or anyone. Miss Havisham herself decries this coldness, for Estella is not even able to love her benefactress.
, where Pip goes to be educated as a gentleman
. He relentlessly pursues Estella, though her warm expressions of friendship are firmly countered by her insistence that she cannot love him.
In fact, Pip discovers that Miss Havisham's lessons have worked all too well on Estella; when both are visiting the elderly woman, Miss Havisham makes gestures of affection towards her adopted daughter and is shocked that Estella is neither able nor willing to return them. Estella points out that Miss Havisham taught her to be hard-hearted and unloving. Even after witnessing this scene, Pip continues to live in anguished and fruitless hope that Estella will return his love.
Estella flirts with and pursues Bentley Drummle, a disdainful rival of Pip's, and eventually marries him for his money. Seeing her flirt with the brutish Drummle, Pip asks Estella (rather bitterly) why she never displays such affection with him. Her affection was long lasting.
This exchange suggests that Estella feels at least a modicum of love for Pip, as does the fact that in his presence, she never pretends to be anything but what she is. Rather than achieve the intended effect, this honest behavior only frustrates Pip.
It is implied that Drummle abuses Estella during their relationship and that she is very unhappy. However, by the end of the book, Drummle has been killed by a horse he has allegedly abused. The references to Drummle's marriage and death are conjectural, and no direct evidence is produced or suggested. Pip 'hears' of Drummle's poor behaviour and accepts the information as truth.
The relationship between Pip and Estella worsens during their adult lives. Pip pursues her in a frenzy, often tormenting himself to the point of utter despair. He makes writhing, pathetic attempts to awaken some flicker of emotion in Estella, but these merely perplex her; Estella sees his devotion as irrational.
Drummle in the novel and several adaptations, she does not marry him in the best-known 1946 film adaptation
. However, in no version does she eventually marry Pip, at least not within the timespan of the story.
The eventual resolution of Pip's pursuit of Estella at the end of the story varies among film
adaptations and even in the novel itself. Dickens' original ending is deemed by many as consistent with the thread of the novel and with Estella's allegorical
position as the human manifestation of Pip's longings for social status
. As this ending was much criticized even by some famous fellow author
s, Dickens wrote a second ending currently considered as the definitive one, more hopeful but also more ambiguous
than the original, in which Pip and Estella have a spiritual and emotional reconciliation. The second ending echoes strongly the theme of closure found in much of the novel; Pip and Estella's relationship at the end is marked by some sadness and some joy, and although Estella still indicates that she doesn't believe she and Pip will be together, Pip perceives that she will stay with him.
.
Pip becomes convinced that Molly is Estella's mother during his second dinner at Jaggers's place, when he realizes that their eyes are the same and that, when unoccupied, their fingers perform a knitting action. Wemmick tells him Molly's story: she had a child, the same age as Estella whose fate remains unknown. She came to Jaggers after he saved her from the gallows, as she had been accused of having murdered a woman out of jealousy.
One evening, after Pip returned from a visit at Miss Havisham
's, Herbert tells him a story that Magwitch told him: Magwitch had a wife once and they had a child, a girl, whom Magwitch loved dearly. His wife told him she'd kill the child (because the child was what Magwitch loved the most, and Molly wanted him to suffer for what he did to her) and, as much as he knows, she did. Shortly afterwards, she was accused of murder, acquitted and then disappeared. The two stories fit so well, that Pip has no doubt: Estella is the child of Abel and Molly.
He tells this to Jaggers and Wemmick, unable to keep it to himself. Jaggers tells him the missing bit of the story (only assuming, that it could have been like that): Molly gave the child to him, to be safe in case of her conviction. Abel, believing it dead, did not dare make a stir about it. At the same time, Miss Havisham
was looking for a girl to bring up and save from a misery like her own and Jaggers gave Estella to her. She was two or three at the time. Miss Havisham did not know where she came from and named her Estella. Jaggers advises Pip to be quiet about it. For whose sake would he tell it? The father had to keep in hiding, the mother had been about to kill the child and the daughter had escaped disgrace and would be dragged back into it by the revelation. So Pip keeps quiet. He only tells Magwitch, on his deathbed, that his dear child lives, is a beautiful young lady and that he was in love with her.
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Great Expectations
Great Expectations
Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens. It was first published in serial form in the publication All the Year Round from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. It has been adapted for stage and screen over 250 times....
.
Like the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
, Pip
Pip
-Biology and medicine:* Phosphatidylinositol phosphate* Prolactin-induced protein* Proximal interphalangeal joint* Patient intelligence panel-Business and finance:* Percentage in point , a currency exchange rate fluctuation...
, Estella is introduced as an orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
, but where Pip was raised by his sister and her husband to become a blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
, Estella was adopted and raised by the wealth
Wealth
Wealth is the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions. The word wealth is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem...
y and eccentric Miss Havisham
Miss Havisham
Miss Havisham is a significant character in the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations . She is a wealthy spinster, who lives in her ruined mansion with her adopted daughter, Estella, whom she has sent to France, while she herself is described as looking like "the witch of the place."Although she...
to become a lady
Lady
The word lady is a polite term for a woman, specifically the female equivalent to, or spouse of, a lord or gentleman, and in many contexts a term for any adult woman...
.
Estella and Pip's pre-adult life
Pip and Estella meet while entering jewish day school, when he is brought to Miss Havisham's lush summer estate, Sadis House, ostensibly to satisfy the elder Miss Havisham's "sick fancy" to be entertained by watching Estella have his heart broken by Lou.Estella's relationship with Pip
Estella states throughout the text, that she does not love Pip, however this is contradicted by the fact that she shows numerous times in the novel that she holds Pip in a much higher regard compared to other men, and doesn't want to break his heart like she does with the others that she seduces. One of the possible meanings of this is that Estella, even though she doesn't acknowledge the fact, loves Pip. The manner in which Estella was brought up saw that she would undergo strong emotional suppression and is unable to identify her own feelings, let alone express them. In a way, Estella is a character to be pitied, and even through her actions, we can see that she is still a victim of Miss Havisham's cruel vengeance.Estella as a symbol of Pip's longings in life
Pip is fascinated with the lovely Estella, though her heart is as cold as ice. Aside from the evident romanticRomantic love
Romance is the pleasurable feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.In the context of romantic love relationships, romance usually implies an expression of one's love, or one's deep emotional desires to connect with another person....
interest, which continues through much of the story, Pip's meeting with Estella marks a turning point in his young life: her beauty, grace, and prospects represent the opposite of Pip's humble existence. Estella criticizes Pip's honest but "coarse" ways, and from that point on, Pip grows dissatisfied with his position in life and, eventually, with his former values and friends as well.
Pip spends years as companion to Miss Havisham and, by extension, Estella. He harbours intense love for the latter, though he has been warned that Estella has been brought up by Miss Havisham to inspire love, unrequited in the men around her, to avenge
Revenge
Revenge is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. It is also called payback, retribution, retaliation or vengeance; it may be characterized, justly or unjustly, as a form of justice.-Function in society:Some societies believe that the...
the latter's disappointment at being jilted on her wedding day (cf. Pandora
Pandora
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. As Hesiod related it, each god helped create her by giving her unique gifts...
and Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
). Estella warns Pip that she cannot love him, or anyone. Miss Havisham herself decries this coldness, for Estella is not even able to love her benefactress.
Estella and Pip as adults
After Pip receives an unexpected boon of a gentleman's upbringing and the "great expectation" of a future fortune from an unknown benefactor, he finds himself released from the blacksmith's apprenticeship that had been funded by Miss Havisham as compensation for Pip's years of service to her. He also finds himself thrown into Estella's social milieu in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where Pip goes to be educated as a gentleman
Gentleman
The term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a well-educated man of good family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus...
. He relentlessly pursues Estella, though her warm expressions of friendship are firmly countered by her insistence that she cannot love him.
In fact, Pip discovers that Miss Havisham's lessons have worked all too well on Estella; when both are visiting the elderly woman, Miss Havisham makes gestures of affection towards her adopted daughter and is shocked that Estella is neither able nor willing to return them. Estella points out that Miss Havisham taught her to be hard-hearted and unloving. Even after witnessing this scene, Pip continues to live in anguished and fruitless hope that Estella will return his love.
Estella flirts with and pursues Bentley Drummle, a disdainful rival of Pip's, and eventually marries him for his money. Seeing her flirt with the brutish Drummle, Pip asks Estella (rather bitterly) why she never displays such affection with him. Her affection was long lasting.
- "Do you want me then", said Estella, turning suddenly with a fixed and serious, if not angry, look, "to deceive and entrap you?"
- "Do you deceive and entrap him, Estella?"
- "Yes, and many others - all of them but you."
This exchange suggests that Estella feels at least a modicum of love for Pip, as does the fact that in his presence, she never pretends to be anything but what she is. Rather than achieve the intended effect, this honest behavior only frustrates Pip.
It is implied that Drummle abuses Estella during their relationship and that she is very unhappy. However, by the end of the book, Drummle has been killed by a horse he has allegedly abused. The references to Drummle's marriage and death are conjectural, and no direct evidence is produced or suggested. Pip 'hears' of Drummle's poor behaviour and accepts the information as truth.
The relationship between Pip and Estella worsens during their adult lives. Pip pursues her in a frenzy, often tormenting himself to the point of utter despair. He makes writhing, pathetic attempts to awaken some flicker of emotion in Estella, but these merely perplex her; Estella sees his devotion as irrational.
Varied resolutions of Estella's relationship with Pip
Though Estella marriesMarriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
Drummle in the novel and several adaptations, she does not marry him in the best-known 1946 film adaptation
Great Expectations (1946 film)
Great Expectations is a 1946 British film which won two Academy Awards and was nominated for three others...
. However, in no version does she eventually marry Pip, at least not within the timespan of the story.
The eventual resolution of Pip's pursuit of Estella at the end of the story varies among film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
adaptations and even in the novel itself. Dickens' original ending is deemed by many as consistent with the thread of the novel and with Estella's allegorical
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
position as the human manifestation of Pip's longings for social status
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
. As this ending was much criticized even by some famous fellow author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
s, Dickens wrote a second ending currently considered as the definitive one, more hopeful but also more ambiguous
Ambiguity
Ambiguity of words or phrases is the ability to express more than one interpretation. It is distinct from vagueness, which is a statement about the lack of precision contained or available in the information.Context may play a role in resolving ambiguity...
than the original, in which Pip and Estella have a spiritual and emotional reconciliation. The second ending echoes strongly the theme of closure found in much of the novel; Pip and Estella's relationship at the end is marked by some sadness and some joy, and although Estella still indicates that she doesn't believe she and Pip will be together, Pip perceives that she will stay with him.
Estella's origins
Though she never knows it herself, Pip finally finds out where Estella comes from. She was the child of Jaggers's maidservant Molly, a gypsy at that time, and Abel MagwitchAbel Magwitch
Abel Magwitch is a fictional character from Charles Dickens’ 1861 novel Great Expectations.-Synopsis:Charles Dickens setted his character Abel Magwitch to meet a man called Compeyson at the Epsom Races. Compeyson, Dickens wrote, had been brought up in a boarding school and was a good-looking and...
.
Pip becomes convinced that Molly is Estella's mother during his second dinner at Jaggers's place, when he realizes that their eyes are the same and that, when unoccupied, their fingers perform a knitting action. Wemmick tells him Molly's story: she had a child, the same age as Estella whose fate remains unknown. She came to Jaggers after he saved her from the gallows, as she had been accused of having murdered a woman out of jealousy.
One evening, after Pip returned from a visit at Miss Havisham
Miss Havisham
Miss Havisham is a significant character in the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations . She is a wealthy spinster, who lives in her ruined mansion with her adopted daughter, Estella, whom she has sent to France, while she herself is described as looking like "the witch of the place."Although she...
's, Herbert tells him a story that Magwitch told him: Magwitch had a wife once and they had a child, a girl, whom Magwitch loved dearly. His wife told him she'd kill the child (because the child was what Magwitch loved the most, and Molly wanted him to suffer for what he did to her) and, as much as he knows, she did. Shortly afterwards, she was accused of murder, acquitted and then disappeared. The two stories fit so well, that Pip has no doubt: Estella is the child of Abel and Molly.
He tells this to Jaggers and Wemmick, unable to keep it to himself. Jaggers tells him the missing bit of the story (only assuming, that it could have been like that): Molly gave the child to him, to be safe in case of her conviction. Abel, believing it dead, did not dare make a stir about it. At the same time, Miss Havisham
Miss Havisham
Miss Havisham is a significant character in the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations . She is a wealthy spinster, who lives in her ruined mansion with her adopted daughter, Estella, whom she has sent to France, while she herself is described as looking like "the witch of the place."Although she...
was looking for a girl to bring up and save from a misery like her own and Jaggers gave Estella to her. She was two or three at the time. Miss Havisham did not know where she came from and named her Estella. Jaggers advises Pip to be quiet about it. For whose sake would he tell it? The father had to keep in hiding, the mother had been about to kill the child and the daughter had escaped disgrace and would be dragged back into it by the revelation. So Pip keeps quiet. He only tells Magwitch, on his deathbed, that his dear child lives, is a beautiful young lady and that he was in love with her.