| Estella Havisham |
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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 is adopted and raised by the Wealth y and Eccentric Miss Havisham to become a Lady . ESTELLA AND PIP AS CHILDREN Pip meets Estella when both are Children when he is brought to Miss Havisham's crumbling estate, Satis House , ostensibly to satisfy the elder Miss Havisham's "sick fancy" to be entertained by watching Pip engage in children's play. ESTELLA AS SYMBOLIC OF PIP'S LONGINGS IN LIFE Estella is beautiful and haughty and not a little cruel, and Pip is fascinated with her. Aside from the evident Romantic interest which carries through much of the story, Pip's meeting of Estella marks a turning point in his young life, as Estella's beauty, grace and wealthy prospects represent the opposite of Pip's own humble life prospects. Estella criticizes Pip's honest but "coarse" ways, and from that point on, Pip is no longer satisfied 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, and he grows to Love her intensely, despite the fact that he has been warned that Estella has been brought up by Miss Havisham to use men as objects to Avenge the latter's disappointment at being jilted on her wedding day (''c.f.'', Pandora and Eve ), and despite the fact that Estella has herself warned Pip that she could not love him, or anyone. 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 also released from the blacksmith's apprenticeship that had been paid for by Miss Havisham as compensation for Pip's years of service to her. He also finds himself thrown into Estella's social milieu in London , where Pip goes to be educated for a Gentleman . He relentlessly pursues Estella despite the fact that her warm expressions of friendship for Pip are firmly countered by her insistence that she cannot love him. Estella flirts with and pursues Drummle, a Playboy and disdainful rival of Pip's, and eventually marries him. Drummle abuses her during their relationship, and Estella is very unhappy. However, by the end of the book, Drummle is killed when a horse he has been abusing kicks him. The relation between Pip and Estella escalates during their adult life; Pip pursues her in a frenzy, often driving himself mad to despair. His futile attempts to alter her cold, emotionless arrogance eventually culminate in him despairingly leaving her for good. Pip laments that he is not upset so much that she will never be his, but rather that she should not see the horror she has woven for herself with her lifestyle and arrogance. VARIED RESOLUTIONS OF ESTELLA'S RELATIONSHIP WITH PIP Though Estella Marries Drummle in the novel and several adapations, she does not marry him in the best-known 1946 Film Adaptation . However, in no version does she eventually marry Pip, at least 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 contention 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. |
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