Estella (Great Expectations)

Estella
Great Expectations character
Estella with Miss Havisham and Pip. Art by H. M. Brock.
Created by	Charles Dickens
Information
Aliases	Estella Drummle (married name)
Gender	Female
Occupation	Socialite
Family	Miss Havisham (adoptive mother) Abel Magwitch (father) Molly (birth mother)
Spouse(s)	Bentley Drummle
Relatives	Arthur Havisham (adoptive uncle) Pocket family (adoptive cousins) Cousin Raymond (adoptive) Georgiana (adoptive)
Nationality	British

Estella Havisham (best known in literature simply as Estella) 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 wealthy and eccentric Miss Havisham to become a lady.

Pip and Estella meet when he is brought to Miss Havisham's ill-kept mansion, Satis House, ostensibly to satisfy the elder Miss Havisham's "sick fancy" to be entertained by watching Pip and Estella play together. It is later revealed that her desire is to have his heart broken by Estella.

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.

Pip is fascinated with the lovely Estella, though her heart is as cold as ice. Aside from the evident romantic 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 Estella, though he has been warned that Estella has been brought up by Miss Havisham to inspire unrequited love in the men around her, in order to avenge the latter's disappointment at being jilted on her wedding day. Estella warns Pip that she cannot love him, or anyone. Miss Havisham herself eventually decries this coldness, for Estella is not even able to love her benefactress.