Dickens is a master...

Great Expectations is essentially about Pip’s ascension through society, the development of his selfhood, and his realization of which people actually care about him. Pip would not have to worry about any of these issues if it were not for Estella’s influence in his life. As Miss Havisham’s tool in the destruction of the male heart, Estella exerts the greatest influence both in Pip’s life and the development of his moral system.

First, Estella’s role in the novel must be established. Estella is the daughter of Magwitch, a convict, and Molly, a servant for Jaggers. Although her roots are extremely common, she is raised in nobility because Miss Havisham adopts her. Miss Havisham wants Estella to break the hearts of men; Miss Havisham “[steals] her heart away and [puts] ice in its place.” (Dickens 366) Since she does not have a heart, she can feel neither hurt nor happiness. She is perfect for Miss Havisham’s plan of the destruction of Pip, which works almost perfectly.
When we first meet Pip, he is a poor boy, but he is content with his situation. He knows no better; he knows no worse. He would be just fine living with Joe and Mrs. Joe. He receives an invitation to Satis House, home of Estella and Miss Havisham. It is here that Pip first sees Estella, and she appears to him “like a star.” (72) During their first meeting, Estella criticizes everything Pip says and does. Pip never even realizes that anything could be wrong, or that there could be anything he might need to change until he meets Estella. After the meeting, Pip is “much more ignorant than [he considered himself the night before].” (77)

Pip now begins to question everything in his life. He falls directly into Miss Havisham’s trap and he tries to change himself to have a chance with Estella. The changes are completely innocent at first; for example, he wants to receive an education. During this transition, Estella allows Pip to kiss her, which fills Pip with so much love that he cannot do anything but think of her in everything that he does. As Estella does this to Pip, it is clear that Miss Havisham’s plan is going well, because she says, “Break their hearts my pride and hope, break their hearts and have no mercy!” (103)

Pip continues to want to change for Estella, and that want leads to extreme embarrassment for Pip. He becomes incredibly ashamed of Joe, who is actually the best role model he has. In fact, Miss Havisham has Estella say, “what was fit company for you once, would be quite unfit company for you now.” (226) Considering this, it is obvious why Pip does not want to be seen around the forge, especially by Estella.
When Pip receives his great expectations, he automatically assumes that the expectations come from Miss Havisham, and that Estella is included in these expectations. Pip thinks that he only has to become a gentleman for Estella. Because of this, he completely writes off Joe as stupid and common. Once Pip makes it to London, he is embarrassed to even see Joe. Pip also refuses to go to the forge when he returns home.

Because of Estella’s influence, Pip begins to become what he thinks a gentleman should be. Because his ideas about being a gentleman are flawed, he starts to become a real jerk. Miss Havisham continues to encourage Pip by saying, “Love her, love her, love her! If she favors you, love her. If she wounds you, love her. If she tears your heart to pieces-and as it gets older and stronger, it will tear deeper-love her, love her, love her!” (228) Pip can do nothing but follow Miss Havisham’s orders, and in doing so, he looks down upon his real benefactor, Magwitch.

At this point, Pip is absolutely sure that Miss Havisham has planned out everything for him and Estella, and that they would be together in the end. He thought “Estella was set to wreak Miss Havisham’s revenge on men, and that she was not to be given to [him] until she gratified it for a term.” (283)

Pip holds on to the dream of having Estella until he finds out that she is marrying Drummle. At this point, all of his hopes for Estella are crushed. He tells Estella of his love, and all she can say is “you address nothing in my breast, you touch nothing there. I don’t care for what you say at all.” (333) Pip can only now begin to realize what a horrible person he has become, and that he has shunned all who really care for him.

Pip does everything he should not do because of Estella. However, Estella cannot be blamed for her actions or how Pip perceives those actions. First of all, she gives Pip a number of warnings that she does not love him, and that she can never truly love anyone. Secondly, Estella does not even mean to do what she does. She is essentially a tool in Miss Havisham’s plan. She has always been a part of that plan, so she never has a chance to question it.

Even though Estella puts Pip through torture by saying and doing utterly horrible things to him, she actually does him a favor in the novel. Pip says, “I wish I had never left [the forge],” (331) but if Estella had not influenced Pip to choose the route in life that he chose, he would have never realized the real worth of Joe and Magwitch. Pip would have led a completely non-eventful life. Without Estella, Pip would have never gone through the stages of the development of the self. He would have stayed in the forge and the early teachings stage. Because Estella, Pip goes through the autonomy stage and reaches the community stage. Pip’s community stage is an understanding of the outside world but still seeing that there is no substitute for honesty and unconditional love. In real life, we all need an Estella to push us out of our early teachings and into autonomy.

When Estella meets Pip at the old Satis House property, they are both very changed from the past. Pip is over Estella, out of money, and has full respect for Joe and Biddy. Estella has had an expectedly horrible relationship with Drummle. They both have been knocked off their snobby perches of nobility. After a short conversation, they leave hand in hand, engaging in the relationship that Dickens portrays as most powerful and beneficial-friendship. They are walking into the community stage together, putting all the petty worries behind them.

In conclusion, Pip leads an extraordinary life, but it is a life he would not have lived if not for Estella. His endless love for Estella drives everything Pip does and believes during most of Great Expectations. One has to wonder where Pip would be if he never met Estella. We can be sure that Pip would not have fallen for Miss Havisham in the same way that he did for Estella. Without Estella, Pip would have probably married Biddy. He would have lived a boring but content life. Thanks to Estella, Pip does live up to one sort of “great expectations”, even though he does not live up to any others. He becomes a good, well rounded, loving man. Although it is actually Miss Havisham who forces Pip into such torture, all of Pip’s feelings stem directly from his love for Estella. While Pip is the main character in Great Expectations, Estella is the most important and influential to the plot development.