Why is Estella so cold to Pip?

Miss Havisham, who was hurt badly in love, brought her up to be proud and cold so she would break men’s hearts. Estella herself says she has no softness or tenderness in her.

Does Estella love Pip?

For most of the book she says she cannot love anyone. By the end, after a hard marriage, she is gentler and tells Pip she now understands what she meant to him.

Who are Estella’s real parents?

Pip learns that her mother is Molly, Mr. Jaggers’s housekeeper, and her father is the convict Abel Magwitch. Jaggers brought her to Miss Havisham as a small child.

From Great Expectations

Estella

A proud young lady • Guarded and graceful

A beautiful, proud girl raised at Satis House, who was taught to hide her feelings from the whole world.

Who is Estella?

Estella is the proud, beautiful girl brought up by Miss Havisham at Satis House. She has been taught to be cold to everyone, especially boys, and she makes young Pip cry with her scorn. Yet in her own way she is honest with Pip, and she warns him more than once not to love her.

Estella is a character in Great Expectations, the 1861 novel by Charles Dickens, retold for ages 6–9 by Sean Lee.

What is Estella like?

proud
cool
honest

Estella’s story

Estella was adopted by Miss Havisham as a little girl and raised to break men’s hearts as a kind of revenge. When Pip first comes to play, she calls him a “common labouring-boy,” wins all his cards and sets his lunch on the stones as if he were a dog. Not long afterward she is sent abroad to France to be educated as a lady.

She comes back grown up and lovelier than ever, and Pip escorts her to Richmond, where she goes out into fine society. She tells him plainly that she has no heart and no tenderness to give. She even quarrels with Miss Havisham, telling her, “I am what you have made me.” In the end she chooses to marry Bentley Drummle, a sulky, proud young man Pip cannot bear.

Pip later discovers a secret Estella never learns in the book: her real mother is Mr. Jaggers’s housekeeper, Molly, and her father is Abel Magwitch. Her marriage is unhappy, and Drummle treats her cruelly before he dies in an accident. Eleven years later she meets Pip in the ruined garden of Satis House and tells him that suffering has taught her to understand what his heart used to be.

“And what coarse hands he has! And what thick boots!”

Estella, laughing at young Pip during their first card game. From the original 1861 novel by Charles Dickens.

A moment to remember

Playing cards with Pip for the first time, Estella laughs at his coarse hands and thick boots, and Pip begins to feel ashamed of who he is.

Miss Havisham: adoptive mother
Pip: childhood playmate who loves her
Mr. Jaggers: lawyer who brought her to Satis House

Talk about it

Estella was taught by Miss Havisham to hide her feelings. How do you think the way we are raised can shape the way we treat other people?

Questions about Estella

Why is Estella so cold to Pip?: Miss Havisham, who was hurt badly in love, brought her up to be proud and cold so she would break men’s hearts. Estella herself says she has no softness or tenderness in her.
Does Estella love Pip?: For most of the book she says she cannot love anyone. By the end, after a hard marriage, she is gentler and tells Pip she now understands what she meant to him.
Who are Estella’s real parents?: Pip learns that her mother is Molly, Mr. Jaggers’s housekeeper, and her father is the convict Abel Magwitch. Jaggers brought her to Miss Havisham as a small child.