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Katelin Lucine Ms. Gardner English 10 Per. 0 7 March 2014 Three Women Change One Life Throughout the novel Great Expectations, Charles Dickens indicates that love is not only connected with women, but with the power that each woman conveys. Three women play a considerable role in Pip’s development into a gentleman: Mrs. Joe, Miss. Havisham, and Estella. Each woman creates this indefinite relationship with Pip. Mrs. Joe was like Pip’s mother, but she did not respect him the proper way a mother should. Miss. Havisham has a unique type of love for Pip. She has the idea of a proper gentlemen that she wished Compeyson would have been for her. When Estella met Pip, she knew he would eventually fall in love with her because of her beauty; however, Miss. Havisham raised her to be discourteous toward men, so it ended up being a one-sided relationship. Not only do the women in this novel have power and authority but they also have their own way of interacting with Pip that, in the end, will either help him or destroy him forever. Mrs. Joe acted as a mother to Pip all throughout his life since his biological parents died when he was young. Even though Mrs. Joe was not his mother, he was lucky to have someone look after him and care for him. A good mother in society today cares for their children; the children are +treated with respect and are given love and attention. Mrs. Joe, on the other hand, is a polar opposite. She “brought [Pip] up by hand,” and by raising Pip this way, he became used to the abuse (7). He eventually expected it to occur. During the exposition of Dickens’s novel, Pip’s dull and shameful past foreshadows the lonely conclusion to this gothic story. Mrs. Joe
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pushed Pip around his whole as if he was worth nothing. He proved her wrong by leaving Kent, moving to London, and living a well-educated life. When Mrs. Joe was beaten by Orlick, she lost all authority over Pip. She had no way of abusing him anymore because she was crippled, not only physically but mentally also. Pip became crippled in a way that he could not stand to see his sister in pain. Even though she physically and mentally abused him, he could not see someone he loved hurt. In the end, Pip was devastated by the loss of his sister but he was also relieved that he was finally free from her abusive wrath. Miss Havisham had a mutual relationship with Pip that helped him throughout the advancement of his life. Because Miss Havisham is a lonely old woman, and her life stopped in an instant, she wants Pip to live a life with freedom and adventure as she wished she had lived. When Compeyson left her alone at the altar, her whole life flew right by her. She was stunned to a point that she had to help somebody live the life she wanted. Pip had the chance to live a life with a great education, experience and a job. He had the chance to go farther than Miss. Havisham and she gave him the opportunity of a lifetime. She grew up wealthy but she gave Pip the chance to become something more than a blacksmith’s son in life. If it were not for Miss. Havisham, Pip would still be living in Kent, miserable. Miss Havisham taught Pip many things over the years he met with her which made it hard for him to leave her alone, but it helped him realize how much he could achieve and what he can and will achieve in his future. Throughout the novel, Estella portrayed a role as a young woman who treated men with disrespect, which is the way Miss. Havisham raised her. Since she had been raised this way, her feelings and emotions were limited: she couldn’t truly love anyone. As Pip calls for Estella while at Miss. Havisham’s house, “her light came along the dark passage like a star,” but at that moment, in Pip’s eyes, Estella was the star, not the candle she was holding (58). Her magnificent
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beauty overcame her hurtful personality. Almost every trip that Pip traveled back to Kent, he went to visit Estella, or Estella wished to see him. By the conclusion of the novel, Estella never admitted that she loved Pip, but Pip knew she had her own heart and her own feelings, not what Miss. Havisham told her she had or could have. Estella says, “I have no softness [in my heart], no –sympathy –sentiment –nonsense,” with no emotion in her face (238). Estella learned to hide her feelings from others; however, with Miss. Havisham gone she has the freedom to let them out. She learned to be her own person, not the person Miss. Havisham told her to be. Throughout this gothic novel, love was portrayed as good and evil. Mrs. Joe had anger issues that she took out on Pip and Joe by abusing them, but deep down, she loves them both dearly. They were her whole life. Miss. Havisham enjoyed Pip’s company because she had someone other than Estella to converse with, and when Pip finally left for London, she was alone again. Miss. Havisham led a boring life but Pip made it worthwhile. Pip wishes Estella would see him differently: as more than a friend. In the end, Pip learned may things about himself that he never would have gotten the chance to learn if it were not for the women in his life. Mrs. Joe, Miss. Havisham, and Estella all had significant lessons that Pip cherished forever. Each women changed not only his life, but his identity.
