Unequal relationship between Pip and Estella in Great Expectations

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  • Created by: bv9397
  • Created on: 24-02-18 16:33

Quote

Idea

  • "You are to wait here, you boy"
  • "as if i were a dog in disgrace"
  • "humiliated, hurt, spurned, offended, angry, sorry"
  • "disappeared"
  • Estella is dominant and uses an imperative to assert her influence
  • Pip is very aware of the social class gap between them, dogs are often associated with the streets and poverty
  • Long list of negative emotions connotes that Estella makes Pip miserable and confused
  • Pip constantly chases Estella but she is always out of reach

Elsewhere in novel

Context

  • Estella taunts Pip by marrying Drummle and telling him that she will never love him - "there is no softness there, no sentiment"
  • Pip is worried that Estella will see him in the forge when he is an apprentice covered in dirt, a metaphor for his social class
  • Pip returns to Miss Havisham as a gentleman to find Estella "abroad", Miss Havisham asked "do you feel you've lost her?". Even when Pip feels he is worthy of her, she is out of reach again.
  • Victorian society has strict social conventions and the idea that everybody had their place. Lower social classes were seen to be "dirty" and "scum".
  • Dickens was critical of the social hierarchy so presents Estella as cruel and distant to encourage the reader to feel sorry for Pip

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