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Pip has very lofty romantic ideas about Estella, but he tempers them with doses of reality. Does he really think he'll be able to gain the affections of Estella? Do you?
Orlick as porter...seems logical...he's as close to being a criminal as you can get, so he should be able to handle himself if there is an intruder...
It's odd that Estella can't remember her cruel treatment of Pip. She has no heart, according to her own words...no sentimentality. What proves this idea wrong?
Why won't Jaggers look at Estella during dinner -- even when he talks to her -- yet he sneaks looks at her while they are playing cards? What do you make of that?
5 comments:
As much as Pip admires Estella, he is very realistic about the fact that she does not look at him the same way. I think he is very doubtful that she will ever hold him in high reguard, much less love him, yet he still bends over backwards to try and with her heart: something she claims that she doesn't have. The fact that she even says this statement proves it wrong; she has obviously contemplated the matter and recognizes that she acts coldly towards other people. Someone who has no heart would not be able to find such personal flaws within themself. I also think the reason she tells Pip this ahead of time is to keep him from getting hurt, somthing only a person with a heart would do.
Honestly, the odd behavior of Jaggers kind of stumped me. Maybe he was afraid of being put into a vulnerable position by the beauty because he is so used to possessing power over everyone else? I'm not sure, I'd be curious to hear everyone else's opinions.
I think that deep down Pip wishes he could gain Estella’s affections, but instead he tries to act like there is a chance he could someday. This makes Pip seem like worse of a character because the reason he was trying to become a higher status and a gentleman was all to gain Estella’s love. So he is giving up himself and trying to forget his past by striving for the one thing he knows he can’t have. What Myranda said about Estella is exactly right, it made me like Estella more by her trying to warn Pip, even though she was brought up to break men’s hearts. The whole Jaggers thing was weird at first but I think the part at the end of the chapter explained it. Pip said Jaggers and his hearts were in the same place, which I think was Pip trying to say Jaggers also wanted Estella to love him. That is why he only looked at her when she wasn’t looking, so he wouldn’t appear vulnerable instead of the powerful man he should have been.
I really don't think Pip will ever be able to gain the affections of Estella. Pip tries to find every excuse there is to pursue his love for Estella. Like how he kept telling himself that Miss Havisham was obviously trying to bring Estella and him together. In regards to Bethany's post, I also believe that he wants everything that he can't have, and he's going the wrong way to achieve what he wants. As for Estella, she won't ever love Pip. Miss Havisham only wants to break Pip's heart, and so will Estella.
Pip's affections for Estella, I feel, are shallow. She has a pretty face and nothing else. However, I have to disagree with Lauren, I don't believe that anyone can ignore love forever, as estella claims. She was raised that way, to be jealous and arrogant, but the arrogance Miss Havisham is using to her advantage will also be her downfall. Any girl with that nature would turn on the woman who forced her into a loveless, cold life. So perhaps Pip is right to constantly chase Estella.
Deep down Pip knows that he could never have Estella, but because the whole of his aspirations have been built with her in mind, he continues to believe that he can win her over, if only to give him further purpose. And I agree with the above posters that Estella does, in fact, have feelings and sympathy, demonstrated by her warning to Pip and the acknowledgment of her past behavior. She doesn't want to hurt him more than she already has. I believe that Jaggers can't look Estella in the eye because of the way she is composed-- her lack of a heart. Instead of being intimidated by him, as all others are, Estella is, instead, curious of him and takes to watching him. This lack of vulnerability makes Jaggers uncomfortable-- only when she isn't watching him directly will he glance up. And I must say, Miss Havisham is diabolical. One might think that she is trying to set up Pip with Estella out of the goodness of her heart-- that she wants Estella to have what she did not. However, she is most likely just setting Pip up for denial and heartbreak-- turning the tables on her past's situation.
And while on the subject of Miss Havisham, I laughed when Pip said how she had practically adopted him. I find it way too obvious for her to be the benefactor of Pip's fortune. Dickens is much too sly for that. Besides, Pip even mentioned that Miss Havisham was afraid of Jaggers. I don't think she would be one to stand up to him with her convictions (since he had mentioned that the giving of the fortune to Pip was against his judgement). I'm wondering whether Pip's parents have something to do with anything; they were only briefly mentioned in the beginning, and since Dickens tends to give seemingly unimportant characters important roles later on in his stories... bah, it's killing me!
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