She was not a good role model for Pip as she was, as we find out in Chapter Two, not at all impressed with her life as she says, ‘It’s bad enough to be a blacksmith’s wife (and him being a Gargery), without being your mother’ and, as Mrs Joe Gargery says in Chapter Four, ‘Perhaps if I warn’t a blacksmith’s wife, and (what’s the same) a slave with her apron never off, I should have been to hear the carols’. From these two quotes we learn that Mrs Joe feels bad about her life and therefore has become bitter about it hence her actions towards Joe Gargery and Pip. Another feature in Mrs Joe Gargery’s character that may have affected Pip is Mrs Joe’s snobbish behaviour. She showed this behaviour when her uncle was to visit especially when her uncle, who has had a ‘successful’ life.
She plays a great part in the rearing of Pip as she was a very close relation of Pip although she raised him by ‘hand’. Unlike all the other female characters of ‘Great Expectations’, Mrs Gargery is the first female Pip grows up with and therefore Pip will take all he’s perceptions of all the female characters he meets from the characteristics of his sister.
She influences Pip to see women as very violent people, but at the same time may influence Pip to become a stronger person as these situations could return during life. ‘To attack or to be attacked?’ may have been the major question on the mind of Mrs Joe. But is it not better to be in control than to be controlled?
How does Ms Havisham influence |Pip?
Ms Havisham, like Mrs Joe Gargery, is a snob and shows this by the way she refers to the characters in the play such as Pip. for instance, she refers to Pip as “Boy” instead of Pip. By this we can see that Ms Havisham sees herself as a ‘higher individual’ in class than Pip (which she is) and has no respect for those in a ‘lower class’ than her.
Ms Havisham is a woman who lives with hatred (of men) in her life due to earlier circumstances that have affected her lifestyle. She becomes ‘mentally disturbed’ owing to this circumstance and therefore dedicates her life to destroying the lives of other men through her (adopted) daughter, Estella, who she trains to break the hearts of men. She uses Pip, without his knowledge, as an example for Estella to train on. Ms Havisham affects the attitude Pip has towards women as she uses him as a pawn to ensure the success of her plot. Ms Havisham due to her attitude towards men and her main characteristics therefore influenced Pip into becoming a snob like her. This affects the way Pip grows up as when he becomes a business class citizen, he becomes embarrassed by the fact that he is related to Joe Gargery and then begins his slobbery. For example, he begins referring to Mr Joe Gargery as “Joe” and in this showing no respect for him. He also tries to deny all ties he has with Joe as he tries to act as though Joe Gargery is but a friend.
Pip grew to learn from women despite his harsh up-bringing from Mrs Joe Gargery. For example in this instance he learnt to live in a rich society and therefore became, like Mrs Joe and Ms Havisham, a snob.
How does Estella influence Pip?
Estella is one of the major reasons for the ways in which Pip views women as she becomes the first woman he falls in love with and therefore greatly influences the life of Pip. Although Pip has these feelings for Estella, not considering his feelings, Estella continues to treat Pip as though he is a peasant. This may have greatly affected the way Pip treats women as the girl he loves broke his heart and therefore, if he does not take this ‘rejection’ properly he could turn out to be like Ms Havisham. Considering that Pip was young when he had these feelings for Estella would have made him very troubled when it came to LOVE and his thoughts of women because of the way he was treated whilst he was young by:
- His first love (Estella) that did not feel the same and continued to treat him as though he was ‘rubbish’.
- His sister who was the first woman he knew and the only woman Pip grew up with until he met Ms Havisham and Estella. And who raised him by hand. This has both a positive and negative effect on Pip:
POSITIVE
This could have made him a stronger individual.
NEGATIVE
This may have effected Pip’s judgement of women.
-
Ms Havisham who taught him to be a snob. This has both a positive and negative effect on Pip by:
POSITIVE
The ‘snob-look’ was good for Pip when he became rich. This is because most rich people were snobs.
NEGATIVE
Pip became ‘unaware’ of who his friends were as he became embarrassed to be seen talking to Mr Joe Gargery as he was regarded a peasant.
Finally, in the book ‘Great Expectations’, all the female characters have their own influences on Pip, some directly and some indirectly. Some of these influences may have been for the better of Pip and some for the worse. For example the situation Pip was in with Estella could have taught him not to trust all the women he had feelings for. This could have been a disadvantage to Pip in the fact that he may have never trusted another woman, but as an advantage could have taught him that not all women are trustworthy.
