When Mrs Joe is compared to her blacksmith husband, we are able to see a very obvious difference in husband and wife roles at the time. Mr Joe Gargery being a timid man makes the reader realise just how aggressive the woman can be, because in those time men usually had the upper hand, the authority and power over women. Mrs Joe, however, believes that she should have the authority and also believes that she should have better than Mr Joe Gargery – “It’s bad enough being a blacksmith’s wife.” This makes the reader wonder why she decided to marry the blacksmith in the first place. This, however, can be explained by Victorian attitudes at the time of the book. People in those times used to look upon middle aged unmarried women as “hussies” and thought it “improper” to not have a man to take care of you. Attitudes such as these always made unmarried women quite unpopular, especially towards those women who were married and saw single women as a threat to their husbands.
However, there are times when we see a completely different side to Mrs Joe Gargery. When her uncle comes over on Christmas day, she resorts to showing a personality unlike her own. She is polite and snobbish – “Oh, un-cle Pum-ble-chook! This is kind!” This is, of course, a side that she has never shown to neither Pip nor her husband and they are both well aware of this. This, to Pip, might show that people can be two faced and untrustworthy when meeting them for the first time. After all, he has the advantage of seeing both of the possible sides demonstrated first hand by his sister. She is a person that obviously cares what other people think of her and often tries quite hard to impress. A perfect example of this is when she, Pip and Mr Joe go off to town to visit uncle Pumblechook. Instead of wearing simple clothes, Mrs Joe takes a very large beaver bonnet, a spare shawl and an umbrella (even though it was not raining). This shows, again, that Mrs Joe likes to be seen important and fancies herself as a Lady.
We could tell that Pip’s thoughts of his sister are not all that positive. In fact he describes her almost as a horrid creature – “My sister, Mrs Joe Gargery, with black hair and eyes, had such a prevailing redness of skin.” This makes the readers also see her as just that – a snobbish creature. In fact, it is actually quite a relief for the reader and for Pip when she is murdered under the hands of Orlick. This would especially have pleased the audience at the time the book was written, because they had very firm attitudes to crime and punishment. They would have thought that she got what she deserved. However, as the novel progresses, we see a side to Pip very much like his sisters. When Pip receives that mysterious sum of money, we undoubtedly see how Mrs Joe Gargery’s attitudes are then reflected onto Pip’s character. This also gives the reader an indication of how messed up Pip’s child hood was, because he seems to feel that he needs to be a snob to fit in. He became what he hated.
The second woman to have a major influence on Pip is Miss Havisham, who is probably one of the most intriguing characters in the whole of English Literature. She is a woman who was jilted on her wedding day and has, unsurprisingly, become mentally disturbed ever since. She is, in fact, so disturbed that she has made herself to live in misery by never taking off her wedding dress, living in the dining room where the wedding food is still present and contemplating her unhappy social status until she dies. The only reason why Miss Havisham has not been put into a mental institute is because of the fact that she is an incredibly rich woman.
What’s more, Miss Havisham has brought up a little girl who she has completely brain washed - almost trained – to break men’s hearts, just like Miss Havisham’s was once broken. This is a very selfish act of hers – destroying a young girl just so she could get some satisfaction. The fact that Miss Havisham invites Pip to her house to meet her adopted daughter so that she can put Estella to the test is even more selfish – “Well? You can break his heart.” However, over the time that Pip visits and his love for Estella grows ever stronger, Miss Havisham starts growing fond of the boy who treats her with such politeness and respect. So fond that she regrets what she has done to Estella as she realises that Pip is in love with her. However, her regret is only shown near the end of the novel when Pip confronts her of what she has done to him and Estella. We see a new “womanly compassion” from her towards Pip that was not present before – “My dear! Believe this: when she first came to me, I meant to save her from misery like my own…. I stole her heart away and put ice in its place!” This shows a great deal of repentance. The one thing that made Miss Havisham realise what she had done was the recognition that the once caring boy stood up to her. She indeed grieves for what she did – “O! What have I done?”
Miss Havisham’s outmost regret is coincided with her horrible death, where she is burnt alive after Pip leaves the room. This death would have appealed greatly to the Victorian audience because it gives a feeling that Miss Havisham died like a witch being burnt at the stake. While you do feel incredibly sorry for her, you also now that – like Mrs Joe – Miss Havisham deserved no better.
Miss Havisham has a major impact on Pip’s life. She is, after all, the one who managed to deny him the one thing that he longed for and desired with all his heart. She succeeded in ruining his life which he was unsurprisingly ungrateful for, especially as he was always so kind to her. Miss Havisham is the one who tempted Pip and encouraged him to fall in love with Estella and then made sure that he was denied such love.
Estella, although incredibly cold, which she does not mind admitting – “You most know that I have no heart” – manages to completely manipulate Pip under her charm and elegance. She is probably the first female in Pip’s life that actually pays any attention to him, which is probably why Pip falls for her so. However he fails to realise what it is Estella is out to do and instead considers her as being “human perfection”.
Estella considers herself to be of high importance and does not dislike attention. She is also a complete snob for considering just this. She sees Pip as a “common labouring boy” and nothing more. What she has no knowledge of, however, is of her family roots, which are none to be proud of – her father was a convict and her mother was no better. In fact, she could be considered as the daughter of the lowest of the low, which is incredibly ironic when she practically regards Pip as just that.
However, the reader does not help feeling sympathy for Estella. It is, after all, not her fault the way she was brought up. She was given to Miss Havisham at a very young age and through no fault of her own was taught to not use her heart and to not love. Some might call it a form of abuse, because the way that she was taught to socialise is so unnatural and cruel. Even Miss Havisham realises this and regrets every last bit of it. It is very easy to manipulate a vulnerable child and to shape her into what you want her to become. Estella is an example of just how easy this is. She was Miss Havisham’s weapon of revenge against the male community, but she – in turn - just succeeded in ruining another innocent person’s life.
In the end, however, all seems to be resolved – although readers do not get the ending that they expect. Estella – unmarried – shows a hint of the emotion that readers seek throughout the novel. She seems to actually care for Pip – “I have often thought of you” – and has a saddened look to her eye. She is also friendlier, but her elegance and charm are still there. After Miss Havisham died, she seemed to also realise what had been done to her and decided to change it. Her and Pip, however, do not end up together. Instead she wishes them to be friends and they become friends “apart”. This shows a new sensitivity that we never before saw from Estella and the feeling that a person can change is left in the air.
