Originally Posted by
kev67
It's odd about Estella that you would think, after the first few chapters in which she is so cruel to Pip, that you would hate her. But instead of thinking, "For God's sake Pip, stop wasting your time on her," you still hope Pip succeeds in landing her and warming her up a bit (well at least I did). She is still somehow a sympathetic character, not like Pip's sister who you don't really care about at all. I suppose you have more sympathy for her because you meet her as a child, and because you know she is being brought up in an unnatural and unhealthy household. It probably does not hurt that she is beautiful and classy, unlike Pip's sister who is just a horrible fishwife.
I read recently that Estella is considered one of Dickens' few convincing female characters. I have only read GE, but Dickens is reputed to be great at children but weak at women. That is odd because she is also often described as enigmatic. How she be convincing and also enigmatic?