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Adria Barich Ms. Gardner English 2 3 March 2014 Domineering Love Typically, ones childhood is reflected back on as a time of great enjoyment and minimal worries. As we grow further away from these simpler times, we often catch ourselves wishing that we could return to these precious years in order to reclaim the feeling of true happiness. In Charles Dickens novel, Great Expectations, Pips pleasant childhood died along with his parents and was replaced by the hard and heavy hand (Dickens 5) of his sister Mrs. Joe Gargery. While Pip eventually grows accustomed to this brutal lifestyle, he carries it with him throughout his journeys into adulthood, and it acts as a key deciding factor in who he chooses to associate himself with. In this coming of age novel, Pip is driven by controlling and power-hungry women: he constantly needs this source of authority in his life to guide him, and it is the ultimate reason behind him hopelessly devoting himself to Estella Mrs. Joe is the first women to brutally mistreat Pip into submission. She is a strong advocator of corporal punishment and mental scars; she makes it clear that she is the dominant figure in the household, and she refuses to be referred to by a vulnerable name such as Sister. Mrs. Joes Tickler, a wax-ended piece of cane (6) used to beat Pip, mirrors his younger years in the sense that it is given a soft name childhood but is full of beatings and pain. Although it is mostly used negatively, Mrs. Joes abuse is ultimately what pushes Pip out of his own home and into the wealthy home of Miss Havishams: a house barricaded by seclusion that opens Pip to new opportunities. Pip is furthermore inspired by this experience to escape the

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bruises and mental scars he has obtained from his sister. His primary inspiration for this change is Miss Havishams adopted daughter: Estella. He believes Miss Havisham is a witch, (64) and that she is using her powers set up him and Estella. In reality, the powers that draw him to Estella stem from his need to be commanded. Estellas has a domineering and overpowering personality, and she makes Pip feel like a worthless animal by setting his meals down on the stones of the yard (48). This reflects back to a similar attitude of his sisters that he has tried so hard to escape. Estella is well aware that she can drive Pip, just as Mrs. Joe has done ever since he was a child; nevertheless, he strives to become as worthy of her presence as he can, even if it means destroying himself in the process. Pip begins elevating his social status and changing himself in order to win Estellas love, but she proves to be too cold hearted to fall into his trap. Estellas name means star; a symbol typically used as a guiding tool or something to aim for. Pip considers Estella his prize of becoming a gentleman, but he is ignorant to the fact that stars are known for being out of reach. Estella inspires Pip to shatter expectations and reinvent himself as a result of her opening his eyes to the fact that he was low-lived in a bad way (50). He idolizes her; she enlightened him on the world beyond the marshes. Estella pushes him away, she belittles him, and she humiliates him, yet Pip always returns for more. He devotes himself to becoming worthy of her, even though the love is unrequited, and Pip is left desiring another woman who only likes to see him suffer. Pip physically cannot love anyone else who doesnt possess this controlling trait. He is only able to dream that he "could only get [himself] to fall in love with (101) a girl like Biddy, his kind and charming childhood friend. It ultimately would make his life easier, but that is not necessarily what he desires. He craves the forceful commanding qualities that draw him to Estella and that he knew all too well as a child.

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As Pip works intensely to become a worthy gentleman for the sole purpose of Estella, his path begins to diverge from hers. As a result of the separation of Estellas authority, Pip becomes lost, and he eventually loses sight of all his goals. Pip becomes careless and led his easy nature into expenses that he could not afford (213). He begins living in a state of chronic uneasiness, (213) and he loses sight of his expectations because he has no one to impress or please; this only changes after the death of Mrs. Joe. Pips heart is filled with a strong ache for his late sister that softened even the edge of Tickler (218), because his sister was the only thing that he allowed to tie himself to his hometown and childhood. Biddy is now dubious that he will ever return home again. The loss of Pips sister induces a void in his own life that can only be filled by a strong willed woman. He turns his focus primarily to Estella, claiming that she is all he had to think of (224). Her name constantly burns in his mind and he cannot help but return to her time after time. Having been raised by hand (6) by a brutal woman only increases Pips desire to take a similar womans hand in marriage. He devotes himself to Estella so that he may receive the only feminine love he knows: misery. The effect that women have on Pip is an unnatural desire for authority and dominance. The motherly touch that is essential for childhood development was replaced by the harsh smack of the Tickler colliding with [his] tickled frame (6). Pip was raised brutally, he was nurtured brutally, and he yet he still craved brutality in his expedition for Estellas love. He doesnt know how to take the reins of his own life without being whipped and told where to go; Pip cant achieve happiness until he learns that not everyone benefits from his misery.