Estella Havisham (married name Estella Drummle) is a significant character in the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations. Like the protagonist, Pip, Estella is introduced as an orphan, but where Pip was raised by his sister and her husband to become a blacksmith, Estella was adopted and raised by the wealthy and eccentric Miss Havisham to become a lady. Inspiration Estella is widely believed to have been partially based on Ellen Lawless Ternan, a young actress who was Dickens' mistress from 1857 onwards. "Ess-te-la" is created by rearranging parts of Ternan's name. Character history Estella and Pip's pre-adult life Pip and Estella meet when he is brought to Miss Havisham's ill-kept mansion, Satis House, ostensibly to satisfy Miss Havisham's "weird fetish" to be entertained by watching Pip and Estella play together. It is later revealed that she desires to have his heart broken by Estella. Estella's relationship with Pip Estella states throughout the text that she does not love Pip. However, she shows numerous times in the novel that she holds Pip in a much higher regard compared to other men, and does not want to break his heart as she does with the others that she seduces. Estella as a symbol of Pip's longings in life Pip is fascinated with the lovely Estella, though her heart is as cold as ice. Aside from the evident romantic interest, which continues through much of the story, Pip's meeting with Estella marks a turning point in his young life: her beauty, grace, and prospects represent the opposite of Pip's humble existence. Estella criticises Pip's honest but "coarse" ways, and from that point on, Pip grows dissatisfied with his position in life and, eventually, with his former values and friends as well. Pip spends years as companion to Miss Havisham and, by extension, Estella. He harbours intense love for Estella, though he has been warned that Estella has been brought up by Miss Havisham to inspire unrequited love in the men around her, in order to avenge the latter's disappointment at being jilted on her wedding day. Estella warns Pip that she cannot love him, or anyone. Miss Havisham herself eventually decries this coldness, for Estella is not even able to love her benefactress. Estella and Pip as adults After Pip receives an unexpected boon of a gentleman's upbringing and the "great expectation" of a future fortune from an unknown benefactor, he finds himself