Great Expectations II

In Great Expectations, Dickens carefully selects names for characters that reveal personality about a character. The names he selects are therefore unique, and have a definite symbolic meaning. Miss Havisham's ward, Estella, is a great example as her name is meant to reveal her personality to the reader. Pip first meets Estella in Chapter 8, where she acts in a cruel manor, as she insults Pip  because of his lower social class. She makes him feel out of reach, as if she is too good for him, despite Pip's affection for her.  He later admits to Ms. Havisham, "'What do you think of her?'... 'I think she is very pretty.' 'Anything else?' 'I think she is very insulting'" (61). In Latin, the word Estella means star.  Similarly, a star, is pretty in the eyes of Pip, but indeed, it too is out of reach. To Pip, a star is merely a pretty object and nothing else, it provides no friendship, nothing more than beauty to Pip. As Pip mentions to Ms. Havisham that Estella is "insulting", and he wouldn't like to stay and play with her, despite how pretty she is. In the text, Dickens hints the reader of Estella's connection to a star, by suggesting that Pip saw her as a star when she was first introduced to Pip, "Feeling it a dreadful liberty so to roar out her name, was almost as bad as playing to order. but, she answered at last, an her light came along the long dark passage like a star," (59). Before maps, and compasses, stars were used to help People travel. Depending on the traveler's position to a certain star, he or she would know if they are walking in the right direction. To get to different places, the traveler would walk to towards different stars. After meeting Estella, Pip suddenly wants to become a gentleman, become educated and he falls in love. Estella, the star, guides Pip in different directions, as Pip follows in hope of Estella's love. His sole reason for his desire to be an educated young man, is to receive Estella's love.