Estella

Estella is the young girl who is taken into Miss Havisham's care, who trains her up to break men's hearts after her husband-to-be left her at the altar. 


In this clip of the 1946 film we see Jean Simmons playing Estella. From what I can tell Miss Havisham's teaching to Estella are very successful in this adaptation as Estella acts very harsh and cold towards Pip. This perhaps isn't the best approach for Estella to take as she needs to show some warmth towards Pip in able to draw him in and make him fall in love with her.

Throughout most of the adaptations of Great Expectations, Estella is usually portrayed in a similar way. Young, beautiful, perfect hair, rosy complexion. It is vital to ensure that Estella is good looking, otherwise the whole story will fall apart as Miss Havisham's plan for her is to incise in men and make them fall in love with her, and then to go on to break their hearts.