Power Dynamics

Throughout Great Expectations, Dickens illustrates a negative correlation between power inequality and friendship: the more power a character possessed, the more he or she was to be isolated. Ms. Havisham, one of the richest and thus most powerful characters in the novel, is also one of the most lonely: unmarried and initially visited only by sycophants, she has few human connections save Estella and Pip. However, in the case of Pip and Estella, Ms. Havisham's use of power destroys her relationships with each. As Estella's guardian, Ms. Havisham uses her power to turn the girl into a cold, cruel woman; as a result, Estella is later unable to reciprocate Ms. Havisham's love for her. In the case of Pip, Ms. Havisham initially uses her superior social status to intimidate Pip into visiting her; later, she uses her power over Estella to break Pip's heart for revenge. When she realizes, however, how she has hurt Pip, Ms. Havisham is filled with guilt. It is only when this guilt breaks her and causes her to talk to Pip as an equal that Ms. Havisham gains connection with another human; in relinquishing power, Ms. Havisham gains instead a friend.  

However, instead of merely being treatise on wielding power wisely, Great Expectations seems to suggest that power in and of itself can be isolating. When Pip gains money and status, he is suddenly no longer "Pip" to Joe and others he has known his entire life; instead, he is "Sir," a much more formal and distant title. Nor is Pip's isolation merely shown by how he is identified; Joe, Pip's lifelong friend, tells him that the two must only be friends in private because it would be unseemly for gentrified Pip to be seen with a mere blacksmith. By gaining power, Pip nearly loses his lifelong friend. As an interesting note, Pip's closest friend during his gentleman period is financially poor Herbert. The two are friends because they are equals; Herbert helps Pip navigate London and, in return, Pip financially aids Herbert. Despite Herbert, however, Pip's loss of Joe still haunts him throughout the novel. As with Mrs. Havisham, however, it is only when Pip is ill and impoverished - when he is weak, and not powerful - that Joe again becomes a part of Pip's life. While power can be satisfying to wield, in the end it is equality that engenders friendship.