I first fell in love as a little boy with Estella of Great
Expectations. Since I was then a proto-nerd, I was used to being rebuffed by
the little girls in my class. Estella's remoteness was attractive. I learned to
dislike Miss Havisham but I have been lightly obsessed with her image in my
head.
One of my Miss Havishams hangs on my living room wall. Not too long ago
the afternoon sun shone on it and I could not resist snapping a photograph.
Perhaps now
that I am 76 and no longer having to worry about my advanced nerdness I can
plan to photograph some willing but outwardly woman to pose for me as the older
Estella who might have dumped Drummle and married Pip.
Wilkie
Collins, a close friend and author of The
Woman in White, objected to the not-happy ending Dickens first wrote for
Great Expectations; Estella has remarried and Pip remains single. Dickens then
wrote a more conventional ending, which suggests that Pip and Estella will
marry.
That could
be fun.