Question Constellation Sign up for free OCR · GCSE · English Literature · Higher
Estella is cruel and causes pain and suffering
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
‘Estella is cruel and causes pain and suffering.’ How far do you agree with this view? Explore at least two moments from the novel to support your ideas.
Write your answer first. You can study the marking guidance whenever you need it.
Study the marking See what earns credit and compare it with a full-mark answer.
Marking points
- 1 Sustain a focused argument about the extent to which Estella is cruel and causes pain and suffering.
- 2 Explore at least two moments from the novel.
- 3 Use textual evidence and analyse Dickens’ methods.
- 4 Use relevant contextual understanding to inform the argument.
- 5 May qualify the view by considering Estella as shaped by Miss Havisham and as a sufferer herself.
Full-mark answer
A strong answer would evaluate the statement rather than simply agree. It could discuss Estella’s cruelty to Pip, her language and behaviour, and the pain she causes him and Miss Havisham, while also arguing that she has been shaped by Miss Havisham and suffers herself through emotional deprivation and marriage to Drummle. It would analyse Dickens’ presentation of harshness and later change, and connect the argument to class, upbringing and moral development.
Why this answer loses marks
Describes Estella as cruel without qualifying how she has been shaped by Miss Havisham or suffers herself.
The examiner report notes that many successful responses qualified Estella’s cruelty by considering Miss Havisham’s moulding of her and Estella’s later suffering.