Before we first meet Estella and Miss Havisham, Pip is only slightly embarrassed of Joe for his illiteracy, but after the contempt and arrogance that Estella shows him, these tendencies increase greatly. For years afterward he maintained a disregard of those belonging to the lower class that Estella had shown to him. Perhaps one of the most important parts of the book, when Estella inflicts him with her arrogance, he keeps it, and it is one of the reasons that he is so driven to be a gentleman. By what Estella has shown him, he assumes that the aristocracy is a better class of person, and he tries his best to join their ranks. She inspires in him a dissatisfaction for his life that irrevocablely harms him, as he could have been very happy in his life with Biddy and Joe, but is instead forever strung upon the fishhook that he willingly bit into for Estella. While he could have married some other girl that he had met, he decided to stay a bachelor always waiting for her. He loves her with a deep, abiding passion and in return she spurns him and breaks his heart. Yet still he loves her. She is truly a despicable creature.
Estella cannot be responsible for Pip's actions, she's just as much a victim as he is. Pip had a whole lifetime of good example and better choices, and turned his back on all of it after one day of bad experiences. His actions are no better than Estella's or Miss Havisham's.
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