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Molly, character art from the Great Expectations graphic novel

Great Expectations

Molly

Jaggers's housekeeper

Mr. Jaggers's silent housekeeper with powerful, scarred wrists and a secret link to Estella.

Molly keeps Mr. Jaggers's house. She is quiet, watchful and almost never speaks. At a dinner party, Jaggers makes her show her wrists to his guests as proof of strength, and she obeys in silence.

She hides a past. Her hands and eyes, as Pip eventually notices, resemble Estella's. She is the one character who knows what happened to a child lost long ago, and the adaptation lets that knowledge show only in her face and her hands. Jaggers treats her as a creature he has tamed, but she stays dignified and watchful in his house.

In the story

Contains spoilers.

Molly stands in the background of Jaggers's household. Pip finds her curious. Later, while thinking about Magwitch's history, Pip watches her hands and realizes that her face and her knitting hands match Estella's.

He puts it together: Molly and Magwitch are Estella's parents, and Jaggers brought the child to Miss Havisham. Molly never speaks the truth herself in this adaptation, but Pip tells Magwitch before he dies.

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Character art

Molly design sheet

The reference sheet used to keep Molly looking the same on every page of the book.

Molly character design sheet: full figure, outfit and expressions

Relationships

Questions about Molly

Who is Molly in Great Expectations?
She is Mr. Jaggers's housekeeper and Estella's mother.
Why does Jaggers show Molly's wrists?
He wants to show his guests her strength, calling her a tamed wild beast.
How does Pip find out Molly is Estella's mother?
He sees that her eyes and hands resemble Estella's and puts the story together.
Who is Molly's husband?
In this story Magwitch is the father of her child.