Pip goes to the Satis House and pours his heart out to Miss Havisham and Estella. He is angry and hurt that they have misled him and hurt him. Estella and Miss Havisham have very different reactions to Pip’s heartfelt confession. Why is this?
Pip finds Miss Havisham and Estella in the same banquet room in the Satis. Pip tells Miss Havisham that he is unhappy with the way she led him on to thinking that she was his benefactor and the manner in which she hinted that he and Estella were destined to be together. It was his own fault, says Miss Havisham, just like it was the fault of her relatives to believe this was the case as well.
Pip tells her that Herbert and Matthew Pocket are different from her other relatives. They are the same blood but they are kind and upright. Pip breaks down and confesses his love for Estella. Estella tells him straight that she is incapable of love -- she had warned him of as much before -- and she will soon be married to Drummle.
Even Miss Havisham seems to be finally feeling sympathy toward Pip, holding her heart as if remember how her own was broken.
The difference in the women's reactions is simple. Ms. Havisham is capable of feeling pity because she's known what it is to love. Estella knows nothing of love and has been conditioned to feel nothing.
http://www.gradesaver.com/great-expectations/study-guide/summary-part-iii-chapters-1-10-40-49
