In Chapter 49, Miss Havisham confesses to Pip that in adopting Estella she "meant to save her (Estella) from misery like my own". Do you believe this, given Dickens' harsh characterization of Miss Havisham throughout the novel?

I don't believe Miss. H wanted to "protect" Estella. She wanted to manipulate both Estella and Pip to ultimately ruin their lives. Miss. H wanted to others to feel the sorrow and pain that she feels from being jilted at the alter and having to remain alone. She felt that inflicting sorrow on Estella and Pip would somehow placate her own emotional pain.