Estelle Costanza

"I can't believe you're moving out. (Grabs Kramer) Kramer, is this true? Is it really happening? It's ... it's like a dream."

―Estelle to Kramer

Estelle Costanza
Gender	Female
Family	Husband: Frank Costanza Sons: George Costanza & Unnamed Son Niece: Shelly
First appearance	The Contest
Last appearance	The Finale
Occupation	Retired
Portrayed by	Estelle Harris

Estelle Costanza is the stereotypical overbearing, obnoxious sitcom mother. Estelle spends virtually all her time screeching at Frank and George. She and Frank have a love-hate relationship: they seemingly can't stand each other, and yet stay together out of habit (or because no one else can stand them). They were briefly separated, however.

Character History

George moves back in with his mother and father when he falls on hard times. When he is offered a job as a hand model he thinks that he will soon be out, but after Leslie pushes him into an iron, he loses his gig. ("The Puffy Shirt")

About

George lives with Frank and Estelle until well into his adult life. He is often humiliated by her very existence, and largely blames her for his being a neurotic failure. He is still emotionally tied to her, however. During his parents' separation, he frets constantly over the collapse of his family — not because he loves or even likes them, but because he can't stand the thought of his parents being "out there" in the dating world with him. He also finds the idea of making two visits on holidays to be entirely distasteful.

Estelle maintains cool, distant relations with Jerry's parents, Morty and Helen, because she thinks they are snobs. The Seinfelds in turn avoid the Costanzas, not out of superiority, but because they (like most of the people who know the Costanzas) can't stand them. She has a flirtatious friendship with George's friend Kramer, however, which is the source of much friction between her and Frank.

In fact, Frank and Estelle sleep in separate beds (at least some of the time, although George did have sex in their bed in "The Cigar Store Indian"), not because of marital problems, but because Estelle has "the jimmy-arms," according to Frank ("The Money").

Although Estelle's ethnicity was never mentioned on the show, both Larry David and Jason Alexander considered her to be Jewish. David referred to George as "half-Jewish" in an interview [1], and Alexander stated that he had no fixed ideas about George's ethnicity until the casting of Harris as his mother, and said that "she can't be anything but Jewish." [2] In "The Strike," Frank Costanza refers to the genesis of Festivus as springing from an occasion in which he was buying a Christmas gift for George, showing that Christmas was celebrated in the household, likely by Frank who is Italian. In another episode, Estelle refuses to allow Frank to purchase a Mercedes because she "won't ride in a German car", which is a position taken by some Jewish-Americans uncomfortable with the auto maker's link to Nazi Germany.

Estelle has thwarted George's chances at dates many times (example being in "The Cigar Store Indian"). She believes almost everything that is important to George and her husband is stupid. 

In the finale, Estelle attempts to seduce the judge in order to aquit her son, but he has no interest in her offer and does not help influence his decision when sentencing.