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Bleak House
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Bleak House (1853) (edit title/settings)

by Charles Dickens (Author) (edit contributors)

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Bleak House, Dickens's most daring experiment in the narration of a complex plot, challenges the reader to make connections — between the fashionable and the outcast, the beautiful and the ugly, the powerful and their victims. Nowhere in Dickens's later novels is his attack on an uncaring... read more

Summary edit see section history

Esther Summerson describes her childhood and says she is leaving for the home of a new guardian, Mr. Jarndyce, along with Ada Clare and Richard Carstone. On the way to the home, called Bleak House, they stop overnight at the Jellybys’ chaotic home. When they finally reach Bleak House, they... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Esther Summerson describes her childhood and says she is leaving for the home of a new guardian, Mr. Jarndyce, along with Ada Clare and Richard Carstone. On the way to the home, called Bleak House, they stop overnight at the Jellybys’ chaotic home. When they finally reach Bleak House, they meet Mr. Jarndyce and settle in. They meet Mr. Skimpole, a man who acts like a child.

The narrator describes a ghost that lurks around Chesney Wold, the home of Lady and Sir Leicester Dedlock.
Esther meets the overbearing charity worker Mrs. Pardiggle, who introduces her to a poor brickmaker’s wife named Jenny, whose baby is ill. Esther says she is sure that Ada and Richard are falling in love. She meets Mr. Boythorn, as well as Mr. Guppy, who proposes marriage. Esther refuses him.

At Chesney Wold, Tulkinghorn shows the Dedlocks some Jarndyce documents, and Lady Dedlock recognizes the handwriting. Tulkinghorn says he’ll find out who did it. He asks Mr. Snagsby, the law-stationer, who says a man named Nemo wrote the documents. Tulkinghorn visits Nemo, who lives above a shop run by a man named Krook, and finds him dead. At the coroner’s investigation, a street urchin named Jo is questioned and says that Nemo was nice to him. Later, Tulkinghorn tells Lady Dedlock what he’s learned.
Richard struggles to find a suitable career, eventually deciding to pursue medicine. But he is more interested in the Jarndyce and Jarndyce lawsuit, which he believes will make him rich. Neither Esther nor the narrator ever fully explains the lawsuit, because nobody remembers what originally prompted the parties to begin the suit.

In London, Esther meets a young girl named Charlotte who is caring for her two young siblings. A lodger who lives in the same building, Mr. Gridley, helps care for the children as well.
A mysterious lady approaches Jo and asks him to show her where Nemo is buried.
Mr. Jarndyce tells Esther some details about her background. He reveals that the woman who raised Esther was her aunt. The next day, a doctor named Mr. Woodcourt visits before leaving on a trip to China and India. An unidentified person leaves a bouquet of flowers for Esther.

Richard begins working in the law. Esther, Ada, and others visit Mr. Boythorn, who lives near Chesney Wold. There, Esther meets Lady Dedlock for the first time and feels a strange connection to her. Lady Dedlock has a French maid, Mademoiselle Hortense, who is jealous that Lady Dedlock has a new young protégée named Rosa.
A man named Mr. Jobling, a friend of Mr. Guppy’s, moves into Nemo’s old room above Krook’s shop.

Two men, George and Grandfather Smallweed, talk about some money that George owes Smallweed. They reach an agreement, and George leaves.
Tulkinghorn introduces Bucket and Snagsby, and Snagsby introduces Bucket to Jo. Bucket figures out that the woman Jo led to the burial ground was disguised in Mademoiselle Hortense’s clothes. Mademoiselle Hortense soon quits her post at Chesney Wold.

Caddy Jellyby tells Esther she is engaged to Prince Turveydrop. Charley Neckett becomes Esther’s maid. Mr. Jarndyce warns Ada and Richard to end their romantic relationship since Richard is joining the army. Gridley dies.

Smallweed visits George and says that Captain Hawdon, a man he thought was dead, is actually alive, and that a lawyer was asking about some handwriting of his. He asks George if he has any handwriting to offer. George visits Tulkinghorn, who explains that George will be rewarded if he gives up some of Hawdon’s handwriting. George refuses.
Guppy visits Lady Dedlock in London and tells her he thinks there is a connection between her and Esther. He says that Esther’s former guardian was someone named Miss Barbary and that Esther’s real name was Esther Hawdon. He says that Nemo was actually named Hawdon, and that he left some letters, which Guppy will get. When Guppy leaves, Lady Dedlock cries: Esther is her daughter, who her sister claimed had died at birth.

Charley and Esther visit Jenny and find Jo lying on the floor. He is sick, and Esther takes him back to Bleak House, putting him up in the stable. In the morning, he has disappeared. Charley gets very ill. Then Esther gets extremely ill.

Guppy and his friend Jobling want to get Hawdon’s letters from Krook. But when they go down to Krook’s shop, they find that he has spontaneously combusted. Later, Grandfather Smallweed arrives to take care of Krook’s property. Guppy eventually tells Lady Dedlock the letters were destroyed.

Smallweed demands payment from George and the Bagnets, on whose behalf he borrowed the money. Desperate, he tells Tulkinghorn he’ll turn over the Hawdon’s handwriting if he’ll leave the Bagnets alone.

Esther recovers slowly. Miss Flite visits her, telling her that a mysterious woman visited Jenny’s cottage, asking about Esther and taking away a handkerchief Esther had left. She also tells Esther that Mr. Woodcourt has returned. Esther goes to Mr. Boythorn’s house to recover fully. She looks in a mirror for the first time and sees that her face is terribly scarred from the smallpox. While there, Lady Dedlock confronts her and tells her she’s Esther’s mother. She orders Esther to never speak to her again, since this must remain a secret.

Richard pursues the Jarndyce lawsuit more earnestly, aided by a lawyer named Vholes. He no longer speaks to Mr. Jarndyce, who doesn’t want anything to do with the suit.
Esther visits Guppy and instructs him to stop investigating her.

Tulkinghorn visits Chesney Wold and hints that he knows Lady Dedlock’s secret. She confronts him and says she will leave Chesney Wold immediately because she knows her secret will destroy Rosa’s marriage prospects. Tulkinghorn convinces her to stay, since fleeing will make her secret known too fast. When Tulkinghorn is back home, he is visited by Mademoiselle Hortense, who demands he help her find a job. He threatens to arrest her if she keeps harassing him.

Esther tells Mr. Jarndyce about Lady Dedlock. He reveals that Boythorn was once in love with Miss Barbary, who left him when she decided to raise Esther in secret. Mr. Jarndyce gives Esther a letter that asks her to marry him. Esther accepts.

Esther tries to convince Richard to abandon the Jarndyce suit. While she is visiting him, he tells her he has left the army and devoted himself entirely to the lawsuit. Esther sees Mr. Woodcourt on the street. She asks Mr. Woodcourt to befriend Richard in London, and he agrees.

In London, Woodcourt runs into Jo on the street and gives him some food. He discovers that Jo once stayed with Esther. Jo tells him that a man forced him to leave and that he’s now scared of running into him. Woodcourt helps Jo find a hiding place at George’s Shooting Gallery. Jo soon dies.

Lady Dedlock dismisses Rosa with no explanation in order to protect her. Tulkinghorn is enraged and says he’ll reveal the secret. That night, Tulkinghorn is shot through the heart. The next day, Bucket arrests George for the murder.

Ada reveals to Esther that she and Richard have been secretly married.

Bucket investigates Tulkinghorn’s murder. He receives a few letters that say only “Lady Dedlock.” He confronts Sir Leicester and tells him what he knows about Lady Dedlock’s past. Instead of arresting Lady Dedlock, however, he arrests Mademoiselle Hortense, who killed Tulkinghorn and tried to frame Lady Dedlock.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Rouncewell, the housekeeper at Chesney Wold, finds out that George is her long-lost son. She begs Lady Dedlock to do anything she can to help him. Guppy arrives and tells Lady Dedlock that the letters were actually not destroyed. Lady Dedlock writes a note to Sir Leicester, saying she didn’t murder Tulkinghorn, and then she flees.

Sir Leicester collapses from a stroke. Mrs. Rouncewell gives him Lady Dedlock’s letter, and he orders Bucket to find her, saying he forgives her for everything. Bucket asks Esther to join him, and they set out in search of Lady Dedlock in the middle of the night. While Sir Leicester waits at home, unable to speak clearly, Esther and Bucket search. Eventually Bucket figures out where to find her. They finally find Lady Dedlock at the gate of the burial ground where Hawdon is buried. She is dead.
Richard is sick and still obsessed with Jarndyce and Jarndyce. Ada is pregnant and hopes the baby will distract Richard from his obsession with the lawsuit. After visiting Richard one night, Woodcourt walks Esther home and confesses he still loves her as he once did. She tells him she is engaged to Mr. Jarndyce.
Smallweed finds a Jarndyce will among Krook’s property and gives it to Vholes.
George moves to Chesney Wold, where he helps tend to Sir Leicester.

Esther begins to plan the wedding. Mr. Jarndyce goes to Yorkshire on business and then sends for her. When she arrives, she finds out that Mr. Jarndyce has bought a house for Woodcourt out of gratitude. He shows her the house, which is decorated in Esther’s style, and tells her that he’s named the house Bleak House. Then he reveals that he knows she loves Woodcourt and that they should be married. He says he will always be her guardian. Woodcourt appears, and he and Esther reunite.
The Jarndyce and Jarndyce case is finally dismissed. No one gets any money since the inheritance had been used up to pay the legal fees. Richard dies.
Esther says she and Woodcourt have two daughters and that Ada had a son. She is very happy.

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Esther Summerson: The narrator and protagonist. A young woman of unknown, and questionable, origins. She shows intelligence and compassion, but also reveals some deep-seated self-image issues.
  • Richard Carstone: Ward of Jarndyce. A charming boy but also very inconstant.
  • Ada Clare: A ward of Jarndyce. A beautiful and kind girl who is very close with Esther.
  • Mr. John Jarndyce: Benevolent guardian of Richard, Ada and Esther and master of Bleak House.
  • Harold Skimpole: Self-styled "childlike" friend of Jarndyce. His "child-like-ness" gets both Esther and Ada into some trouble.
  • Lawrence Boythorn: Mr. Jarndyce’s friend who is given to hyperbole. Mr. Boythorn feuds with Sir Leicester about trespassing.
  • Mr. Kenge: Also known as Conversation Kenge. A lawyer who represents Mr. Jarndyce.
  • Sir Leicester Dedlock: Master of Chesney Wold. He is an older man who has wed a younger, extremely beautiful woman.
  • Lady Dedlock: Wife of Sir Leicester, and a very beautiful woman. She has a secret.
  • Mr. Tulkinghorn: The Dedlock family solicitor.
  • Mr. Snagsby: A law-stationer.
  • Mrs. Snagsby: Mr. Snagsby’s suspicious wife, given to drawing inaccurate conclusions from her eavesdropping and spying.
  • Guster: A woman hired from a workhouse to help with the Snagsby house and shop. Has uncontrollable fits several times a day. Possibly originally called Augusta.
  • Miss Flite: A flighty, elderly woman who lives above Krook’s shop.
  • Mr. William Guppy: Esther's suitor, and a clerk in the Jarndyce and Jarndyce court case.
  • Mr. Bucket: One of the first detectives ever to appear in literature. He is a protagonist of sorts, but does seem to impede the workings of more emotionally motivated characters.
  • Mrs. Jellyby: A woman who has given all her efforts to her project in Africa to the great detriment of her family.
  • Peepy Jellyby: Young son of the Jellyby's. Very attached to Esther.
  • Caddy Jellyby: Mrs. Jellyby’s put-upon daughter and a friend of Esther’s.
  • Krook: Owner of the rag-and-bottle shop. Mr. Krook collects documents even though he can't read.
  • Jo: A street sweeper and urchin who receives kindness from Nemo and Mr. Snagsby.
  • Mr. Badger: A surgeon and Mr. Kenge's cousin.
  • Mrs. Badger: Wife of Mr. Badger. The Badgers are immensely proud of the fact that she has been married three times.
  • Mr. Gridley: Also known as 'the man from Shropshire'. He has suffered the injustice of the Court of Chancery over his father's will. A friend of Miss. Flite's and also helps to look after Mr. Neckett's children.
  • Mr. Allan Woodcourt: A young doctor who befriends Esther and Ada, but must find steady work in the world.
  • Mrs. Blinder: Asthmatic landlady for house where Mr. Grindley and Mr. Neckett's family lives.
  • Mr. Vholes: Richard's legal advisor.
  • Nemo: An enigmatic and drug-addicted man who copies court documents for a pittance.
  • Mr. Quayle: An avid enthusiast for people with causes to better the world e.g. Mrs. Jellyby.
  • Hortense: Lady Dedlock's maid.
  • Mr. Bagnet: A friend of Mr. George.
  • Mrs Bagnet: Matt Bagnet's wife, a very sensible woman.
  • Mr. Turveydrop: Proprietor of a school for the instruction of dance.
  • Prince Turveydrop: Mr. Turverydrop's son, a dancing master.
  • Mrs. Rouncewell: Housekeeper at Chesney Wold.
  • Phil Squod: Mr. George's disfigured workman that lives with him at the shooting gallery.
  • Mr. Bartholomew Smallweed: A small man that resembles a monkey, who works with Mr. Guppy.
  • Judy Smallweed: Young Smallweed's twin sister. Also resembles a monkey.
  • Grandfather Smallweed: A shrill old man who can barely sit upright in his chair. Grandfather Smallweed threatens and wheedles other people to get his own way. He lends George money.
  • Grandmother Smallweed: A woman whose mental faculties have receded, causing her to become the closest thing the Smallweed family has had to a child in a long time.
  • Mr. George: An old soldier.
  • Charley: Not to be confused with Charley Neckett. The Smallweeds' charwoman, treated very cruely by Judy.
  • Mr Weevle: Formerly Mr. Tony Jobling. A friend of Mr. Guppy's. Takes Nemo's old room above Krook's shop.
  • Mr. Neckett: A debt-collector. Mr. Skimpole refers to him as 'Coavinses'.
  • Charley Neckett: Short for Charlotte, eldest daughter of Mr. Neckett.
  • Mr Chadband: A fat reverend who always talks like he's preaching, and looks like he is made out of blubber.
  • Mrs. Chadband: Mr. Chadband's wife.
  • Rosa: Mrs. Rouncewell's very pretty, young assistant.
  • Tom Neckett: Son of Mr. Neckett.
  • Mrs. Pardiggle: A woman who gives her time to making the world a better place, or so she thinks. She has 5 sons who are unwillingly dragged into her efforts.
  • Watt Rouncewell: Mrs. Rouncewell's grandson who visits Chesney Wold a lot because of Rosa.
  • Volumnia Dedlock: A cousin of Sir Leicester Dedlock. Wears rogue and pearls, which are considered outdated.
  • Jenny: A brick maker's wife. Her husband beats her and her baby dies early on in the book.
  • Liz: Jenny's friend, also a brick maker's wife.
  • Woolwich Bagnet: The Bagnets' son and Mr. George's godson.
  • Quebec Bagnet: The Bagnets' daughter.
  • Malta Bagnet: The Bagnets' daughter.
Show all 57 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

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  • which gives to monied might the means abundantly of wearying out the right, which so exhausts finances, patience, courage, hope, so overthrows the brain and breaks the heart, that there is not an honourable man among its practitioners who would not give—who does not often give—the warning, 'Suffer any wrong that can be done you rather than come here!'
    Highlighted by 12 Kindle customers
  • I think the best side of such people is almost hidden from us. What the poor are to the poor is little known, excepting to themselves and GOD.
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  • There is much good in it; there are many good and true people in it; it has its appointed place. But the evil of it is that it is a world wrapped up in too much jeweller's cotton and fine wool, and cannot hear the rushing of the larger worlds, and cannot see them as they circle round the sun. It is a deadened world, and its growth is sometimes unhealthy for want of air.
    Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers
  •     Never can there come fog too thick, never can there come mud and mire too deep, to assort with the groping and floundering condition which this High Court of Chancery, most pestilent of hoary sinners, holds this day in the sight of Heaven and earth.
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  • He is of what is called the old school—a phrase generally meaning any school that seems never to have been young—and
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  • He is an honourable, obstinate, truthful, high-spirited, intensely prejudiced, perfectly unreasonable man.
    Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers
  • there were two classes of charitable people; one, the people who did a little and made a great deal of noise; the other, the people who did a great deal and made no noise at all.
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  • The little plaintiff or defendant who was promised a new rocking-horse when Jarndyce and Jarndyce should be settled has grown up, possessed himself of a real horse, and trotted away into the other world.
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  •     Mrs. Rouncewell holds this opinion because she considers that a family of such antiquity and importance has a right to a ghost. She regards a ghost as one of the privileges of the upper classes, a genteel distinction to which the common people have no claim.
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  •     The one great principle of the English law is to make business for itself. There is no other principle distinctly, certainly, and consistently maintained through all its narrow turnings. Viewed by this light it becomes a coherent scheme and not the monstrous maze the laity are apt to think it. Let them but once clearly perceive that its grand principle is to make business for itself at their expense, and surely they will cease to grumble.
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Show all 16 quotes from this book

First Sentence edit see section history

London. Michaelmas Term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln's Inn Hall.

Table of Contents edit see section history

I.
1. In Chancery
2. In Fashion
3. A Progress
4. Telescopic Philanthropy

II.
5. A Morning Adventure
6. Quite At Home
7. The Ghost's Walk

III.
8. Covering a Multitude of Sins
9. Signs and Tokens
10. The Law-Writer

IV.
11. Our Dear Brother
12. On The Watch
13. Esther's Narrative

V.
14. Deportment
15. Bell Yard
16. Tom-All-Alone's

VI.
17. Esther's Narrative
18. Lady Dedlock
19. Moving On

VII.
20. A New Lodger
21. The Smallweed Family
22. Mr. Bucket

VIII.
23. Esther's Narrative
24. An Appeal Case
25. Mrs. Snagsby sees it All

IX.
26. Sharpshooters
27. More Old Soldiers than One
28. The Ironmaster
29. The Young Man

X.
30. Esther's Narrative
31. Nurse and Patient
32. The Appointed Time

XI.
33. Interlopers
34. A Turn of the Screw
35. Esther's Narrative

XII.
36. Chesney Wold
37. Jarndyce and Jarndyce
38. A Struggle

XIII.
39. Attorney and Client
40. National and Domestic
41. In Mr. Tulkinghorn's Room
42. In Mr. Tulkinghorn's Chambers

XIV.
43. Esther's Narrative
44. The Letter and the Answer
45. In Trust
46. Stop Him!

XV.
47. Jo's Will
48. Closing In
49. Dutiful Friendship

XVI.
50. Esther's Narrative
51. Enlightened
52. Obstinacy
53. The Track

XVII.
54. Springing a Mine
55. Flight
56. Pursuit

XVIII.
57. Esther's Narrative
58. A Wintry Day and Night
59. Esther's Narrative

XIX and XX
60. Perspective
61. A Discovery
62. Another Discovery
63. Steel and Iron
64. Esther's Narrative
65. Beginning the World
66. Down in Lincolnshire
67. The Close of Esther's Narrative

Glossary edit see section history

  • "Makes a leg": A Victorian term meaning to bow with one's leg forward. Usually slightly derisive in nature
  • Akimbo: Bent, or folded. The phrase is usually "arms akimbo", meaning with elbows out or hands on hips.
  • Amanuensis: A person employed to perform handwriting for another person. Someone who takes dictation.
  • Apopleptic: Having the qualities of impending or recent stroke; the symptoms of a blocked blood vessel or an organ blocked by blood. Mr. Turveydrop is apopleptic. It can also be used to describe a temperament indicative of high blood pressure.
  • Argus: A mythical creature of Greek mythology having one hundred eyes. It is a metaphor for the quality of all-seeing.
  • Bag wig: A wig often worn by those in the English legal profession, consisting of the back hair enclosed by a bag.
  • Baronet: A man of the lowest eschelon of English hereditary titled nobility. Baronets are addressed as "Sir Christian Name Surname". Sir Leicester Dedlock is a baronet. Baronets have the title Sir, and sometimes the abbreviation Bart. after their name, usually to distinguish them from knights. They are not members of the peerage (which includes barons, viscounts, earls, marquesses, and dukes), but they are considered aristocracy, and are often landed. They are different from knights, who are also called "Sir Christian name Surname", but are knighted by the Crown, but only retain their title for life and do not pass it on to their heirs. The wife of a baronet is called "Lady Surname".
  • Blandishments: An action or words which are meant to flatter, coax, or entice.
  • Chancery: A division of law in England, concerning equity, which is defined as deciding points of law on the basis of fairness, rather than mechanical application of the law. In Bleak House the cases "In Chancery" are usually involving property, wills, and wards of the court.
  • Deportment: The qualities of posture, attitude, and air necessary in dancing, and also affected by people who wish to appear refined in society.
  • Kiln: An oven used for baking bricks after they are formed. A large, hot furnace.
  • Pertinacious: Holding stubbornly to a purpose or course of action. Obstinancy.
  • Postilion: A person who rides the left horse of the leading or only pair of horses drawing a carriage.
  • Quoth: An archaic past-tense form of "quoted". It means, simply, "said".
  • Reticule: A woman's small drawstring handbag.
  • Rickyard: A yard used for storing and cutting lumber and boards.
  • Sexton: A church official, usually employed with burying the dead, and sometimes ringing bells.
  • Sheepskin: A slang term for parchment, the kind of paper many legal documents were written on, which was made from the skins of sheep.
  • Snuff: A kind of tobacco used in the 19th century by sniffing up the nose rather than smoking. By Dickens time it had become slightly old-fashioned, and was generally only used by older men such as Mr. Tulkinghorn or Mr. Turveydrop.
  • Tankard: A large mug-shaped cup, usually of heavy pottery or pewter, with a handle and a hinged lid. Usually used for drinking ale or beer.
Show all 20 glossary entries

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • Understanding toward sexual misbehavior: Dickens, for his day, treats themes of sexuality with rather un-Victorian (or, at least, unlike our present-day ideas of Victorians) tolerance and understanding. He paints a largely sympathetic portrait of Lady Dedlock, who bore a child out of wedlock. In the 1850s, this would have been enough to make her a social pariah, but Dickens paints her detractors (Tulkinghorn, her sister), not herself, in unflattering light. He makes her suffer, it is true, but he does not condemn her for her sexual relationship with Captain Hawdon. He also paints Mr. Snagsby, who is under suspicion of being Jo's father for most of the novel, as a sympathetic character.Dickens is rather harder on those who subject their natural desires to a principle. Miss Barbary, Honoria's sister who raises Esther and emotionally neglects her, without Honoria's knowledge, is shown to be a narrow and bitter person, who, rather than being praised for doing good by raising her illegitimate niece, died young and unhappy after giving up her love for Mr. Boythorn.
  • Systems bad, personal accountability good: In Bleak House, Dickens offers a bitter and ironic critique of institutions. Chancery, the system of justice, is the most unjust system imaginable; Mrs. Jellyby's social activism, which she presents as humanitarian, gives rise to a most inhumane and neglected household. Indeed, institutions seem inevitably to succumb to the problems that they are supposed to address. After all, justice depends upon injustice, and so it is in the best interest of Chancery, which makes money through righting "injustice," to increase injustice.Rather than depend upon systems or institutions to address society's ills, Dickens calls for individuals to right wrongs and relieve suffering through freely chosen charity. Humanism pervades the novel, with John Jarndyce going so far as to say in Chapter 13: "Trust in nothing but in Providence and your own efforts."
  • The repurcussions of young choice: Dickens provides us with several characters who, through an early passionate sin or hasty decision, foment lasting misery for themselves and others. Honoria lives a life of boredom and lies as Lady Dedlock, having created a delicate situation for her daughter as well as herself; Hawdon descends into opium abuse; Honoria's sister, who takes care of Esther instead of marrying Boythorn, is bitter and cold to Esther her entire life, and dies at a young age. A sub-set of these youthful, fateful decisions concern Chancery. Miss Flite, we are told, decided in youthful passion to follow her Chancery suit through to the end, and as a result has been consumed, dessicated and driven mad by the endless litigation of Chancery's process. Similarly, Richard chooses to depend upon the Jarndyce and Jarndyce suit, which drives him to a life of hatred and paranoia and to an early, tragic death.
  • England's orphan: Continuing the metaphor of the English state as an absent parent, the most egregious form of parental abuse presented by Dickens is captured in Jo, an orphan. Though he is shown occasional kindness, the overwhelming theme of Jo's life is that he belongs nowhere. People are constantly telling him to "move on." The state, which must act for him in loco parentis, gives him two options -- to live on the streets or in the workhouse, that is to say, to choose between death by neglect and death by abuse. Jo's diseased death -- and the manner in which he spreads his disease throughout society -- caps his role as a living metaphor for the failure of the English social system. Jo, himself a victim of disease, spreads disease further, thus perpetuating the ill visited upon him. He is the bleakest soul in Bleak House, and Dickens' most trenchant social text.
  • Chancery in microcosm: Just as Dickens captures the failures of the English state in the metaphor of bad parenting, so too he criticizes the endless mechanizations of Chancery through various metaphors of ill-run shops, homes or other systems. Miss Flite's pointless habit of keeping birds awaiting the "Day of Judgement" which never comes is an expression of her own endless waiting for her case to be settled. Krook's rag and bottle shop, with its piles of useless and decaying stuff, represents in turn the mounds of mouldy documents rotting in Chancery's hands, and the resulting decay of the "store" -- i.e. the wealth and property -- of England. Tom-all-alone's is another example of a property gone to rack and ruin because of Chancery.
  • Names in Dickens: The most prevalent and widely-cited form of Dickens' grotesque style is his tendency to illustrate the nature and morality of his characters through their names. Because Bleak House has so many people, thus so many names, it is as good a collection of the variety of Dickens' art of naming as any of his books.Some of Dickens' characters' names simply announce the bearer's moral destitution -- Krook is an obvious example. Mr. Smallweed's name captures that characters particular mixture of physical frailty and moral pettiness; it also suggests that Dickens' would like he and his captilastic, opportunistic kind to be weeded from society. His "good" characters are also aptly named, as in "Ada Clare," which conjures clarity and simplicity for the reader. Other names allude to occupation as well as character -- e.g. "Tulkinghorn" is close to talking-horn, and talk is the lawyer's trade. Or Dickens' names could represent a simple pun, such as Miss Flite and her birds, or a sad commentary, such as Jo's name being similar to Job, suggesting the many trials that character will endure. The common characteristic: Dickens invites us to interpret the significance of the names of all of his characters.This invitation becomes quite interesting when the correlation between name and character is less obvious than in the above examples. Esther Summerson's name, for instance, is problematic. The reference to the Old Testament Esther implies that she is a strong character, but Summerson could be seen as ironic. She is no summer's son, she is an illegitimate daughter. Perhaps it is a reference to the idea that she was conceived in love, the product of a "summer's passion" between Hawden and the future Lady Dedlock. At any rate, Dickens invites this kind of speculation, asking us to see his name-puzzles as complex in some cases, simple in others, perhaps according to the relative complexity of the characters the names represent.In an interesting twist, Dickens' own characters sometimes display his panache for choosing dramatic and evocative names. For instance, Captain Hawden (whose proper name possibly alludes to his naval status by bringing up the term "hawser") uses the Latin word Nemo as his pseudonym, which means "nobody". He is, to the plot, indeed somebody, but he refuses to own up to any part of society, especially his own name, because he has sunk so low. Other characters are given nicknames, such as Conversation Kenge, that capture an awareness on the community's part of the humor and power of an apt name. Like their author, these characters seem to relish the puzzle and joy of apt naming.
  • Weather and society: Throughout the novel, Dickens consistently identifies human moral or subjective states with the weather. This, like the other grotesque elements of his style, is done with a greatly exaggerated panache. Thus Dickens begins the novel in a deep "London particular" fog, signifying the foggy confusion of the Court of Chancery. Or, to take another example, Lady Dedlock is often shown in the rain, which signifies her deep and unending boredom and sorrow. The mud and the cold too often emphasize the evils of urban life, and their inescapability mirrors the corruption of the society at large. Naturally, Dickens' sunny days occur when things are chipper and cheery, such as when the young people first arrive at Bleak House.
  • Bad parenting and society: Bleak House is filled with bad parents. Esther's aunt, Lady Dedlock, Mrs. Jellyby, the brickmaker, and Mr. Turveydrop, to take some examples, all abuse, neglect, or generally use their children for selfish reasons, thus quashing the happiness and development of those children. This poor parenting, in turn, creates disillusioned and disenchanted children, thus perpetuating the original neglect or abuse. In this way, bad parenting undermines all of society. Indeed, to take the theme one remove farther, Dickens suggests that England is in a permanent state of bad parenting, with the parents -- the government, the courts -- neglecting, abusing, or generally using the children -- the people of England.
  • Mr. Woodcourt’s Flowers: The flowers Mr. Woodcourt gives Esther before he goes to sea initially represent a secret burgeoning love but later represent a past that can never be revisited. Esther doesn’t tell us very much about the flowers, only hinting at who gave them to her and what they signify. After her face has been scarred by smallpox, however, she confronts the flowers directly in her narrative. After Mr. Woodcourt gave them to her, she dried them and saved them in a book, but she now feels as though she shouldn’t keep them since she looks so different from before. Instead, she decides to keep them to remember the past, not as a romantic keepsake from a man she once loved, but as a reminder of the woman she used to be and the possibilities that had been open to that woman but have now been lost forever. Esther doesn’t make many overtly romantic gestures in the novel, so this admission of her affection for Mr. Woodcourt, as well as the suggestion that she really does mourn the loss of her beauty, makes the flowers all the more significant. Later in the novel, after accepting Mr. Jarndyce’s proposal, she burns the flowers, which testifies to the depth of her devotion.
  • Miss Flite’s Birds: Miss Flite’s remarkable collection of caged birds represents the unfortunate people who have been trapped after becoming involved with the Jarndyce and Jarndyce lawsuit. Miss Flite, who has followed the suit faithfully for years and has never stopped expecting a judgment, plans to release her birds when the judgment finally comes. The lawsuit, however, has gone on so long that the birds keep dying, at which point she then gets new ones, which eventually die as well. The birds, dying before a judgment is rendered, represent the people who have also died while waiting for a judgment, including members of Miss Flite’s family. Miss Flite has given her birds names that suggest the things that have also died as Jarndyce and Jarndyce has droned on, such as Hope, Joy, and Youth, or that have been brought about by the suit, including Waste, Ruin, Despair, Madness, and Death. Miss Flite does eventually release the birds after Richard dies and the suit has been dismissed, but their freedom comes at the expense of many lives.
  • The East Wind: The east wind represents any vexing event, person, or possibility that upsets or threatens to upset Mr. Jarndyce. Mr. Jarndyce, steadfast and good-natured, rarely expresses displeasure with anyone or voices his unhappiness or worry. Instead, when he is agitated, he remarks that the wind is in the east, and those who know him understand what he means. Mr. Jarndyce refers to the east wind frequently when Esther first meets him, but as the novel progresses, the wind, so to speak, seems to die down. At one point, Mr. Jarndyce even tells Esther that there can be no east wind when she is around, which reveals the extent of her influence on him and in Bleak House. The use of wind to represent troubling issues also suggests how changeable and unpredictable life can be. Just as the wind can change direction without warning, lives are set on new courses when secrets are revealed or when long-absent people return unexpectedly.
  • Children: Children are everywhere in Bleak House, but they are rarely happy or adequately cared for. First, we have the “wards of Jarndyce” themselves—Ada and Richard—shipped off to a cousin they’ve never met. The Jellyby children are woefully neglected by Mrs. Jellyby, who is more concerned with her African “mission” than with her family. The children are filthy, hungry, unhappy, and cold. The Pardiggle children are no less unhappy, as their obnoxious mother forces them to give all their money to her charities, oblivious to their discontent. Charley and her two siblings are orphaned, and Charley, a mere child, must work to support them. Finally, there is the street urchin Jo, moving from place to place and always, it seems, in someone’s way. Some of these children do find care and happiness: Ada and Richard have a happy home at Bleak House; Caddy Jellyby finds a gentle husband; and Charley, and later her younger sister, Emma, become Esther’s maid. The same cannot be said for Jo. He finds temporary kindness and shelter at Bleak House but is quickly intimidated by Bucket into leaving and dies soon after.
  • Suicide: Suicide appears several times in Bleak House, and the deaths and attempted deaths emphasize the sense of desperation that exists at the heart of the novel. First, we learn of Tom Jarndyce, who committed suicide over the Jarndyce and Jarndyce suit. Indeed, the suit proves dangerous to anyone who gets too wrapped up in it. Richard, who becomes obsessed with the suit at the expense of his and Ada’s happiness and wellbeing, eventually dies. Although he didn’t kill himself per se, one could argue that he worked himself to death. Suicide is often referred to in passing, such as when George and Grandfather Smallweed discuss a seemingly successful man who tried to kill himself, and when Tulkinghorn reminisces about a friend who hanged himself. At one point, when Tulkinghorn and Lady Dedlock are having a difficult conversation about the secret, Tulkinghorn fears that Lady Dedlock will jump out the window and kill herself. When Bucket confronts Mademoiselle Hortense about the murder, he fears that she’ll try to jump out a window as well. Lady Dedlock ultimately kills herself by fleeing into the cold night, which was undoubtedly her intention when she set out.
  • Secrets: Secrets are everywhere in Bleak House. The most dramatic secret belongs to Lady Dedlock, who must hide her past transgressions to save her and her family’s reputations. Her secret takes on a life of its own, eventually roaring into her life and leading to her death. Esther has secrets, despite her generally reliable narration. For example, she doesn’t tell us right away about her feelings for Mr. Woodcourt or his feelings for her, although she drops some vague hints. Mr. Jarndyce has secrets as well. He had always planned to make Esther his wife, although he never revealed those plans to her until he wrote a letter to her. Later, he secretly arranges her reunion with Woodcourt. Some characters are not so good at keeping their secrets. For example, Ada and Richard try to hide that they’re falling in love, but they are not really successful. They are better at hiding the fact that they got secretly married. Mr. Tulkinghorn and Inspector Bucket make their livings from other people’s secrets. Tulkinghorn makes it his mission to find out what Lady Dedlock is hiding, and Bucket is charged with the task of investigating her. The success they have in uncovering the truth suggests that no matter how determined one is to keep a secret, that secret isn’t safe from anyone obsessed with exposing it.
  • The Ambiguous Definition of “Mother”: Throughout Bleak House, the role of mother is filled by women who often are not “real” mothers at all. Charley, a child herself, cares for her two young siblings, all of them orphaned and struggling. Jenny and Liz, the brickmakers’ wives, care for each other’s children. Liz cares for Jenny’s child when it is sick, and after it dies, Jenny takes to calling Liz’s child her own. Lady Dedlock reveals a motherly side in her affection for Rosa. And Mrs. Rouncewell becomes a kind of mother figure to Sir Leicester when he becomes ill at the end of the novel.Esther is undoubtedly the character who best knows the true flexibility of the title “mother.” Esther fills the role of mother for several people, including Ada, Richard, Caddy, and Charley. To a lesser extent, she mothers Jo, Jenny’s sick baby, and Peepy Jellyby—in other words, nearly every child who crosses her path. When Ada has her child after Richard dies, Esther is so involved in the child’s upbringing that the child says it has two mothers. Esther herself is raised by Miss Barbary and Mrs. Rachael, neither of whom is her “real” mother. Occasionally, other women tend to Esther, including Mrs. Woodcourt, the women at the inn she meets when she goes in search for Lady Dedlock, and, in a reversal of roles, Charley, who tends to Esther when Esther gets smallpox. Lady Dedlock, Esther’s real mother, is actually the least motherly figure in Esther’s life. Their interaction is fleeting, and though Esther finds comfort when Lady Dedlock hugs her, it is temporary at best. When Lady Dedlock disappears, Esther takes up the mothering role once again, frantically searching for Lady Dedlock in the middle of the night.
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Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 79 of 196 in BBC 'Big Read' Top 200 Novels, 2003. (authoritative list)

Preceded by Ulysses, and followed by Double Act.

This is book 23 of 95 in Telegraph Top 100 Books, 2008. (authoritative list)

Preceded by The Great Gatsby, and followed by War and Peace.

This is book 12 of 91 in The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time, 2004. (authoritative list)

Preceded by Emma, and followed by Anna Karenina.

This book is in Big Fat Books. (community list)
This book is in Random Synapses: 100 Book Reading Challenge (2011). (community list)
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This is book 890 of 1272 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)

Preceded by Walden, and followed by Villette.

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Bradbury & Evans
Country: UK
Publication Date: 1853
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 640

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More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Oliver Twist
  • Great Expectations

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • York Notes on Charles Dickens 'Bleak House' (York Notes Series)

Books That Cite This Book edit see section history

   
  • On Ugliness

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