Category Archives: Essays

The fourth installment of Charles Dicken’s novel Bleak House was published in June of 1852, and the installment in question is more significant than an initial reader may have thought. Containing chapters eleven through thirteen, the number chronicles the aftermath of the death of a law writer, Captain James Hawdon, who called himself Nemo, and his eventual burial. Nemo’s body has been found by Tulkinghorn, who also discovers that the boy Jo, a character that will later become of more significance, is connected to him. It also features the return of Sir Leichester and Lady Dedlock back at their home Chesney Wold, who receive the news on Nemo, who wrote a paper that distressed Lady Dedlock in the early chapters of the novel, from Tulkinghorn. Meanwhile Esther finds herself avoiding Mr. Guppy while Ada and Richard announce their future intentions for marriage. While beginning the main mystery of Nemo and his identity, this number reveals a great deal of information about who Esther’s parents are or were as people, and, especially through their interactions with children and young people, Dickens hints at Esther’s heritage. It also chronicles an overall theme of avoidance that the novel has, a trait shown by multiple characters throughout this installment, an inclination that creates a familial thread tying the novel together.

While the initial reader most likely would not have been aware that Nemo and Lady Dedlock, two figures at complete opposites of the social ladder, would in fact turn out to be Esther Summerson’s parents, they both share a few similarities in this number. Esther in earlier parts and in this installment, is a protagonist that exudes kindness not just to her close friends like Ada and Richard but in multiple instances children as well. A notable moment is her friendship with Mrs. Jellyby’s neglected son Peepy, and a more somber one occurs with Jenny’s dead infant. Both parents, though not known to either Esther or the reader at the time, show kindness to child or younger characters in their respective chapters of focus. Lady Dedlock asks the new maid Rosa: “Why, do you know how pretty you are?” (185). Meanwhile, Jo, reflecting on his interactions with Hawdon, says “he wus wery good to me, he wus!” (181).

This section then serves to help define who Esther is both thanks to her heritage, her parents, and her friends. This number also continues the theme of Esther’s avoidance, and demonstrates how her parents share this trait as well. Hawdon is generally characterized as avoiding people apart from Jo, and because of this avoidance further investigation into his death is not formally pursued. Meanwhile Lady Dedlock avoids Tulkinghorn’s pursuit of her, attempting to keep her secrets from him. Finally, Esther’s avoids introducing Allan Woodcourt at all, a major character in the later numbers of the novel who is almost completely “omitted” as Esther puts it, in his first appearance. She only writes on him after the first meeting has occurred, and seemingly only because Ada asked her about him. She writes: “he was rather reserved, but I thought him very sensible and agreeable. At least, Ada asked me if I did not, and I said yes” (214). While spending her narration chronicling in detail the romance of Ada and Richard, Esther desperately attempts to avoid any topic of her own romantic or even sometimes just friendship based relationships. With this introduction of Allan Woodcourt, Dickens begins developing one relationship that will last while continuing one that will not with that unfortunate pairing of Ada and Richard.

Avoidance follows all three members of this family, even if the reader is unaware of this familial thread, there is a thread of connection in how all hide something, whether it be secrets, writings, or romantic interests. Esther is a resistant narrator, and she seems to socially exclude herself both in the narrative herself and in the structure of the novel. Esther, being the primary narrator, is a unique one because of her constant attempts to minimize her role in the story and herself as a character. Even in her initial chapter in the first installment she ends her narration by assuring the reader that: “my little body will soon fall into the background” (40). In this installment, Esther demonstrates this avoidance by trying to hide from Mr. Guppy, who has proposed to her in a previous chapter. While in London, Guppy pursues her at the theater and outside of her bedroom window, a situation that causes Esther be “afraid to go near the window when I was upstairs…lest I should see him” (204).  Esther avoids the window of her room and also avoids filling her “windows” of narration, her chapters, with herself.

Esther’s parents are resistant narrators in this installment as well, all three of these characters seemingly conceal their identities, whether unintentionally or intentionally. Lady Dedlock and Hawdon’s attempts are taken to the extreme, with both having completely disconnected themselves from their past lives, Nemo literally meaning “no one” in Latin as noted by Tulkinghorn, while Esther performs this act of concealment through her own narration. Lady Dedlock, like Esther, appears to keep her true self hidden, despite being praised by both the omniscient narrator and those around her like the servant girl Rosa as “so graceful, so beautiful, so elegant” this installment features more of Lady Dedlock’s true feelings (186). One instance of her performing this avoidance is how Lady Dedlock, in her pursuit of information on the death of Nemo, feigns interest in “horrors” when pursuing answers about the man she once knew as Captain Hawdon, calling Nemo “wretched” and “deplorable” in her questions to Tulkinghorn to avoid further suspicion (195). Dickens foreshadows future character development, stating “weariness of soul lies before her, as it lies behind” (182). Dickens also establishes in this installment her distrust of Tulkinghorn: “what each would give to know how much the other knows- all this is hidden, for the time, in their own hearts” (196).

Meanwhile as far as her father is concerned, Mr. Tulkinghorn’s comment that “no one knew his name” when prompted by Lady Dedlock on Hawdon’s death, reflects the fact that his daughter’s name is also frequently hidden or obscured, like Captain Hawdon’s was (195). From early on in her living in Bleak House, Esther is called something she is not, being called “so many names of that sort that my own name soon became quite lost among them” (121). Hawdon as Nemo resists being known by anyone but Jo, and when questioned by Tulkinghorn about his tenant, Krook states: “than that he was my lodger for a year and a half and lived—or didn’t live—by law-writing, I know no more of him” (168). Even the one witness to the coroner’s inquest of Nemo’s death, Jo, is resistant, and his testimony is not accepted.

However, despite all these characters inclinations to solitude and avoidance, this installment especially demonstrates how it is their relationships and connections that bring out the best in them and will ultimately drive the plot forward. There are many moments throughout the novel where these characters’ true selves are unmistakable despite their attempts to hide themselves, and these scenes illustrate how despite their attempts at solitude, they have impacted the lives of others in a way that they can’t be completely invisible. Esther, despite her best efforts to exist on the margins of the narrative, is beloved by the occupants of Bleak House, as stated by Mr. Jarndyce in the conclusion of the installment: “some may find out, what Esther never will- that the little woman is to be held in remembrance above all other people” (214). Lady Dedlock’s kindness and interest in Rosa which is first introduced in this installment will ultimately culminate in her making a massive sacrifice to ensure Rosa’s happiness. Hawdon’s kindness to Jo meanwhile is one that is only mentioned yet still just as significant. Dickens in his notes seemed heavily interested in the final image of chapter 11, where Jo sweeps Hawdon’s grave. Dickens, in his chapter on the death and aftermath of Hawdon, uses the final scene to emphasize Jo’s line of Hawdon’s goodness to him by having it repeat as Jo sweeps around his grave, as the omniscient narrator notes: “thou art not quite in outer darkness…there is something like a distant ray of light in thy muttered reason for this.” (181).

This installment shows that by engaging in these acts of avoidance, the characters, especially Lady Dedlock, Hawdon and Esther drive the plot forward and therefore make this installment a significant one in terms of the overall novel.Lady Dedlock, after gaining her knowledge from Tulkinghorn in this installment, will later visit the grave, inciting the investigation with Bucket. Tulkinghorn’s investigation of who Nemo was and how he was connected to Lady Dedlock continues through the novel and ultimately leads to the climax of Lady Dedlock’s demise, and Ada and Richard’s relationship will be another conflict that continues up until the very last chapters. Meanwhile the character Esther makes a very strong attempt to avoid altogether, Allan Woodcourt, will end up becoming her partner. Even before anything is revealed officially in the novel, Charles Dickens connects the family through their desperate attempts at avoidance and their unavoidable kindness.

In Bleak House, Charles Dickens has created an exponential number of characters whom he has formed out of varying shades of greed, deceit, and selfishness, all in the name of satire. The few characters that he has chosen to embody those characteristics that do not incite excitement in his serial novel – kindness and sense of duty – he leaves to fully flesh out until the end of the narrative, maximizing long-term investment for the reader. The two characters who embody these characteristics are George and Esther. George, a reformed man of duty, is held in contrast to those others who manipulate individuals like Jo in order to give the reader a reprieve, endearing him to readers in a passive manner. Esther, adored by all who know her for her simplicity of moral character, is the reader’s conduit into this world of deceit and lies and actively cheered for by readers for this reason. This final installment gives readers two drastically different conclusions of caretaker-ship for each of these highlighted characters. George ends as the son that he was always made out to be, taking his mother to church and helping maintain a quality of life for his pseudo-father, Sir Leicester. Esther is rewarded with the perfect picture of domestic bliss at the time: to be a country doctor’s wife with two daughters of her own and a surrogate son through Ada. Although this novel is known for its mistreatment of characters at its own hands, Dickens’ utilizes these two characters to provide a sense of relief for the tension that he deftly creates throughout.

Charles Dickens’ final two installments of Bleak House were published together in September of 1853. As compared to the publication of the other installments – one per month for seventeen months – these final two are published simultaneously in a carefully planned ending to a long, painstaking narrative. Rather than splitting up the components of this orchestrated ending, Dickens chose to utilize this double publication to expand his final timelines. In these final installments, Dickens lays down the framework for the conclusion of each of his main characters through a mixture of future-Esther looking back, present-Esther, and the omniscient narrator looking in on the goings on of multiple characters. He lays the groundwork of Richard’s impending death through a glimpse at the final moments of true domesticity for the novel’s “it couple.” He wraps up the storyline of smaller characters through a final interaction with Skimpole, showing Mr. Guppy making a final proposal, and allowing Nemo to be mentioned a final time in a letter from George to Esther. He also finalizes plotlines woven carefully throughout showing readers the confession of love by Allan Woodcourt and the acceptance of marriage to Jarndyce by Esther, concluding with Esther’s placement in a new Bleak House with Allan Woodcourt as her husband. Finally, to conclude any points of contention throughout the narrative, Dickens kills off Richard following the conclusion of Jarndyce and Jarndyce stemming from a will produced in the last few pages of the book. He manages to bring each of his characters full circle, despite the staggering number of them.

From his very introduction, George is defined by his kind, long ranger attitude. He does not marry, even when circumstances have presented themselves to him in the past, and he ingratiates himself in relationships in which he can be benefactor but not receiver. His sole mission in this world is to be kind to others in the best way he knows how, much like Esther. He does allow for some characters to take care of him throughout the novel, such as the Bagnets with Mrs. Bagnet being the key player, but he seems determined to pay penance for a crime that others cannot identify, keeping him from accepting love. It is not until the final chapters of this narrative that readers learn his true sin is that he chose to be away from his family for many years, leaving them to wonder whether he was dead or alive. While the rest of his character speaks to an unselfish heart, this hangup keeps readers from always reading him as a pure intentioned character; however, he states “But I should not have been surprised, brother, if you had considered it anything but welcome news to hear of me” (954). He is not a man looking for deliverance, but a man seeking reformation in any way that he can from the sins he has committed, eventually accepting love through acts of service. 

He epitomizes this ideal by taking care of a variety of individuals throughout the novel, culminating with his taking on Sir Leicester in what are implied to be the stately man’s final years. Throughout the novel, Dickens shows readers George’s capacity for love and kindness through his interactions with individuals that are persecuted by others or being searched after by Mr. Bucket. His strong sense of moral right and wrong allows him to not be sent down the tumbling staircase of greed and anger that seems to consume most other characters, and instead to constantly be in review of his own qualities. He tells his brother upon meeting him again that, “I am a kind of a Weed, and it’s too late to plant me in a regular garden,” indicating that he feels his place in society is to be moved from one area of nourishment to another in order to showcase the beauty of other things and not himself (956). Despite his self-deprecation, he inspires loyalty to his identity beyond his status in the world: his mother accepts him back with open arms, his brother bolsters his sense of self in just one meeting, and the man who was so fond of him as a child decides to bring him into the fold in order to better manage his own quality of life. George as a caretaker is key to the conclusion of Sir Leicester’s story as it gives him a purpose beyond taking over his brother’s business that he could very easily have usurped and a father figure to make proud. Sir Leicester has a piece of his past that is not tainted by the death and scandal of Lady Dedlock by having George in his life. This keeps the whole scandal from eclipsing his storyline and allows him to end life in a place of relative comfort, which is the least Charles Dickens owes to Sir Leicester. George is a force of renewal for all that he comes into contact with.

A force of stability and a touchstone for many characters, Esther repeatedly works as a gentle source of love from the outset. Although she comes from a place of deceit and betrayal, she epitomizes the potential in every child for unconditional love of others, even when seeing oneself as unacceptable as a result of past traumas. In the course of the novel, the change in her appearance following an illness she contracts after helping Jo and Charley is shown as the hardest personal tribulation she faces solely on her own. Subliminally allowing herself to be punished for her kindness, much like George with his short imprisonment, she is forever changed by the intense situation and repeatedly doubts that anyone can value her the same. She believes her mere existence is a crime that she must be paying penance for. Following this, she loses her sense of self with this illness and tries to be what she thinks others want her to be by accepting John Jarndyce’s marriage proposal following her recovery. She believes herself to be this “little woman” that she is frequently labeled as. In line with her consistent submissiveness, she allows herself to slip into her final role of domesticity when Jarndyce gives her a home for her and Allan Woodcourt without much, if any, questioning. She allows others to hold the self-confidence for her and follows along willingly when John Jarndyce presents the house to her “knowing there could be no better plan, [he] borrowed [hers]” (962). As the readers have a blueprint for who they believe Esther to be, Dickens is able to capitalize on this with Allan’s lack of characterization in terms other than a selfless doctor so he can place this woman with seemingly few, if any, negative qualities perfectly with him. She is rewarded with an unproblematic man and able to have someone else hold her sense of self for her in a way that is actually beneficial to her wellbeing. Her kindness and passive existence have been cherished and deemed worthy of completing in the kindest sense of the era by Dickens.

In the final two installments, Dickens shows that despite being willing to punish greed and duplicity with death and loneliness, simple goodness will be rewarded with simple acts of kindness and partnership in the forms of George and Esther. George as a caretaker is pivotal to the conclusion of Sir Leicester’s story and allows George to find fulfillment in taking care of a man torn to shreds by his own misunderstanding of his world. Esther is finally given something of her own, solidifying her character as one of true substance and not just a fly on the wall of all of these scandalous occurrences. Dickens shows readers in the final notes of his manuscript that there will be sadness and punishments for those who did not care for others in a selfless way, but that he will care for those who seem to hold little substance due to their morally upstanding character. Despite it being a satire of the world at the time, Dickens still chooses to leave the reader with a bit of hope for those in this world who dream to be kind.

It can often be extremely difficult to know what was going on in the minds of a writer, or an artist of any sort, as they created their works. Critics, fans, and students have spent years talking over the intentions and desires of writers and what certain passages, plot points, and character decisions could mean. This process is especially difficult with novels such as Bleak House, which was written almost two hundred years ago. Luckily, the working notes derived out of Dickens’ own need to make sure he had everything squared away with his work can shed some light on his thought process through his writing of the novel. In particular, the notes on the thirteenth installment serve to illuminate how Dickens’ portrayal of two main plots, the stories of Lady Dedlock and Richard, mirror each other in that each one concerns the interference of the English legal system, resulting in the death of each character owing to this intrusion on their lives.

While this installment does not do much in terms of moving the actual plot forward or revealing new bits of information, it is an essential piece of the overall content of the novel. This section starts with a somewhat lengthy assessment of the English legal system and the role that Vholes plays in it, followed by an interaction between Vholes and Richard that illustrates the detrimental effect Richard’s increased involvement in Jarndyce and Jarndyce is having on him. Guppy and Mr. Weevles then go to Krook’s house where the Smallweeds are going through all of Krook’s possessions, and Guppy is approached by Tulkinghorn, who inquires as to why Guppy met with Lady Dedlock. The next two chapters take place at Chesney Wold. Sir Leciester is campaigning for reelection and all his cousins come to assist him in the process. Tulkinghorn then arrives and tells a story meant to inform Lady Dedlock that he knows her secret. She later confronts him in his chambers and he tells her that he is not yet going to reveal her secret as it would tarnish the family name. Tulkinghorn then goes back to London, where, after meeting Snagsby, he is confronted by Rosa, who seems to be losing it a little bit.

One section of narration that really sticks out in this section is Dickens’ description of Chesney Wold. The house is depicted as night falls around it after it has been prepared for the return of the Dedlock’s and their extended family. As the narrator states, “But the fire of the sun is dying. Even now the floor is dusky, and shadow slowly mounts the walls, bringing the Dedlocks down like age and death” (Dickens 641). After this dark depiction, particular attention is paid to the shadow overcoming the portrait of Lady Dedlock. The only real mention of these passages in the working notes is where Dickens wrote “country house” and underlined it three times. This brief comment is noteworthy as it does not name Chesney Wold as the country house to be described. There are more mentions of “country” by Dickens in this note and during this narration. His description of the darkening house comes right after a brief narration about the state of the government at the time. Dickens states that Doodle, one of the “only two men in the country” (working notes), finds that he must “throw himself upon the country” (639). The uses of “country” in this context obviously refer to the nation of England, and by using them in this context, right before the note about a “country house”, Dickens creates a parallel between the two small pieces of the working notes. By not specifically mentioning Chesney Wold in this part of the notes, the description that Dickens applies to the home of the Dedlocks could be seen as applying to every or any rural house in England at the time, and the shadow that overcomes it would then be overcoming more than just Chesney Wold.

As mentioned above, in Dickens’ description of Chesney Wold, particular attention is paid to the shadow that comes over the portrait of Lady Dedlock. This shadow seems to foreshadow Lady Dedlock’s realization that Tulkinghorn knows her secret, yet if Dickens indeed intended the darkness being described to encompass more than just what was happening at Chesney Wold, then the meaning of Lady Dedlock’s experiences extend beyond the content explicitly displayed in the plot. As mentioned above, Lady Dedlock’s darkness is due to Tulkinghorn’s involvement in her affairs and given that Tulkinghorn is a distinct representation of the English legal system, it can be guessed that the shadow extending over the country is caused by the legal system’s processes. It is somewhat unclear as to what Tulkinghorn’s intentions are in uncovering Lady Dedlock’s past, other than a devotion to the Dedlock family and legal procedures in general. It seems that it is simply Tulkinghorn’s status as a member of the legal system that informs his values and pushes him to uncover the reasons behind Lady Dedlock’s behavior. Tulkinghorn’s blind pursuit of Lady Dedlock’s secrets as a means of satisfying himself is reflective of the relationship between Richard and Vholes that Dickens harks upon in the first chapter of this section. Through both his narration and notes, Dickens makes clear that Vholes is consuming Richard’s life to an extent by feeding on his desire and hope for a resolution to Jarndyce and Jarndyce. As Dickens notes, “The one great principle of the English law is, to make business for itself” (621) and, as we see through Vholes, the law’s business comes at the expense of the citizens’ well-being. While we see this obviously present in Richard and the Jarndyce suit, the mystery surrounding Esther and Lady Dedlock seems to be equally affected by the legal system. The fact that both Richard and Lady Dedlock end up dying tragic deaths owing to the intrusion of the legal system on their lives further suggest the detrimental effect that Dickens sees the government having on the country.

Rather than presenting the intrusion of the legal system in an a particularly advanced or complex way, there is almost a primitive aspect to its presence in this section. As Dickens states in both the notes and the text, “Make man-eating unlawful, and you starve the Vholeses” (623). Vholes association with cannibalism, which follows him throughout the text, suggests a crude and straightforward system in which those working for it suck the life out of those who don’t. The fact that this quote is included word-for-word in the notes shows how Dickens was thinking about these connections beforehand and seems to be trying to make an explicit comment on the English legal system. The message is less clear but still present in the interaction between Tulkinghorn and Lady Dedlock. One remark that Dickens makes about their meeting in the notes is simply, “Their interview at night, at Chesney Wold?”, which expresses the importance of their placement within this “country house”. When Tulkinghorn tells the story revealing to Lady Dedlock that he knows her secret, Chesney Wold is enveloped in darkness and the only light comes from Leicester’s fire and the moonlight, which covers Lady Dedlock at the window. The scene, without the presence of artificial light, feels very stripped down and conveys a sense of bareness. Further, Tulkinghorn iterates twice that his story is one of “Real flesh and blood” (649), imbuing it with a somewhat predatory, animalistic energy similar to the idea of “man-eating” that surrounds Vholes. By displaying these relationships as less civilized than one would expect, Dickens makes them out as more natural and simple and they thus become a more unavoidable or unchangeable part of the world. There is simultaneously a sense that citizens will not be able to overcome the shortcomings of the legal system through any sort of legislation or policy but also through any sheer force or collective willpower.

Overall, Lady Dedlock and Richard are two of Bleak House’s most central characters. Although their narratives are ostensibly separate and unrelated, Dickens’ working notes provide a common framework to help understand the characters’ experience. The focused position of the law throughout the novel shows Dickens commitment to the idea that there was something inherently detrimental to society in the structure and habits of the legal system and that it affected individual lives in many ways. While the working notes are only able to provide a slight glimpse into what exactly he was trying to convey, their existence gives readers the opportunity to see the ways Dickens made connections between different concepts both large and small.

Structural Importance of Character Development Through the Use of Suspense and Expansion of Esther Summerson

Charles Dickens’ novel Bleak House is divided into twenty eventful installments that are compelling and rich in detail. Each installment is crafted through his working notes which correspond to each book that was released when it was sold serially. The tenth installment chapters 30 through 32, marks the end of the first half of the story in which many events begin to unfold. Secrets and connections are being emphasized heavily in this section. Dickens’ working notes prove that his use of planning and time is one that is well crafted in a sense that he knew how to create a suspenseful ending to the first arc. Many characters are present in this installment, but one proves to always steal the spotlight: Esther Summerson. Being the main character, and the only first-person narrator, Esther plays a pivotal role in propelling the plot’s eventful cliffhanger. Dickens highlights Esther’s narrative and character development in the tenth installment and his working notes display the significant planning he made to make sure her voice and plotline continue after this first half’s ending.

Dickens uses the ensemble of characters to push Esther’s character forward without making Esther be the center of the problems. The tenth installment starts with Caddy’s wedding then transitions to Esther’s meeting with Jo for the first time. After Esther’s narrative, the last chapter of this installment switches back to the omniscient third-person narrator who follows the story of Weevle and Mr. Guppy who discovers the mysterious death of Krook. In the first chapter, chapter 30, Dickens does a fantastic job of using his ensemble of characters to help push Esther’s character development forward for the next half of the book. Many secrets and connections begin to build during this installment which makes sense considering this marks the halfway point of the story. The first character that Dickens used is Mrs. Woodcourt, the mother of Allan Woodcourt. Dickens uses Mrs. Woodcourt to give hints on the future of Esther’s love and marriage in the future. Looking at his working notes, Mrs. Woodcourt’s name is the first of many on the list meaning she did play a role and was not a minor character for the sake of time and space. When we inspect it further, Dickens does a great job of using Mrs. Woodcourt to help build Esther as a person who we notice does take part in love and marriage. For example, in the scene between Esther and Mrs. Woodcourt, we get the dialogue:

“It is, my dear, a great thing,” Mrs Woodcourt would reply. “it has its disadvantages; my son’s choice of a wife, for instance, is limited by it, but the matrimonial choice of the Royal family is limited in much the same manner,” (470).

Dickens added Mrs. Woodcourt into this part of the novel to help juxtapose the possible romantic route of Allan and Esther. Esther comes from a poor background and Mrs. Woodcourt emphasizing that her son should marry someone with a high status says a lot of what Esther is not. It is also interesting that Dickens writes Mrs. Woodcourt in because there is a wedding that occurs in this chapter. This introduction of the character could just be a possible foreshadowing of the marriage between Esther and Allan by the end of the novel.

Another interesting note from Dickens’ writing notes is his phrase of “Dawn of Esther’s,” which he adds on the left-hand side of the sheet. Again, this highlights Dickens’s intentions in developing Esther’s narrative. This was difficult to understand the actual meaning considering the phrase is not part of any dialogue or scene in this installment. By close reading it, I have found a possible reason why Dickens phrased it this way and why he added it into the story. First, Dickens uses the possessive form of Esther meaning something of Esther or something about Esther will begin to unfold in this installment. I have found two instances where he could have possibly meant by this; both instances I found are present in chapter 31. The first one being the scene with Jo and Esther’s meeting for the first time. The dialogue/scene that sparked the most interest to me to connect to Dickens’ note is Jo’s line of:

“She looks to me the t’other one. It ain’t the bonnet, nor yet it ain’t the gownd, but she looks to me the t’other one,’” (490).

To give more context, Jo sees Esther for the first time and mistaken her to be Lady Dedlock, the woman with the bonnet he met before. By adding this line said by Jo, Dickens could be setting up Esther’s narrative to coincide with Lady Dedlock’s reveal to be her mother in the next installment. This could be the “dawn” Dickens was referring to because it gives rise to Esther’s life and her real parents.

The other instance where I saw Dickens’ possibly reference to Esther’s dawn is the sequence with Charley’s illness, another note that Dickens made alongside “Dawn of Esther’s.” While Esther is taking care of Charley, we get a line where we can notice the sickness can cause severe alterations of the skin. Esther says:

“I was very sorrowful to think that Charley’s pretty looks would change and be disfigured…” (500).

This line could have possibly been a foreshadow of the dangers of this illness to which Esther becomes the next one to contract it. Dickens shows that the illness can cause someone’s pretty looks to become altered and ugly, this sets up a great change in Esther’s character as it is later revealed that her looks were altered because of this illness. This was the dawn of Esther’s downfall from her looks. Considering this is the tenth installment, Dickens does a fantastic job of leaving Esther’s narrative on a cliffhanger to allow this space of provoking suspense to our main character. When the chapter ends, we get the line of Esther saying:

“I believe it, my dear Charley. And now come and sit beside me for a little while, and touch me with your hand. For I cannot see you, Charley; I am blind,” (504).

It is also evident that Dickens intentionally did this because this is the halfway mark to the story; it allows readers to wonder about Esther’s whereabouts in time for the second arc to start. This is a great ending and set up Dickens created because it allows room for Esther’s character to develop further. Since this is the last instance of Esther’s narrative in this installment, readers will be left with many questions and concerns on what will happen next to our dear narrator in the next half of the novel.

In Dickens’ working notes on the tenth installment, there is a complete sentence that caught my eye. The reason this intrigued me was that it was a complete thought compared to the short phrases and words that he adds on the page. It’s not a character’s name, it’s not a place or event, it’s an actual sentence that conveys a deep meaning to his entire novel. The sentence on his notes said, “Esther’s love must be kept in view, to make the coming trial the great and the victory the more meritorious.” What he is conveying is that Esther’s love must be apparent but subtle so that the journey to the end will be rewarding and victorious for readers, Esther, and Dickens. This note could refer to many of Esther’s love but particularly it could be a foreshadowing of the love between Esther and Allan or Esther and Jarndyce, more heavily on the former though. With a more complete idea and thought about Esther’s love it could mean that Dickens wanted to signify this important event/theme. Since this appears in the tenth installment (halfway through the novel) which allows readers to recollect their opinions and thoughts on Esther’s narrative. Again, Dickens is focusing on Esther’s character development, a common theme that this installment seems to have. It exemplifies his intentions of making Esther a dynamic character compared to the rest of the cast. Most of the cast have had their struggles and love affairs but not Esther. So, by setting this development in the halfway mark of the novel, it’ll allow for depth and space to be added to her character.

I stand by my argument that Dickens’ does an amazing job of planning his tenth installment to set up Esther’s character. He does wonders with his notes and novel to ensure that Esther becomes a character of significance and depth. The careful planning of his working notes gives more deep thoughts on how to set up this suspenseful and engaging ending to the first half of the novel. It also speaks that Dickens’s intent on Esther was due to careful inspection of how to keep things hidden while making things apparent. It proves his careful craft in making sure other characters will help drive this character development further without taking the spotlight of his focus who happens to be Esther. Esther’s development through the story is marked by this installment and, incredibly, Dickens planned these careful steps to ensure her development is successful and meaningful to the novel.

Installment 15 covers chapters 47, 48, and 49. Chapter 47 begins on Allan Woodcourt settling an ailing Jo at Mr. George’s establishment. Jo is made comfortable and visited by several of his friends, including Esther and Mr. Snagsby. Jo subsequently dies. Chapter 48 returns to the Dedlock family at Chesney Wold. Lady Dedlock summons Rosa and dismisses her from service with the intention of allowing her to join the Rouncewell family in marriage to the son of Mr. Rouncewell. Lady Dedlock conferences with Rouncewell and Sir Dedlock in the presence of Mr. Tulkinghorn, and she releases a sorrowful Rosa into Rouncewell’s care. Later, Mr. Tulkinghorn confronts Lady Dedlock, who he accuses of reneging on their agreement to remain as normal until Tulkinghorn decides on how to proceed with Lady Dedlock’s ordeal. He also accuses her of attempting to protect Rosa from her scandal. He announces the agreement void and declares he will proceed on his own terms with conveying the matter to Sir Dedlock at his leisure. Mr. Tulkinghorn returns home. A gunshot is heard. The chapter closes on an explosive discovery—Mr. Tulkinghorn is found shot dead in his chambers. Chapter 49 focuses on the Bagnet household, where Mrs. Bagnet is celebrating her birthday. The other Bagnet members perform her usual household duties, often to her quiet dissatisfaction. A low-spirited Mr. George and Mr. Bucket attend the festivities, where Mr. Bucket charms his way into the family’s affections and next year’s celebration. Mr. George departs and Mr. Bucket accompanies him; Bucket then informs George of Tulkinghorn’s murder and his knowledge of George’s presence at the scene of the crime. The installment finishes on George’s arrest.

As I will argue in this paper, Dickens uses London as a means to critique the urban spatial paradigm—the overpopulation, pollution and poor sanitation, lack of welfare support systems, and the inefficacy of the justice system that does more harm than good. I suggest that the fifteenth installment of Bleak House exemplifies the issues Dickens raises. The deaths of Jo and Mr. Tulkinghorn and the arrest of Mr. George ultimately signal the corruptive force of the urban landscape that Dickens reiterates throughout the novel. In support of my interpretation, I analyze specific moments from the fifteenth installment, as well as the novel as a whole. I ultimately contend that Dickens’ social critique underlies a deeper dissatisfaction with the societal moral decay that the city represents.

Jo’s Will

In chapter 47, Dickens highlights the limits of urban philanthropy. With poor (or nonexistent) welfare support systems, characters such as Jo, Jenny, and her ilk live in the squalor of Tom-All-Alone’s. The most that can be done for Jo is a few coins now and then from Mr. Snagsby and the comfortable deathbed experience provided by Mr. Woodcourt, Mr. George, and Phil. When Esther previously attempted to assist Jo, he was made to move on once again by Mr. Bucket: the model urbanite, the one who represents all the failings of the city—the crime, the injustice, the antagonism of the poor (as seen with Jo). The best services done for Jo already after he has already been made a victim of the city, only once he is death-bound may he be helped without hindrance. He is given food, clothing, and shelter after it is all but certain that he will nevermore have a chance for rehabilitation, for a future in English society. At one point, Dickens writes:

He is not one of Mrs. Pardiggle’s Tockahoopo Indians; he is not one of Mrs. Jellyby’s lambs, being wholly unconnected with Borrioboola-Gha; he is not softened by distance and unfamiliarity; he is not a genuine foreign-grown savage; he is the ordinary home-made article. Dirty, ugly, disagreeable to all the senses, in body a common creature of the common streets, only in soul a heathen. Homely filth begrimes him, homely parasites devour him, homely sores are in him, homely rags are on him: native ignorance, the growth of English soil and climate, sinks his immoral nature lower than the beasts that perish. (724)

In invoking the image of Amerindian and African peoples, Dickens challenges prejudiced notions of the incivility and savagery of the nonwhite masses and what later comes to be known as the doctrine of White Man’s Burden (1899). Simultaneously, he also denies that Jo’s state may be attributed to foreignness. Jo is English. As Dickens implies with his critiques of Mrs. Jellyby, one does not have to cast their net far or abroad to find social, cultural, or moral deprivation; these are issues one may find at home, domestically. Jo’s dereliction is a failure of English society, a failure to provide for and protect its own English progeny. Without family, without home, without moral guidance and education, what separates those on the lowest rungs of English society from the brutes internationally?

Closing In

Dickens’ word choice subtly privileges the countryside over the city. Even when attempting to grant positive attributes to the city, Dickens underscores the drawbacks of the city–the pollution, the noisiness, the overpopulation. In the paragraph preceding the infamous line about the shot that rings out in the night, ultimately signaling Mr. Tulkinghorn’s death, Dickens dilates the narrative’s spatial shutter to encompass England as a whole. He details the various areas across the country. In his description, he attributes more positive descriptors to rural areas and more negative ones to urban and industrial areas. Quiet in pastoral areas is where, “the water-meadows are fresh and green, and the stream sparkles on among pleasant islands, murmuring weirs, and whispering rushes,” (749; emphasis added). This constrasts with industrial cities and mill towns where, “houses cluster thick, where many bridges are reflected in it, where wharves and shipping make it black and awful, where it winds from these disfigurements through marshes whose grim beacons stand like skeletons washed ashore,” (749; emphasis added). Similarly described, the London metropolis is, “this stranger’s wilderness,” where, “its steeples and towers, and its one great dome, grow more ethereal; its smoky house-tops lose their grossness, in the pale effulgence; the noises that arise from the streets are fewer and are softened, and the footsteps on the pavements pass more tranquilly away,” (749; emphasis added).

Dutiful Friendship

The final chapter of the fifteenth installment, chapter 49, initially focuses on the domestic felicity of the Bagnet household, an aberration in the urban spatial model. Near the end of the chapter, Mr. George is arrested for the murder of Mr. Tulkinghorn, which given reader knowledge of Tulkinghorn’s relationship with Lady Dedlock, his imprisonment may generally be considered erroneous. As later chapters reveal, George’s imprisonment disturbs the tranquility of the Bagnet household, who believe their close friend to be innocent. When considering the novel as a whole, the Bagnet family is one of the more successful examples of the traditional, nuclear family in the novel. And why is that? Couples where the wife is assertive or leaves the domestic sphere for the public sphere, and/or where the husband does not take on the provider role often results in unhappy marriages or familial life. Consider the Skimpoles, the Snagsbys, the Jellybys, the Turveydrops, and the Pardiggles. The Skimpole household is in disrepair and financial ruin as Mr. Skimpole is unable to take on the provider role. The Snagsby household is plagued by unhappiness as Mrs. Snagsby angsts about Mr. Snagsby’s possible infidelity and neglect of Jo, who she presumes to be his child. The Jellyby household is also in disrepair with neglected children and a depressed husband as a result of Mrs. Jellyby’s prioritization of her international philanthropic efforts. Old Mr. Turveydrop’s wife, the provider of the family, dies and her burden is left to Prince Turveydrop to ensure his father’s maintenance. Even though Caddy and Prince are likely better off in their familial future, their baby bears the marks of her parent’s suffering at the hands of their parents. With the Pardiggles, the unhappy children resent their mother’s forays into public philanthropy. By contrast, the Bagnets enjoy domestic bliss as Mr. Bagnet works and provides for the family while Mrs. Bagnet ensures the maintenance and happiness of the household. All of the aforementioned families live in London, so what is it about the city that breeds such high rates of familial discontent? Perhaps for Dickens, the urban life affords more opportunities for women to break from their traditional roles, but instead of celebrating this phenomenon, Dickens critiques it.

Bleak House, as a whole

As I have argued, the fifteenth installment exemplifies the critiques of the urban spatial paradigm that Dickens inserts throughout the novel, while also demonstrating his affinity for traditional country living. These sentiments may also be seen when you consider the conclusion of the novel and the novel as a whole. Esther, Ada, and their respective families find their happiness in Bleak House, situated in the country. Mr. Jarndyce often expresses a preference for staying in his personal Bleak House, away from the city and its Court of Chancery. Lady Dedlock, who early in the novel often flits between London and Lincolnshire at her leisure, goes on her ill-fated journey through the countryside before meeting her final demise in the city. Consider that all of the major character deaths in the novel occur in the city—the late Mr. Jarndyce’s suicide in the coffee shop, as well as the deaths of Captain Hawdon and Mr. Krook at Krook’s Court, Mr. Gridley and Jo at George’s shooting gallery, Lady Dedlock at the poor cemetery where Captain Hawdon is buried, and Mr. Tulkinghorn at his offices/rooms, all in London.