Bleak House

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Bleak House is the ninth novel by Charles Dickens, published in 20 monthly parts between March 1852 and September 1853. The plot concerns a long-running legal dispute (Jarndyce and Jarndyce) which has far-reaching consequences for all involved. Dickens's assault on the flaws of the British judiciary system is based in part on his own experiences as a law clerk. His harsh characterization of the slow, arcane Chancery law process gave voice to widespread frustration with the system, helping to set the stage for its eventual reform in the 1870s.

In Bleak House Dickens experimented with the device of dual narrators: an unnamed third-person narrator and the orphan Esther take turns to tell the story. The style is also remarkable: a hypnotic opening of three paragraphs without a complete sentence. The scope is probably the broadest Dickens ever attempted, ranging from the filthy slums to the landed aristocracy, in a narrative that is in equal parts satire and comedy. One character, Krook, smells of brimstone and eventually dies of spontaneous human combustion, attributed to his evil nature.

Some critics, including George Gissing and G. K. Chesterton, take this to be Dickens's best novel.

The BBC has adapted Bleak House on three occasions. The first version [1] was broadcast in 1959 in eleven half-hour episodes; the second, starring Diana Rigg and Denholm Elliott, was broadcast as an eight-part series in 1985; and the third [2] was broadcast in fifteen episodes in 2005.

Contents

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Characters

As usual, Dickens drew upon many real people and places but was not constrained by the realities. The character Mrs. Jellyby, always involved in good causes but with a chaotic family, is based upon Caroline Chisholm. Many people saw the character of Harold Skimpole as a portrait of Leigh Hunt but this was always denied by Dickens. Mr Jarndyce's friend Mr Boythorn is based on the writer Walter Savage Landor. The novel also includes one of the first detectives to appear in English fiction, Mr Bucket. This character is probably based on Inspector Charles Frederick Field of the recently formed Detective Department at Scotland Yard.[3] Dickens wrote several journalistic pieces about the Inspector and the work of the detectives in Household Words.

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Major characters

  • Esther Summerson, an orphan
  • Richard Carstone, a ward of court in Jarndyce v Jarndyce
  • Ada Clare, a ward of court in Jarndyce v Jarndyce
  • John Jarndyce, a party in Jarndyce, guardian of Richard, Ada and Esther, and owner of Bleak House
  • Harold Skimpole, a friend of Jarndyce and "in the habit of sponging his friends" (Nuttall); supposedly based on Leigh Hunt
  • Sir Leicester Dedlock, a crusty baronet
  • Honoria, Lady Dedlock, the haughty mistress of Chesney Wold
  • Mr Tulkinghorn, the Dedlock family lawyer
  • Nemo, a law writer
  • Miss Flite, an elderly eccentric obsessed with Chancery
  • Mr Guppy, a hapless law clerk
  • Inspector Bucket, a detective
  • Mr George, a former soldier
  • Caddy Jellyby, a friend of Esther
  • Krook, a rag and bottle merchant and collector of papers
  • Jo, a crossing sweeper
  • Allan Woodcourt, a physician
  • Grandfather Smallweed, a money lender
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Minor characters

  • Mr Kenge, a lawyer of Kenge and Carboys
  • Mr Vholes, a lawyer
  • Mr Gridley, an involuntary party to a suit in Chancery (based on a real case, according to Dickens' preface)
  • Mr Snagsby, the proprietor of a law-stationery business
  • Mrs Snagsby, his wife
  • Guster, the Snagsbys' maidservant, prone to fits
  • Neckett, aka Coavinses, a debt collector
  • Charley, Coavinses' daughter
  • Tom, Coavinses' young son
  • Emma, Coavinses' baby daughter
  • Mrs Jellyby, Caddy's mother, a philanthropist with little regard to the notion of charity beginning at home
  • Mr Jellyby, Mrs Jellyby's husband
  • Peepie Jellyby, the Jellybys' young son
  • Prince Turveydrop, a dancing master
  • Old Mr Turveydrop, a master of deportment
  • Jenny, a brickmaker's wife
  • Rosa, a favourite of Lady Dedlock
  • Hortense, lady's maid to Lady Dedlock
  • Mrs Rouncewell, housekeeper to the Dedlocks at Chesney Wold
  • Mr Rouncewell, son of Mrs Rouncewell and a prosperous ironmaster
  • Watt Rouncewell, his son
  • Mercury, a footman to the Dedlocks in London
  • Volumnia, a Dedlock cousin
  • Boythorn, an old friend of John Jarndyce and neighbour of Sir Leicester Dedlock; based on Walter Savage Landor
  • Miss Barbary, Esther's godmother and severe guardian in childhood
  • Mrs Rachael Chadband, a former servant of Miss Barbary
  • Mr Chadband, an oleaginous preacher, husband of Mrs Chadband
  • Mrs Smallweed, wife of Mr Smallweed senior
  • Young Mr (Bartholemew) Smallweed, grandson of the senior Smallweeds and friend of Mr Guppy
  • Judy Smallweed, granddaughter of the senior Smallweeds
  • Tony Jobling, aka Mr Weevle, a friend of Mr Guppy
  • Mrs Guppy, Mr Guppy's aged mother
  • Phil Squod, Mr George's assistant
  • Captain Hawdon, an officer under whom Mr George once served
  • Matthew Bagnet, military friend of Mr George and dealer in musical instruments
  • Mrs Bagnet, his better half
  • Mrs Woodcourt, Allan Woodcourt's widowed mother
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Publication

Like most Dickens novels, Bleak House was published in 19 monthly instalments, each containing 32 pages of text and two illustrations by Phiz. Each cost one shilling, except for the last, which was a double issue and cost two.

Instalment Date of publication Chapters
I March 1852 1–4
II April 1852 5–7
III May 1852 8–10
IV June 1852 11–13
V July 1852 14–16
VI August 1852 17–19
VII September 1852 20–22
VIII October 1852 23–25
IX November 1852 26–29
X December 1852 30–32
XI January 1853 33–35
XII February 1853 36–38
XIII March 1853 39–42
XIV April 1853 43–46
XV May 1853 47–49
XVI June 1853 50–53
XVII July 1853 54–56
XVIII August 1853 57–59
XIX–XX September 1853 60–67
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Legacy

The literary device of the opening paragraphs is consciously echoed in an American novel, also of the 1850s, almost certainly written by an escaped female slave. The manuscript was rediscovered in 2001, researched and published as The Bondswoman's Narrative by Hannah Crafts.

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See also

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References

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External links

Online editions Template:Wikisource


Template:Nuttallja:荒涼館 pt:Bleak House

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