Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Wasting Candles

"Thus, in the midst of the mud and at the heart of the fog, sits the Lord High Chancellor in his High Court of Chancery." (p.18)

Those with a penchant for reading about the dark underbelly of Victorian London need go no farther than Charles Dickens Bleak House. Bleak House is a political, romantic, moralistic novel, filled with criticisms, witticisms, and deeply affecting language. The size of the novel is impressive, one can only feel a sense of accomplishment upon finishing this tome. It is a novel held together by many threads that connect characters and situations that in the end become united. Awash in motifs, allegory, and metaphors, Dickens uses two narrative voices to move the stories along. Esther the self-deprecating female protagonist tells her own story by telling the lives of others. She reveals things about herself in the way she talks about the people around her. The second narrator is one who is impersonal, he does not illustrate the past or future, he describes only the present. Dickens includes strong critiques about the experience of the s women and their ability to express honest emotions; the relation between the law and private life; public institutions who undermine human generosity.

The heart of this story lies with the Chancery suit of Jarndyce v Jarndyce. The Court of Chancery is the central symbol/setting of Bleak House, a blind, abusive, and inefficient institution that survives simply because of its parasitic bureaucracy. The court is a place overrun in paper, legalities, and procedure. Chancery is a place that ruins lives. Parallels can then be drawn from this setting to that of the London slum - Tom All Alone’s - the second most important setting. Chaotic, disorderly, mired in filth, Tom All Alone’s is a disease infested place, located on the fringes of the working class, and inhabited by socially marginal characters, such as Jo the poor crossing-sweeper. Chancery is responsible for the state of this slum. And a society that leaves its slums unattended will most likely be dragged into the filth itself.

There are endless connections that can be drawn in this novel. The characters come fast and furious. Each one with a name that matches their personality (Lady Dedlock, Mr. Voles, Tulkinghorn etc.) Walking metaphors can be found on every page. Bleak House has tragedy, farce, murder, mystery, and even spontaneous combustion. Many moral lessons abound, and of course there is love. Death is a frequent visitor, yet in the end there is birth, renewal, understanding, and hope that maybe change, real positive change can occur to help the less fortunate.

Posted on April 7th, 2007 by Mary Clare
Filed under: classic, literary fiction