The Bleak House
(Charles Dicken)

Jarndyce and Jarndyce—To say that the story of Bleak House revolves around the Jarndyce and Jarndyce suit in the Court of Chancery would be to make an oversimplification. But the suit, which had gone on for decades and in the process become a symbol for the inefficiency and ineptitude of the Chancery Court, provides one of the central threads that weave the novel’s many subplots together.

Esther Summerson, one of two narrators—The second connecting thread is the life of Esther Summerson, one of the novel’s two main narrators, the other narrator being an anonymous person outside the action.

John Jarndyce—Luckily, Esther’s fate is rescued early on by the third major connecting thread, the benevolent John Jarndyce, who becomes Esther’s guardian and who brings her and the two other young wards in the Jarndyce case, both cousins of his, to live with him at Bleak House.

Bleak House—In spite of its name, Bleak House is anything but bleak. It got its name from the previous owner, John Jarndyce’s uncle, who in trying to unravel the Jarndyce case eventually destroyed himself. In the meantime, his home deteriorated, so he called it “Bleak House.” After his uncle’s death, John Jarndyce restored the mansion to a warm, welcoming condition, eventually putting Esther in charge of the housekeeping.

A thickening tapestry of stories—The story has many interlacing subplots, all of them somehow connected to one or more of these three main threads. At first, the connections seem tenuous, separated by time and distance, but as the story evolves, the connections become more obvious and the timing faster as the individual lives head toward their inevitable destinies, driven not by “fate” but by the choices people have made and continued to make over the years. The most successful characters always understand that there is an element of choice, and they are able to rise above their past and present circumstances.

Esther’s story—Esther’s own story unfolds in ever improving ways. She goes from being an orphan girl in a severe household to training as a governess, becoming the housekeeper for Bleak House, being a constant friend to Ada and Richard (Jarndyce’s wards), receiving a marriage proposal from John Jarndyce, and finally spending a happy life with those she loves and her husband, the young surgeon, Allan Woodcourt. But though Esther’s own life is remarkable, it’s the beneficial and inspiring effect she has on others that is her real legacy.

Male counterparts: Jarndyce and Woodcourt—Esther’s main male counterpart in wisdom and benevolence is John Jarndyce. His philosophy is that nothing good can come of the Jarndyce and Jarndyce suit—and he’s right. Those who expect anything more are eaten up by it. Jarndyce has his own separate source of wealth, which he uses wisely and benevolently, making the most of what he has and helping others whenever he can. In fact, he seems incapable of unkindness. To deal with others’ foibles, he instead projects his dismay onto the “east wind” and resolves his issues in the “Growlery,” a special room set aside for just that purpose.

Esther’s other male counterpart, though less prominent in the story, is the young, dark surgeon, Allan Woodcourt, a strong, steady, benevolent, and deeply committed person, who mostly features at the beginning and end of the novel. Woodcourt and Esther love each other, but they don’t admit this until close to the end of the book, when it seems to be too late. Fortunately, John Jarndyce’s benevolence comes to the rescue.

Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock—Other prominent characters include Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock, the central focus of the fashionably elite aristocracy. But the glitter of wealth and status have their dark side, and aside from the boredom that haunts the lives of many of the aristocracy, the Dedlock mansion, Chesney Wold, is itself haunted by an echoing step on the terrace called the “Ghost’s Walk.” It is said that the sound of this step signifies family disgrace, and Lady Dedlock does indeed harbor a secret that finally propels her to her tragic ending.

The Rouncewell connection—Chesney Wold’s housekeeper, the elderly and dignified Mrs. Rouncewell, has two sons, one of whom became a well-known and prosperous ironmaster while the other—the younger, wilder, but also favorite son—became a soldier and disappeared. This son, George, later reappears in the story and becomes a major suspect in the murder of Mr. Tulkinghorn, Sir Leicester’s solicitor. He is later exonerated, but his connection to the case is more intricate: he was once the companion of Captain Hawdon, the former (now dead from opium) and original true love of Lady Dedlock before her marriage to Sir Leicester. It was George’s possession of a note by Captain Hawdon, along with the fact that he owed money to greedy Grandfather Smallweed, that got him more closely involved with Tulkinghorn. Immediately before his murder, Tulkinghorn was about to expose Lady Dedlock’s prior affair to Sir Leicester, who loved her deeply and forgave her when he did finally find out. But by then, it was too late. Rather than face the situation, Lady Dedlock had already run from it—straight to her death in the wintry cold and wet near Hawdon’s grave in a diseased burial ground for the poor. In the meantime, Esther, who had helped in the search for Lady Dedlock, had already known for some time that she was her real mother and Captain Hawdon her father; and Esther and her mother had even connected with each other at one point and had a chance—though brief—to express their love. Sadly, Esther and Inspector Bucket, who led the investigation, arrived too late to save Lady Dedlock.

Multiple subplots—There are more than thirty-five stories that run through the book. There is Jo, the poor boy who shows Lady Dedlock Captain Hawdon’s grave. Jo had a special connection with Hawdon, and he, too, dies a sad death after living a sad and difficult life, though he had a good heart. There is Mr. Snagsby, the kind law stationer, who provided Hawdon with work and helped Jo whenever he could. There is Mrs. Snagsby, the ridiculously suspicious wife, and their epileptic servant girl, Guster. There is Mr. Bucket, the police inspector, who finds Lady Dedlock and solves the Tulkinghorn murder case. There is Hortense, Lady Dedlock’s former attendant, a Frenchwoman with too much passion and venom for her own good. It is she who murdered Tulkinghorn and then tried to pin the blame on Lady Dedlock. There are the Bagnets, George Rouncewell’s wholesome and loyal friends; and it’s Mrs. Bagnet—the “old girl”—who finally reconnects George with his aged mother. There is Phil, George’s deformed but good-hearted helper, and George’s brother the ironmaster, with his prosperous business and happy, prospering family. His son, Watt, will eventually marry Rosa, one of the prettiest girls around and Lady Dedlock’s personal maid, who replaced Hortense after the latter was fired. In a full circle, Mr. George returns to Chesney Wold to care for Sir Leicester and be near his own mother in their old age. And there are many more stories, all connected in different ways and weaving a fabric that together reflects the complex society of the times. Some characters, like Mr. Guppy, the inept, pretentious law clerk, provide comic relief; others are inspiring; still others, tragic.

Archetypes—Not all the stories are directly connected to the Jarndyce and Jarndyce suit. Some are symbolic of some aspect of the time or even a larger, more permanent issue. Mrs. Jellyby and others like her show what happens when would-be philanthropists forget what is close by—family and the immediate neighborhood—and think only of long-distance causes or, like Mrs. Pardiggle, force their “philanthropy” on others. Harold Skimpole is the epitome of the careless, self-absorbed artist who considers only his own needs and acts like he’s God’s gift to creation simply for existing. He gets away with it on charm alone. Mr. Turveydrop is obsessed with his “Deportment” and uses it as an excuse for self-indulgence, though to be fair, he sometimes shows signs of compassion and humanity. The Smallweeds are caricatures of greed, selfishness, and small-mindedness. Mr. Krook is the evil, alcoholic junk shop owner, who dies of spontaneous combustion. And so it goes. Fortunately, these less appealing characters are offset by those with larger, nobler, more compassionate and dedicated natures. Rich and poor, good and bad, sick and healthy, mad and sane—and everything in between—all parade through the pages of Bleak House, a timeless, universal human drama as relevant today as it was when Dickens wrote it more than a hundred and fifty years ago.

Conclusions—So what happens in the end? Many of the characters reap what they sow. Some, like the boy Jo, are the victims of circumstances beyond their control, and they lack the means—both inner and outer—to overcome them. The Jarndyce suit, a farce from the beginning, confirms its true nature at the end, when the case is closed because the whole estate has been consumed by legal fees.

And what about the main characters? Richard is exhausted by his obsession with the case and dies without ever seeing his baby. Ada gives birth soon afterwards and is comforted by her child. She and her baby boy spend many of their days with their good friends, Esther, Allan, and John Jarndyce. Mr. George and his mother, Mrs. Rouncewell, take care of Sir Leicester, who regularly visits his late wife’s grave. Mr. George brings Phil with him to Chesney Wold, and in the summer, his friends the Bagnets visit him. Charley, Esther’s attendant, marries the miller and lives close to Esther. Caddy Jellyby ends up happy and prosperous, and though her family has its problems, she makes the most of things. Esther and Allan live with their two daughters in their own beautiful little Bleak House, a loving gift from Esther’s beloved guardian, John Jarndyce, who is always welcome and has his own Growlery there, though he hardly needs it anymore. The moral seems to be that whoever gives love and cares about others receives the same in the end—and much, much more.