things she read

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Chapters 33-38

No Victorian novel is complete without someone getting sick… sometimes, several someones. It’s only natural given the state of sanitation at the time that illness is generally a feature in the novels of the time. I am still not entirely certain what Esther’s fever really involves, but I don’t want to investigate too much for fear of running into plot spoilers… I am intrigued by the many intrigues and want to keep my suspicions fresh and uninformed by wikis, etc. Though if Mr. Guppy’s reaction to Esther’s changed appearance is any indication, this is more than a case of fever… I’m guessing smallpox? Or some sort of pox? My investigations will have to wait (though working at a medical library, I am sure I will find all manner of graphic depictions).

A crucial moment between Lady Dedlock and Esther during the latter’s convalescence at Mr. Boythorn’s reveals the connection between the two at long last, confirming what I had started to suspect when Esther encountered Lady Dedlock at the church in Chesney Wold. I remain intrigued by Lady Dedlock, but I cannot say that I felt particularly sympathetic towards her despite her moment of weakness.

Alas, poor Richard has fallen victim to the allures of Chancery and chance. I find that as the story progresses, I like Richard less and less as a character, mostly because I just lose all patience with him. I can’t hold Mr. Vholes accountable for Richard’s actions. Is he opportunistic? Yes, but it’s only to be expected that someone in Mr. Vholes’s position would make the most of the situation when faced with the possibility of taking on a client like Richard. He has no personal stake in the matter, despite his father in the Vale of Taunton and his two daughters. What should he care what it does to Richard so long as he earns his keep. I can’t exactly blame him for that. As for Mr. Skimpole, I never liked him to begin with and I like him even less. I find his “child-like” innocence far more damaging than Mrs. Jellyby’s dedication to the African scheme and Mr. Turveydrop’s deportment. These two are negligent of their affairs and their families, but they do not claim ignorance for their lack of self-control. Though Mr. Turveydrop uses his son shamelessly, he is what he is. I feel that all of Skimpole’s arguments are nothing but a clever front for the sake of self-indulgence, at the cost of friends and neighbors alike. Mr. Turveydrop and Mrs. Jellyby believe they are offering some sort of service to society (misguided though they may be), but Mr. Skimpole is merely out to satisfy his own greed.

The Bleak House Read-Along is hosted by Amanda at The Zen Leaf.

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Chapters 26-32

Mr. Guppy is up to no good once again. Grandfather Smallweed continues to be as nasty as can be, and Mr. Tulkinghorn tries to coerce the good-natured Mr. George into surrendering some writings that may or may not be in his possession, that may or may not have belonged to a Captain Hawdone, who may or may not have been the unknown Nimrod/Nemo who died in Mr. Krook’s dreary upstairs room.

The Dedlock plot starts to unravel as Lady Dedlock makes a crucial discovery. Caddy Jellyby makes her match and finally escapes the thrall of her mother’s passion for the African cause. And most curious of all, Mr. Krook becomes the victim of spontaneous combustion.

Though Lady Dedlock’s discovery was a bit predictable given the clues provided by Esther’s reaction to the similarity between herself and that Lady, it was still exciting to have my suspicions confirmed. Though not the usual sort of detective novel, there are plenty of mystery elements in Bleak House to keep the reader engaged… I think this may be one of the reasons that I am finally enjoying Dickens–it almost reminds me of a Sensation novel.

This is the second novel I’ve encountered that makes a point of defending the possibility of Spontaneous Combustion striking a person–the other novel being Brockden Brown’s Wieland. It makes me want to look further into the “evidence” that Dickens cites to support his claims (and argue against Mr. Lewes’s skepticism… George Henry Lewes, partner to George Eliot). Combustion seems to be used in both cases to indicate some sort of inner wrongness in the victims, though Dickens’s description of the aftermath of Mr. Krook’s death is much more disturbing than Brockden Brown’s. It’s been a while since I last read Wieland, but I recall that Wieland just sort of goes out like a light… a burst and poof. Krook sort of smolders and releases a dirty, greasy ash and smell, like something rotten. The thing is, I never read Mr. Krook as a particularly malevolent person. It seems to me there are plenty of other characters who warrant death by Spontaneous Combustion as a means of revealing their moral decay… Krook seemed like a harmless old drunk to me. Unless there is more that Dickens has yet to reveal regarding Krook’s involvement in Chancery?

The Bleak House Read-Along is hosted by Amanda at The Zen Leaf.

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Chapters 20-25

Oh, the Smallweeds, what an impossibly sycophantic lot. Mr. Smallweed’s oaths when tossing cushions at Mrs. Smallweed are some of the funniest lines I have read. I can just imagine this old pair–one blissfully unaware in her dementia, the other bitter to the end and unwilling to let anyone be more pleased than he. What a pair. Miss Smallweed, old before her time and the perfect match for her grandfather, and young Mr. Smallweed, just as described–a small weed leaching off of Mr. Guppy. The Jellybys and Turveydrops almost seem models of familial bliss compared to this lot. My copy of the text contains the illustrations from the first edition by ‘Phiz’ (Hablot Knight Browne) and the illustration of The Smallweed Family (p 340), with Miss Smallweed looking down on their poor, overworked and underfed maid, Charley, reveals such a miserable, shriveled up bunch that you cannot imagine any good cheer or fellow-feeling among that group.

But good things can happen, even in dreary, foggy London, despite people like the Smallweeds. Mr. Jarndyce saves a few more lost souls and brings the deserving Charley into his home as Esther’s maid. Caddy and Prince manage to overcome their parents’ obvious lack of enthusiasm and manage to piece together a wedding service, and establish a living space where they will be well out of the way, allowing Mr. Turveydrop to continue displaying his fine Deportment in the best light (and in the best rooms). Richard makes a go at a military profession after falling into debt, though he must put his engagement to Ada on hold. And Jo receives a few scraps of kindness.

The Bleak House Read-Along is hosted by Amanda at The Zen Leaf.