Bleak House, Research Prompt 3

Alicia Leonard

Research Prompt 3

Details Group

1. Author?

Charles Dickens

2. Publisher? (original and current)

Original-Bradbury & Evans, Current-W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

3. Publication date? (original and current)

Original-1852, Current-1977.

4. How many pages is the text?

986 pages

5. How many sections is the book broken into?

There are 10 different sections of the book, the text has 67 chapters.

6. Give a brief summary (50 words) of each chapter in today's reading assignment.

Chapter 1-It’s a foggy November afternoon in London. It seems that the fog is densest at the Temple bar, located in Lincoln’s Inn Hall, where the Lord High Chancellor sits in his High Court of Chancery. The court is hearing the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce.

Chapter 2-Lady Dedlock has been “bored to death,” so she returns to her house in town for a few days. She is married to Sir Leicester who is twenty years older than her. Lady Dedlock is beautiful; she has a fine face and an elegant figure. They see Mr. Tulkinghorn who represents their interests in Jarndyce and Jarndyce. Lady Dedlock notices a legal note and comments on the writing, and then she faints.

Chapter 3-Esther Summerson has no friends and is unloved. She says that she never loved her godmother, who is really her aunt, as she should have and this is the reason why her Dolly was her only friend. She has never heard of her mother or father. After her godmother dies she is put under the care of Mr. Jarndyce who sends her to a boarding school Greenleaf, where she stays for six years. After, she is asked to serve at Bleak House which is Mr. Jarndyce’s household. Here she meets Ada Clare and Richard Carstone, who are also serving at his household.

Chapter 4-Esther, Ada and Richard meet the Jellyby’s, who are friends of Mr. Jarndyce. The house is very untidy and dirty, with papers everywhere. Mrs. Jellyby concentrates a great deal on Africa and projects to benefit Africa. Esther gives the Jellyby’s son, Peepy, attention and is very affectionate toward him when he hurts himself. Esther tries to find out from Ada about Mr. Jarndyce, but she does not know anything because she has never seen him, and can only describe him as a “bluff, rossy fellow,” which is how Richard once described him.

Chapter 5-Esther, Ada and Richard go for a walk with Caddy Jellyby when they meet an old woman Miss Flite. She insists that they see her house, which is located above a rag and bottle shop owned by Mr. Krook. He talks to the group about the Jarndyce and Jarndyce suit. He mentions three names, Barbary, Clare and Dedlock. He also explains how Tom Jarndyce had shot himself.

Chapter 6-Esther, Richard and Ada arrive at Bleak house, where they finally meet Mr. Jarndyce. Esther remembers him from six years ago when she met him. They meet Harold Skimpole, who is described as a child. Mr. Skimpole says he has been arrested for debt, and could go to jail. He asks Esther and Richard for help, but when Mr. Jarndyce finds out he tells them not to give him money again. Esther also receives housekeeping keys from Mr. Jarndyce.

Chapter 7-Lady Dedlock and Sir Leicester are not at their home in Lincolnshire, their housekeeper Mrs. Rouncewall is there. It is raining on the Ghost walk by the house. Her grandson, Watt, is with her at the house. Two men come to visit the house, Mrs. Rouncewall invites them in. One of the men, Mr. Guppy, recognizes Lady Dedlock in the portrait he sees. Mrs. Rouncewall tells Watt and the maid Rosa the story of the Ghost Walk, which Sir Morbury Dedlock’s wife haunts since she died there.

Chapter 8-Esther learns from Mr. Jarndyce about the Jarndyce suit. He says how it is about a will that once contained a fortune, but is essentially worthless now from court costs. He tells her how the former owner of Bleak House and his uncle, Tom Jarndyce, shot himself. Mr. Jarndyce says that he trusts Esther. Esther and Ada meet Mrs. Pardiggle, who insists they go along with her to her work. On their way, Esther meets young boys who say how miserable they are because of their mother. Esther and Ada also see a woman, who appears to have been beaten, nursing a baby. Esther stays to check on the baby but it dies.

Chapter 9-Esther says that Richard and Ada are falling in love. Esther describes Richard as careless because he spent his money so quickly. Mr. Jarndyce receives a letter from Lawrence Boythorn, an old classmate. He comes to dinner and talks to Mr. Jarndyce about the Jarndyce and Jarndyce suit. Esther asks Mr. Jarndyce if Mr. Boythorn had ever been married, and he says that a woman had broken his heart. Mr. Guppy reveals that he is in love with Esther and asks her to marry him, but she refuses.

7. What are the main figures, or, who are the characters in the text?

Lady Dedlock, Esther Summerson, Ada Clare, Richard Carstone, Mr. Jarndyce

8. From this information, what do you understand the Theme of the text to be?

Neglect and abuse; in how the children are treated, such as the Jellyby’s children, the baby who dies, and how Esther was never loved by her godmother. This also ties into how the government seems to abuse the law and neglect the people of England. The Jarndyce and Jarndyce suit is essentially ignored by the Court.

9. What other information would you look for in the text to support this?

I would look at other relationships, and how Dickens’ portrays them. Almost every character in the first 9 chapters show some ties to a neglectful or abusive relationship.