Bleak House by Charles Dickens | Summary, Analysis & Characters

• The Bleak House is a story of a family called Jarndyce. The story begins in the High Court of Chancery which is a court of equity found in London and Wales. Esther Summerson is raised by Miss Barbary who was in fact her aunt. Miss Barbary always tells her "Your mother, Esther, is your disgrace, and you were hers". Miss Barbary did not treat Esther Summerson well. After the death of Miss Barbary, John Jarndyce took care of Esther Summerson, she was 14 years old. Summerson moved to the Bleak House owned by Jarndyce. Jarndyce was a wealthy man who spend money on charities. Jarndyce helps Summerson with her education. In the Bleak House, Richard Carstone and Ada are two wards who are also guarded by John Jarndyce who is their distant cousin. Summerson, Ada, and Richard live together in the Bleak House. Ada becomes so close to Summerson. Richard and Ada are beneficiaries of the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case. Nobody knows a lot about Jarndyce and Jarndyce case at this time but the important thing about this case is that it includes the inheritance of money. Richard was very focusing on and obsessed with this case and he thought that it is the easiest way to be rich. Jarndyce advised Richard that he should focus on a career and not put all his attention on the case only, so he tried to become a doctor, then he studied law and lastly he purchases a grant as a military officer.
• Honoria, Lady Dedlock is also involved in Jarndyce and Jarndyce inherited case. She is a wealthy woman who married Sir Leicester. The lawyer of the Lady Dedlock family is called Tulkinghorn. While investigating the copies of legal documents of Tulkinghorn. Lady Dedlock suspects the handwriting of one of the papers belonging to a man called Nemo. Lady Dedlock tries to find Nemo. In order to do so, she fired her maid Hortense, disguised in her clothes, and searched for him. She found that Nemo has died from an overdose of Opium. Then, she goes to one of his friends called Jo. Jo said that Nemo was so kind to him, he showed Lady Dedlock places connected to Nemo. Tulkinghorn asked Inspector Bucket, a police investigator to seek Jo's assistance in finding the woman who was interested in Nemo. Jo only recognized the clothes of the retired maid.
• The paper was written by Captain Hawdon. Later, Mr. William Guppy, who is a lawyer, informs Lady Dedlock that the last name of Nemo is Hawdon and also the last name of Esther Summerson is Hawdon. Lady Dedlock realize that Summerson is her daughter. She went to Summerson and tell her the truth about her identity and that Miss Barbary was her aunt. She did not want anybody to know because of the reputation of the Leicester family so she warned Summerson not to reveal this secret.
• Summerson revealed the secret to Jarndyce. Tulkinghorn found the truth about the handwritten paper and told Lady Dedlock that he would not inform anyone about the truth. The maid Hortense tried to convince Tulkinghorn to reveal Lady Dedlock's secret but he refused. Tulkinghorn later decides to tell the truth to Lady Dedlock's husband but he was murdered. Bucket arrested Rouncewell a housekeeper who was accused of killing Tulkinghorn. At the same time, Summerson and Jarndyce asked a doctor called Woodcourt to look after Richard who becomes ill because of his obsession with the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case. Ada and Richard revealed their marriage.
• Bucket is not convinced that the housekeeper killed Tulkinghorn and he decided to tell Sir Leicester the secret of Lady Dedlock. After that, he found that Hortense was the one who killed Tulkinghorn and arrested her. Lady Dedlock became despaired and wrote a letter to her husband telling him the truth about Esther and that she is not involved in Tulkinghorn death. When Sir Leicester read her letter, he asked Bucket with the aid of Esther to find her. They finally found her dead beside Hawdon's graveyard.
• Esther became ill and doctor Woodcourt look after her and confess his love to her. Although Jarndyce and Summerson were engaged, Jarndyce decide to let Woodcourt and Summerson marry each other as he thought this would be better for Summerson. Esther gave birth to two daughters. Richard died when he found out that he would not inherit any money as all the money is spent on the fees of the case. Ada and her child lived with Jarndyce.

Image from page 409 of Bleak House book

The real Bleak House

Bleak House Themes

• Social Class: This is obviously recognized in Jarndyce and Lady Dedlock who were wealthy and rich. Members of low social classes such as the maid also play an important role in the story.
• Law/Justice: The law controls many of the characters of the Novel. For instance, Richard spent all his life chasing the inheritance of money and because of law, he lost his life. Dickens shed light on the Chancery Court that it does not help the citizens
• Guilty and Haunting: Dickens tried to demonstrate that it is not easy to run from pasts and everything sooner or later will be revealed.
• Passion and Obsession: Passion and Obsession may be good or bad. The character of Jarndyce who took care of people around him is beneficial, while the passion of Richard and his obsession with the case led him to death.
• Poverty: Poverty has led the maid to kill the lawyer.
• Lineage: Even though Lady Dedlock lived most of her life with her husband, she had no lineage to him after her death. However, she had lineage with Summerson whom she didn't live with at all.

Bleak House Symbols

• Fog in the novel "The raw afternoon is rawest, and the dense fog is densest". Fog gives the feeling of confusion and the difficulty of seeing the truth clearly, as discussed in the summary.
• House in the novel "reputation of being master of the mysteries of great houses". House gives an indication of the vividly inner lives of the characters

Bleak House Point of View

There are two narrators of the story: Summerson who tells the story in the past tense and another narrator who tells the story in the present tense. Parts of the story are told from Summerson's point of view and the other parts are told from the anonymous narrator point of view. The story includes many emotional and social issues that are real in life and that is why it is one of the best Dickens' novels.

Many colorful characters are included in this novel, Summerson tells the story of the Bleak House in the first person, is raised by her aunt and then joined Bleak House with Ada Clare and Richard Carstone under the guardianship of John Jarndyce. Lady Dedlock is married to a wealthy man and is a mother of Summerson. Tulkinghorn who is the lawyer of Lady Dedlock found out the identity of Nemo and Esther with the help of Mr. William Guppy, a lawyers' clerk that investigates the past of Summerson to reveal her true identity. Tulkinghorn knows the secret of Lady Dedlock and decided to tell her husband but he was murdered by the maid. Inspector Bucket is a detective who investigated many issues in the novel including Tulkinghorn death. Jarndyce is also the name of a long-running civil court dispute which cause the obsession of Richard who waited to inherit the money. Lady Dedlock died when she found out that her secret will be revealed. Summerson married the doctor Woodcourt and lived happily with him. Ada lived with Jarndyce with her baby. The story is a satire, that mocks human evil and folly in the Chancery court system.