Bleak House View and Read discussion

Almost all of the material in Episode 8 is not in the book, with the exception of the wonderfully moving and dramatic encounter between Esther and Lady Dedlock in which Esther learns the truth at long last (chapter 36, p 500-506.) The scene is beautifully played and I confess it had me in tears. We hear more about Captain Hawdon than is revealed in the book--I was glad to know that he was in the Light Dragoons and was to be posted to the West Indies. The death rate from yellow fever there was incredibly high and that makes it so plausible that Lady Dedlock (then Honoria Barbary) would have assumed him dead when she heard nothing from him. It also make it even more believable that she would have made love to him in their last meeting. The way she explains her marriage to Sir Leicester and why she and Esther must never meet again makes more sense in the film than the book.

All of the other scenes in this excellent episode are set ups for later events and are very well done--even those that are complete inventions. The scene where Miss Flite has a premonition about Richard was wonderful, as was the scene where Mr. Jarndyce hears Esther tell Ada that any hopes she might have had of marriage have been ended by her disfigurement. Jarndyce's conversation with Esther was very touching--he comes across as a dear, shy man who really loves Esther on many levels.

I enjoyed hearing the story of the Ghost Walk at Chesney Wold told by Mr. Boythorn, rather than Mrs. Rouncewell (Ch. 7) and he told it with great Gothic flourishes. The producers correctly chose to show and not tell and used the scenes with Mr. George, Tulkinghorn, Smallweed and Guppy as perfect set-ups for later events. I was glad to see Lady Jane (the cat) survived Krook's combustion!

Bleak House Chapters
Chapter 36 Chesney Wold