The Old Curiosity Club discussion

Chapter 23

Esther’s Narrative

“If you please miss, I’m a present to you, with Mr Jarndyce’s love.”

For the most part, this chapter of Esther’s narrative is one not of gifts, but of various forms of deprivation. Esther, as she winds her way through this chapter, comes across two parents who are unkind to one of their children. Before we get to the heart of the chapter, however, Esther has an unexpected visitor who has an equally unexpected question.

Lady Dedlock’s former servant Mademoiselle Hortense pays a visit to Esther. She informs Esther that she has left Lady Dedlock and requests the opportunity to be Esther’s maid. Esther does not see this as a possibility, but Hortense presses Estella. Estella, for her part, draws back and tells us Hortense seems like a lady from the streets of Paris in the reign of terror. Rebuffed, Hortense finally leaves Esther. What do you make of the very strange interaction between Hortense and Esther?

Next, we learn that Richard is constant in his visits to Ada. Esther, for her part, was not easy in her mind about Richard. It appears that, slowly, but surely, Richard is becoming drawn into the black hole that is the Court of Chancery. He is, as Esther comments, sinking “deeper in the infatuation.” Apparently, he and Miss Flite were creating “a fatal link ...between his fresh youth and her faded age; between his free hopes and her caged birds, and her hungry garret, and her wandering mind.” Richard admits to Esther that he lacks consistency and is falling into debt. Still, Richard insists that his mental confusion “can’t last forever.” Richard then confesses that he has lost interest in the law and wants to join the army. Naively, he sees this occupation as being a way to save money. Feckless Richard! Run Ada run. Sadly, I don’t see that happening. Do you?

Our next stop in this chapter is a visit with Caddy. Unlike Richard, Caddy is very happy to listen to Esther’s advice. The friendship that appears to be fraying between Richard and Esther is contrasted with the obvious friendship that is blossoming between Esther and Caddy. Caddy asks Esther to accompany her to both Mr Turveydrop’s and Mrs Jellyby’s where she plans to announce her marriage plans with Prince. Turveydrop senior receives the news with worry. His self-love and selfishness is immediately evident. He sobs, frets, and worries about his own continuing comforts. Upon being reassured that he will continue to be the centre of the Turveydrop universe, his remarkable Deportment and equilibrium is immediately restored. At this point in the novel I’m unsure whether I dislike Skimpole or Turveydrop senior more. What are your thoughts?

The next stop on this mini Odyssey of a chapter is the Jellyby residence. Esther sees bills on the windows of the Jellyby home and thus learns that Mr Jellyby appears on the list of bankrupts. Esther finds Mrs Jellyby still hard at work saving the world and successfully ignoring her own husband, children, and home. Mrs Jellyby says she is so busy and much engaged in her work so she has “no time” to think about her own household. Upon learning of Caddy’s forthcoming marriage, Mrs Jellyby is indifferent. If Caddy is not involved in the destiny of the human race, then her child’s happiness is of no importance to Mrs Jellyby. All in all, Esther remarks upon “the perfect coolness of this reception.” Caddy tries to create some emotional bond with her mother with a kiss, but is told she is “a degenerate child” and a “silly chit.”

Thoughts

Both Mr Turveydrop and Mrs Jellyby have strong reactions to Caddy's announcement of her engagement. Their separate responses show how selfish both are. One the one hand, Turveydrop is most concerned that his personal Deportment and comfortable life will be disrupted by his son’s marriage. Only when he is assured that his lifestyle will be the same, or even enhanced, does he come round to see Caddy and Prince as not being a threat. In the case of Mrs Jellyby, Caddy’s announcement is a further annoyance to her mother since Caddy’s values and future do not align with her own. Mrs Jellyby’s business solutions are to hire a replacement for Caddy and disown her daughter. While response do you find most distressing? What might Dickens be suggesting about parents and the marriage of their children in the responses of the parents towards Caddy? What motivation might Dickens have for Esther being a witness to these two events?


When Esther arrives home that evening she is greeted with smiles and cries of joy and bright faces. How quickly and efficiently Dickens changes the mood of the chapter. Another great delight for Esther is the appearance of Charley, who tells Esther that “I am a present to you, with Mr Jarndyce’s love.” We find out that not only has Jarndyce hired Charley to be Esther’s maid, but also provided for Charley’s younger brother and sister. And so, as Esther is a guardian to Ada and the mistress of the house, she now has her own maid. The goodness and bounty that comes from Mr Jarndyce is a great contrast to the earlier interactions Esther experienced with Mr Turveydrop and Mrs Jellyby. There is goodness and care in the world. There is consideration and love between people.

Thoughts

We often discover in our reading of 19C novels surprises as to the age of children and when they begin their work life. Charley is a little over 13. Is there any other character in this novel whose age and their life choices are surprising to someone from the 21 C?

I think there is a very definite sub-text to this chapter of lovers and their beloved and the concept of rejection because of love. What do you see, suspect, and think?

Caddy says to Esther “I’m a present to you.” I have never been comfortable with that line. On the one hand, it could simply be the language of a 13 year old girl very grateful to Mr Jarndyce for being so kind to both her and her siblings. Then again, it could be the accepted and normal phrasing of the 19C. It could also, however, suggest a more murky world that existed in the 19C but is at total odds with our thoughts in the 21C. What do you think?

Chapter 24

An Appeal Case.

“ I think I am the best judge about myself.” < Richard >

This chapter begins with Richard and Mr Jarndyce at odds about Richard’s future. Once again, Richard has changed his mind on what he wants to do with his life. Regardless of what he wants to do, we learn that an application to the Lord Chancellor must be involved and approved. Richard finds it a good joke that the courts should reprove him for trifling with time, and yet the court itself is quite content to take years and years with the Jarndyce case and still not reach a decision. I agree with Richard on that point. For the reader, the court’s involvement in Richard’s life is further evidence of how the legal system is a miasma that overhangs the lives of everyone.

There is a clear rift that develops between Richard and Mr Jarndyce, one that will not be healed soon. Richard believes he knows himself better than anyone. The price of Richard’s change of mind is high. Mr Jarndyce informs Ada that Richard has “exhausted his resources, and is bound henceforward to the tree he has planted.” Jarndyce pleads with Richard not to put any faith in the Court of Chancery. Jarndyce also recommends that Richard should part from himself and Ada and have “no sort of contract” with Ada. Jarndyce attempts to be cordial with Richard; Richard appears to enjoy being confrontational with Jarndyce. Esther tells us that from this point onward Richard was never free and open with Jarndyce and an “estrangement began to arise between them.”

Esther meets Mr George, a former cavalry soldier and owner of a shooting gallery, who is teaching Richard the art of fencing. Mr George assesses Richard as a good pupil but one who is unable to keep his mind focussed. We then read that Mr George takes many looks at Esther and believes that he had seen her somewhere. Mr George tells Esther that he has a good mind for faces. Faces again. How is it possible that Mr George would think he had seen Esther before? So many mysteries. Mr George explains that all types and forms of people come to his shooting gallery, from “gentlemen to ‘prentices.” He has even a French woman who “dabs at pistol shooting.” Hmmm ... Apparently Gridley also was once a customer who used the range to blow off some steam and anger.

On the day of Richard’s departure he and Esther go to the court and see the Lord Chancellor in his “very easy chair” with his elbows on its “cushioned arms.” Dickens makes his point even more obvious when he comments on how the Lord Chancellor sees “everything going on so smoothly” and contrasts that to “the roughness of the suitors’ lives and deaths.”

Thoughts

Who is the best judge of a person’s character in terms of Richard? Richard himself, Jarndyce, Esther, Ada?

When we contrast the description of the comfort of the Lord Chancellor with that of the people he presides over, what degree of sympathy do you think Dickens has for the Lord Chancellor?

To what extent was Mr Jarndyce in his rights to handle Richard and his future as he did?

While in the court Esther tells us that when the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce was mentioned “there was a buzz, and a laugh, and a general withdrawal of the bystanders.” What does this indicate about the public’s opinion of the ongoing case?

As Esther and Richard are leaving the court Mr Guppy approaches and asks if Esther would be willing to shake hands with a person from her past. It turns out to be Mrs Rachael from her godmother’s house. It turns out that Mrs Rachael is now married to Mr Chadband. Once again, the Esther’s past becomes linked to her present, and connected with Mr Guppy. Now Dickens incorporates coincidences! Mrs Rachael seems as cold and austere as she ever was. Next, Esther sees Mr George who tells Esther that Gridley is hiding at his shooting gallery and wants Esther to tell Miss Flite where Gridley is. Miss Flite is honoured to meet Mr George. Esther, Richard, Miss Flite and Mr George go to the shooting gallery where they find an elderly man, a physician, waiting at the door. Once inside, the supposed doctor turns out to be Inspector Bucket who has come to arrest Gridley. Gridley is found in a barren room still writing and dwelling on his grievances. Mr Jarndyce arrives and he and Gridley talk. Both these men are victims of Chancery. It is quite apparent that Gridley is a defeated man. The court system has, quite literally, brought him to the brink of death. He and Miss Flite are the human embodiments of what the legal system can, and will do, to those who oppose it too vigorously.

Inspector Bucket during this time turns out to be a man of good humour and with a good heart. While being the representative of the law, he is clearly distanced by Dickens from the grinding impersonality of the court system. Gridley dies, Miss Flite screams, and Esther tells us that a shadow fell heavily on Richard’s parting. What has Richard learned from witnessing these events?


Thoughts

Why might Dickens have made Inspector Bucket such an admirable person?

Chapter 25

Mrs Snagsby Sees It All

< … but Mr Snagsby is changed, and his little woman knows it. >


Suspicion is stalking Cook’s Court. Mr Snagsby feels that something is wrong, somewhere, but it is a puzzle exactly what it is. He thinks of the court, of Mr Tulkinghorn, of Mr Bucket and his forefinger, and the possibility that Snagsby himself is part of some “dangerous secret” and that this secret is dangerous.

Now, Mrs Snagsby has suspicions as well. She believes that her husband definitely has something on his mind. To her, “the suspicion turns to jealousy” and so she goes through her husband’s pockets and reads his letters, looks at his ledgers, and checks his cashbox and iron safe. She is always in a state of high alert. She wonders who Nemo is, who was the mysterious lady, and who was the boy. On the surface these are some good questions as we the readers are/were uncertain of the exact details ourselves. I found the questions of Mrs Snagsby an interesting twist. She asks what the reader has asked, and yet Dickens flips the scene so that Mrs Snagsby is seen as a snoop. We as readers, of course, thought our questions were relevant and important to the unravelling of the plot.

The focus of the chapter now shifts to the reintroduction of Mr Chadband. Chadband has threatened Jo with the police unless he appears for an intervention with Mrs Snagsby in Cook Street. Dickens often delights in poking fun at characters and their individual characteristics. In the following paragraphs, we see Dickens at his finest as Mr Chadband comes under the scrutiny of Dickens’s pen. But first, we pause for a second and enjoy the fact that Mrs Snagsby believes that her husband's secret is that he is Jo’s father. Oh my ....

Chadband’s vocabulary and evangelical zeal is parodied in his speech, in his actions, and, most delightfully, in his physical appearance. We read that he needs to wipe the “oily exudations from his reverend visage.” Next, Dickens has Chadband command that the “human boy, ( Jo) come forward.” In the next sentence we read that Chadband stretched forth “his flabby paw.” “Human boy ...” “flabby paw.” These phrases, juxtaposed so closely, leads me to speculate that Dickens saw Jo as better than Chadband. As the following paragraphs unfold, Dickens makes reference to Chadband’s hands as “bear paws.” To expand on the hints of gluttony, Dickens uses the phrase “fatly arguing,” makes reference to Chadband’s “dirty thumb-nail,” his “oily smile,” his “fat head” and his “greasily meek smile.” Chadband’s “flights of oratory” continue. All this time, we are told, Jo stood on the same spot where “picking his cap,” he put “bits of fur in his mouth.” Jo is hungry for food; Chadband’s voracious appetite is unquenchable. Finally, Jo has had enough, and proceeds downstairs where Guster offers to feed him.

As our chapter ends, Mr Snagsby gives Jo a half-crown. Jo leaves but the unfounded suspicions of Mrs Snagsby to her husband remain. As for Mr Chadband, I can only speculate that being the glutton he was portrayed to be, he went in search of other souls to consume.

Thoughts


Humour comes in many varieties and from various sources and situations. To me, the humour of this chapter was dark, and yet still delightful. What was your response to this chapter, its characters, and its situation?

Peter wrote: "Chapter 23..."

I highlighted that sentence about Hortense looking like "some woman for the streets of Paris in the reign of terror", as well, Peter. Perhaps we're seeing the seeds of Madame Defarge and A Tale of Two Cities here.

Oh, dear. Esther sent Hortense away, claiming she has no need of a maid, and now here's Charley. Hortense won't be happy about this turn of events...

I'm so glad that Jarndyce has turned the lives of these children around. He's a good man. This stood out to me:

"...it was all done for the love of you and that you might be my mistress. If you please, miss, I am a little present with his love, and it was all done for the love of you."

Not "regard", not "affection", not "esteem".... hmmm.....

You all have me noticing the narration much more this time around, particularly after reading Copperfield. It seemed awkward for Esther to accompany Caddy to announce her engagement to her mother and future father-in-law, but it allowed us to be flies on the wall. This sentence kind of summed up her presence for me:

I said nothing, which I thought a suitable reply.

Esther really serves no purpose here except to allow us to be second-hand witnesses to these pathetic exchanges. It also gives us the opportunity to compare and contrast the warmth of Esther's jerry-rigged family to the indifference of these two blood families, which is incredibly sad. There are a lot of horrible parents in Bleak House: Mr. Turveydrop; Mrs. Jellyby; Mrs. Pardiggle; Skimpole; Miss Barbary... not a great group to promote family values! The only good parents we have are Jenny and Elizabeth, whose babies suffer and die from malnutrition. How depressing!

Peter wrote: "Chapter 24..."

Oh, Richard... You're determined to learn things the hard way, rather than benefit from the wisdom of your elders. A tale as old as time.

Yes, lots of coincidences in this chapter. But unlike those in his earlier books, Dickens has learned to make even the unlikely coincidences plausible. I am, though, wondering how Jarndyce managed to show up at Mr. George's place. Esther and Richard hadn't planned on going there. A minor continuity error, unless I just missed something.

Peter wrote: "Why might Dickens have made Inspector Bucket such an admirable person?

Interesting question. The reader has to like (or, hopefully, at least respect the abilities of) the detective who both represents and brings about justice. Dickens certainly had little good to say about established systems, and yet Bucket is the personification of the law -- one side of it anyway. He is the light to contrast with the darkness of Chancery. And obviously Dickens admired -- was his name Fields? Fielding? -- the man on whom Bucket was modeled.

We learn a bit about Bucket in this chapter, which gives him more depth:

"My wife and a lodger constitute my family. Mrs. Bucket is as fond of children as myself and as wishful to have 'em, but no. So it is. Worldly goods are divided unequally, and man must not repine."

I admire his equanimity.

What is that literary device that we've talked about in the past -- when an author doesn't mention the gun over the mantle unless he's going to use it at some point? My memory is poor enough that I don't recall anything about Bucket's lodger, but I can't help but think that it's an odd addition to this passage, unless the lodger is going to serve a purpose along the way.

Peter wrote: "Chapter 25..."

But first, we pause for a second and enjoy the fact that Mrs Snagsby believes that her husband's secret is that he is Jo’s father. Oh my ....

It's good that I wasn't sipping my tea when I read the conclusion Mrs. Snagsby had jumped to, or surely it would have sprayed across the pages of my book. :-)

What was your response to this chapter, its characters, and its situation?

There are some characters in the extraordinary population of Dickensia who are, perhaps, meant to be amusing, but whom I find tedious. Chadband falls into this group. I find myself skimming his sermons and not feeling as if I've missed much. So, aside from Mrs. Skimpole getting the wrong end of the stick, and the small but warm moment between Jo and Guster, this was not among my favorite chapters.

Hi Mary Lou

Here is a link to a Dickens article on Inspector Field who is apparently where the idea/inspiration for Bucket came.

Is the word you are looking for foreshadowing?

It’s always a pleasure to see your Saturday posts. :-)



https://abrahamson.medill.northwester...

Mary Lou wrote: "Peter wrote: "Chapter 24..."

Oh, Richard... You're determined to learn things the hard way, rather than benefit from the wisdom of your elders. A tale as old as time.

Yes, lots of coincidences i..."
I totally missed Bucket mentioning his lodger here every time, until you pointed it out here, and I got thinking about your question, so remembering who his lodger is. Indeed, in literature a gun is not mentioned unless it is bound to go off. A lot of guns are mentioned in this chapter. What happens to Gridley we have seen here, what of the Frenchwoman?

Talking about the Frenchwoman, I also wrote down quite a lot about that scene between Hortense and Esther. I saw a lot of similarities to Guppy's proposal. He was obsessed with Lady Dedlock's portrait, she was her maid, and both came to Esther for their proposals directly after either seeing the portrait or being dismissed by her. They both mentioned money to try and make the deal sweeter - Guppy by mentioning his wages, Hortense by that she would require none until she had proven her worth. Both think they have something to offer Esther specifically and will show her their worth in some way. Neither takes 'no' for an answer.

I really think this scene is just as linked to the mystery as Guppy's proposal was. And while Guppy reacted to Esther's 'no' by stalking, but seems funny and harmless enough, I am not so sure about Hortense. What will she do now apparently Tulkinhorn doesn't get her a new job quickly enough, and Esther does clearly not want her?

And in the last chapter: I thought it was so sad that no one thought of feeding Jo, and only Guster gave him her own food because she noticed how hungry he was! I bet Chadband got plenty of food, and his gluttony only makes the contrast bigger.

Jantine wrote: "And in the last chapter: I thought it was so sad that no one thought of feeding Jo, and only Guster gave him her own food because she noticed how hungry he was! I bet Chadband got plenty of food, a..."

Hi Jantine

Yes. It’s like Jo does not even exist or he is only a prop for others like Chadband to pontificate about, but do nothing. Dickens made Chadband appear like a lumpy, greasy, glutton. Perhaps Chadband is meant to represent the deadly sin of gluttony.

Could someone please remind me in which chapter we meet Gridley for the first time?

Mary Lou wrote: "Peter wrote: "Chapter 24..."

Oh, Richard... You're determined to learn things the hard way, rather than benefit from the wisdom of your elders. A tale as old as time.

Yes, lots of coincidences i..."

Mary Lou, the fact that Jarndyce shows up at the shooting gallery is not a coincidence. Esther says: 'I wrote a hasty note in pencil to my guardian to say where we were gone and why. Mr George sealed it at a coffee-house...and we sent it off by a ticket-porter.'

Ulysse wrote: "Could someone please remind me in which chapter we meet Gridley for the first time?"

Very early on, Ulysse, but not by name. On page 7 of my Nook edition, he appears thus:

Another ruined suitor, who periodically appears from Shropshire and breaks out into efforts to address the Chancellor at the close of the day's business and who can by no means be made to understand that the Chancellor is legally ignorant of his existence after making it desolate for a quarter of a century, plants himself in a good place and keeps an eye on the judge, ready to call out "My Lord!" in a voice of sonorous complaint on the instant of his rising. A few lawyers' clerks and others who know this suitor by sight linger on the chance of his furnishing some fun and enlivening the dismal weather a little.

Poor Gridley... he's nothing but a joke to those who even bother to recognize him. :-(

Thanks for pointing out the quickly scrawled note to Jarndyce. Obviously, that didn't register with me when I read it.

Jantine wrote: "Talking about the Frenchwoman, I also wrote down quite a lot about that scene between Hortense and Esther. I saw a lot of similarities to Guppy's proposal. He was obsessed with Lady Dedlock's portr..."

Interesting comparison between the two proposals, Jantine. Not to disparage Esther (though there are those who would - you know who you are!), but why is this orphaned housekeeper being sought out by so many? It does seem unlikely.

Mary Lou and Jantine

There is so much rich detail. I totally missed the fact that Gridley is first mentioned in the early stages of the novel. He does appear and speak in Chapter 15, but, as Mary Lou points out, Dickens has already tucked him into the narrative earlier.

The Hortense/Guppy link is another interesting comparison/link within the text. Thanks for pointing it out. What is it that they both want from Esther? Does Hortense merely want a job? Is it solely infatuation on the part of Guppy?

As we work our way through Bleak House I am becoming increasingly aware of the masterly way that Dickens is blending the first person narrative with the third person. I am now wondering what it would be like to experience the novel by reading only the first person chapters of Esther.

Now, Mary Lou, who would disparage poor, lovely Esther? ;-) She gets all the confidence from Caddy and Prince, Mr. Guppy's heart swells at the very thought of her, and Hortense would even be willing to serve her for no money for a while - and then Mr. Jarndyce employs a young maid for her. It is quite interesting that both Guppy and Hortense make certain allusions about being useful to her in some future time, and I wonder how that could be the case? Another thing that struck me was that Mr. George had the impression of her face being familiar to him. Did he ever come across her before? We only know him in connection with the Smallweeds and Gridley and poor Miss Flite so far.

As to Mlle Hortense, like Mary Lou, I felt reminded of Mme Defarge by her, and then there was this passage where Mr. George says that once even a Frenchwoman came to his shooting gallery to practise her skills with the gun, skills which were already quite fine. Now, Mary Lou mentioned the gun over the fireplace, and here we have a Frenchwoman mentioned in connection with a gun. Where is this leading to, especially if this Frenchwoman is Mlle Hortense after all.

Peter asked whom we disliked more - Mr. Skimpole or Mr. Turveydrop. I'd say that I do hold a grudge against Mr. Turveydrop, but I dislike Skimpole even more because I think he is more scheming and intelligent and knows very well what he is doing, whereas Turveydrop strikes me as rather limited in his cognitive faculties. I was more taken aback by Mrs. Jellyby's reaction in comparison to the Master of Deportment's because Mrs. Jellyby comes over as very cold to her own child, and I would have expected her to show at least a moment's concern and interest here.

Mr. Snagsby (and Guster) show some human kindness, which I did not find too surprising after all, and I am very sorry that Mr. Snagsby should have to undergo such an amount of mental anguish, although it was quite funny to read about his wife's absurd suspicions.

Mary Lou wrote: "Ulysse wrote: "Could someone please remind me in which chapter we meet Gridley for the first time?"

Very early on, Ulysse, but not by name. On page 7 of my Nook edition, he appears thus:

Another ..."

Thanks Mary Lou. I totally missed that. So many details in this novel it's hard to keep track. I suppose that is what makes Dickens so eminently re-readable.

Poor Richard. Poor Esther. Poor Skimpole. Poor me having to put up wit the three of them. I have been trying to think of a Dicken's character who is anything like Richard, but I can't come up with one. Since so many of Dickens books and Dickens characters have happy endings I was hoping I could think of someone who went down the same road as Richard, something close to it anyway, but ended up with a happy ending. Unfortunately, I can't think of any, I can't see much of a happy ending for Richard. I wonder when he began to be so fascinated with this case. He was nineteen when he came to live with Mr. Jarndyce, at least I think so, and I wonder if, even before that he was thinking of the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case making him wealthy someday or if he only began thinking of it when he came to live at Bleak House. But I'd still take him over Skimpole any day, the best thing about Skimpole is that he is seldom in the book, so far anyway. And poor Esther, not only can she remember no one's name, they can't remember hers either, all the my pet, my love, my darling, Dame Durden, Mrs. Shipton, Little Old Lady, it's annoying.

And as for Richard joining the Army, I can't imagine he will last long enough to wear the uniform.

Peter wrote: "The Hortense/Guppy link is another interesting comparison/link within the text."

Now that you said that you have them married in my mind. Maybe that will be their happily ever after in the last chapter. :-)

As for the Turveydrops, the way Prince worships his father would annoy me much more than the way Mr. Turveydrop acts. I wonder if the three of them, Mr. Turveydrop, Prince and Caddy actually do believe all this stuff, and what other people think when Mr. Turveydrop is walking around town showing his deportment.

Another eye rolling moment for me is when Esther arrives home:

They were so glad to see me when I got home, as they always were, that I could have sat down and cried for joy if that had not been a method of making myself disagreeable. Everybody in the house, from the lowest to the highest, showed me such a bright face of welcome, and spoke so cheerily, and was so happy to do anything for me, that I suppose there never was such a fortunate little creature in the world.

My word, she was gone for a day not a month, and till she came home she probably couldn't remember any of their names anyway.

Is Esther the housekeeper and Ada's maid? I find it strange that Esther is given a maid and Ada isn't unless Esther is considered her maid in the first place. Although I haven't noticed Esther helping Ada dress or fixing her hair.

That always made me wonder, too, Kim.

Doesn't it seem strange? Why would a housekeeper need a maid? I would hate to have a maid by the way. If I had a housekeeper I'd have to clean the house everyday before she came so she wouldn't see how messed up it can get. :-)

A model of parental deportment

Chapter 23

Phiz

Text Illustrated:

"Engaged!" cried Mr. Turveydrop, reclining on the sofa and shutting out the sight with his hand. "An arrow launched at my brain by my own child!"

"We have been engaged for some time, father," faltered Prince, "and Miss Summerson, hearing of it, advised that we should declare the fact to you and was so very kind as to attend on the present occasion. Miss Jellyby is a young lady who deeply respects you, father."

Mr. Turveydrop uttered a groan.

"No, pray don't! Pray don't, father," urged his son. "Miss Jellyby is a young lady who deeply respects you, and our first desire is to consider your comfort."

Mr. Turveydrop sobbed.

"No, pray don't, father!" cried his son.

"Boy," said Mr. Turveydrop, "it is well that your sainted mother is spared this pang. Strike deep, and spare not. Strike home, sir, strike home!"

"Pray don't say so, father," implored Prince, in tears. "It goes to my heart. I do assure you, father, that our first wish and intention is to consider your comfort. Caroline and I do not forget our duty — what is my duty is Caroline's, as we have often said together — and with your approval and consent, father, we will devote ourselves to making your life agreeable."

"Strike home," murmured Mr. Turveydrop. "Strike home!" But he seemed to listen, I thought, too.

"My dear father," returned Prince, "we well know what little comforts you are accustomed to and have a right to, and it will always be our study and our pride to provide those before anything. If you will bless us with your approval and consent, father, we shall not think of being married until it is quite agreeable to you; and when we ARE married, we shall always make you — of course — our first consideration. You must ever be the head and master here, father; and we feel how truly unnatural it would be in us if we failed to know it or if we failed to exert ourselves in every possible way to please you."

Mr. Turveydrop underwent a severe internal struggle and came upright on the sofa again with his cheeks puffing over his stiff cravat, a perfect model of parental deportment.

"My son!" said Mr. Turveydrop. "My children! I cannot resist your prayer. Be happy!"

Chapter 24

Mr. Chadband 'Improving' a Tough Subject

Phiz

Text Illustrated:

"Peace, my friends," says Chadband, rising and wiping the oily exudations from his reverend visage. "Peace be with us! My friends, why with us? Because," with his fat smile, "it cannot be against us, because it must be for us; because it is not hardening, because it is softening; because it does not make war like the hawk, but comes home unto us like the dove. Therefore, my friends, peace be with us! My human boy, come forward!"

Stretching forth his flabby paw, Mr. Chadband lays the same on Jo's arm and considers where to station him. Jo, very doubtful of his reverend friend's intentions and not at all clear but that something practical and painful is going to be done to him, mutters, "You let me alone. I never said nothink to you. You let me alone."

"No, my young friend," says Chadband smoothly, "I will not let you alone. And why? Because I am a harvest-labourer, because I am a toiler and a moiler, because you are delivered over unto me and are become as a precious instrument in my hands. My friends, may I so employ this instrument as to use it to your advantage, to your profit, to your gain, to your welfare, to your enrichment! My young friend, sit upon this stool." . . .

It happens that Mr. Chadband has a pulpit habit of fixing some member of his congregation with his eye and fatly arguing his points with that particular person, who is understood to be expected to be moved to an occasional grunt, groan, gasp, or other audible expression of inward working, which expression of inward working, being echoed by some elderly lady in the next pew and so communicated like a game of forfeits through a circle of the more fermentable sinners present, serves the purpose of parliamentary cheering and gets Mr. Chadband's steam up. From mere force of habit, Mr. Chadband in saying "My friends!" has rested his eye on Mr. Snagsby and proceeds to make that ill-starred stationer, already sufficiently confused, the immediate recipient of his discourse.

"We have here among us, my friends," says Chadband, "a Gentile and a heathen, a dweller in the tents of Tom-all-Alone's and a mover-on upon the surface of the earth. We have here among us, my friends," and Mr. Chadband, untwisting the point with his dirty thumb-nail, bestows an oily smile on Mr. Snagsby, signifying that he will throw him an argumentative back-fall presently if he be not already down, "a brother and a boy. Devoid of parents, devoid of relations, devoid of flocks and herds, devoid of gold and silver and of precious stones. Now, my friends, why do I say he is devoid of these possessions? Why? Why is he?" Mr. Chadband states the question as if he were propounding an entirely new riddle of much ingenuity and merit to Mr. Snagsby and entreating him not to give it up.

Commentary:

Phiz here beautifully captures one of Dickens's oily Evangelical clergymen. From the beginning of his career, the novelist presents Evangelicals preying upon women, and although Chadband is not quite as despicable as Stiggins from the Pickwick Papers, since he does not appear as an alcoholic cadging food and drink from a poor family, his combination of self-satisfaction, clichés, and rhetorical questions makes his preaching to Jo particularly despicable. Bleak House contrasts the hypocritical self-serving false religiosity of Chadband with the truer Christianity of both Esther and Woodcourt.

Dickens does not seem to criticize Evangelical Anglicans — that is, Evangelicals within the established Church — and he claimed:

"one of my most constant and most earnest endeavours has been to exhibit in all my good people some faint reflections of our great Master, and unostentatiously to lead the reader up to those teachings as the great source of all moral goodness. All my strongest illustrations are drawn from the New Testament; all my social abuses are shown as departures from its spirit; all my good people are humble, charitable, faithful, and forgiving" (Letter to Reverend D. Macrae)"

"O, you ridiculous child!" observed Mrs. Jellyby, with an abstracted air, as she looked over the despatch last opened; "what a goose you are!"

Chapter 23

Fred Barnard

Text Illustrated:

"Perhaps," I began, "you will wonder what has brought me here to interrupt you."

"I am always delighted to see Miss Summerson," said Mrs. Jellyby, pursuing her employment with a placid smile. "Though I wish," and she shook her head, "she was more interested in the Borrioboolan project."

"I have come with Caddy," said I, "because Caddy justly thinks she ought not to have a secret from her mother and fancies I shall encourage and aid her (though I am sure I don't know how) in imparting one."

"Caddy," said Mrs. Jellyby, pausing for a moment in her occupation and then serenely pursuing it after shaking her head, "you are going to tell me some nonsense."

Caddy untied the strings of her bonnet, took her bonnet off, and letting it dangle on the floor by the strings, and crying heartily, said, "Ma, I am engaged."

"Oh, you ridiculous child!" observed Mrs. Jellyby with an abstracted air as she looked over the dispatch last opened; "what a goose you are!"

"I am engaged, Ma," sobbed Caddy, "to young Mr. Turveydrop, at the academy; and old Mr. Turveydrop (who is a very gentlemanly man indeed) has given his consent, and I beg and pray you'll give us yours, Ma, because I never could be happy without it. I never, never could!" sobbed Caddy, quite forgetful of her general complainings and of everything but her natural affection.

"You see again, Miss Summerson," observed Mrs. Jellyby serenely, "what a happiness it is to be so much occupied as I am and to have this necessity for self-concentration that I have. Here is Caddy engaged to a dancing-master's son—mixed up with people who have no more sympathy with the destinies of the human race than she has herself! This, too, when Mr. Quale, one of the first philanthropists of our time, has mentioned to me that he was really disposed to be interested in her!"

"Of all my old associations, of all my old pursuits and hopes, of all the living and the dead world, this one poor soul alone comes natural to me, and I am fit for"

Chapter 24

Fred Barnard

Text Illustrated:

He inclined his head to Richard and me and spoke to my guardian.

"Mr. Jarndyce, it is very kind of you to come to see me. I am not long to be seen, I think. I am very glad to take your hand, sir. You are a good man, superior to injustice, and God knows I honour you."

They shook hands earnestly, and my guardian said some words of comfort to him.

"It may seem strange to you, sir," returned Gridley; "I should not have liked to see you if this had been the first time of our meeting. But you know I made a fight for it, you know I stood up with my single hand against them all, you know I told them the truth to the last, and told them what they were, and what they had done to me; so I don't mind your seeing me, this wreck."

"You have been courageous with them many and many a time," returned my guardian.

"Sir, I have been," with a faint smile. "I told you what would come of it when I ceased to be so, and see here! Look at us—look at us!" He drew the hand Miss Flite held through her arm and brought her something nearer to him.

"This ends it. Of all my old associations, of all my old pursuits and hopes, of all the living and the dead world, this one poor soul alone comes natural to me, and I am fit for. There is a tie of many suffering years between us two, and it is the only tie I ever had on earth that Chancery has not broken."

"Accept my blessing, Gridley," said Miss Flite in tears. "Accept my blessing!"

"What's gone of your father and your mother, eh!"

Chapter 25

Fred Barnard

Text Illustrated:

But downstairs is the charitable Guster, holding by the handrail of the kitchen stairs and warding off a fit, as yet doubtfully, the same having been induced by Mrs. Snagsby's screaming. She has her own supper of bread and cheese to hand to Jo, with whom she ventures to interchange a word or so for the first time.

"Here's something to eat, poor boy," says Guster.

"Thank'ee, mum," says Jo.

"Are you hungry?"

"Jist!" says Jo.

"What's gone of your father and your mother, eh?"

Jo stops in the middle of a bite and looks petrified. For this orphan charge of the Christian saint whose shrine was at Tooting has patted him on the shoulder, and it is the first time in his life that any decent hand has been so laid upon him.

"I never know'd nothink about 'em," says Jo.

"No more didn't I of mine," cries Guster. She is repressing symptoms favourable to the fit when she seems to take alarm at something and vanishes down the stairs.

"Jo," whispers the law-stationer softly as the boy lingers on the step.

"Here I am, Mr. Snagsby!"

"I didn't know you were gone—there's another half-crown, Jo. It was quite right of you to say nothing about the lady the other night when we were out together. It would breed trouble. You can't be too quiet, Jo."

"I am fly, master!"

And so, good night.

Here we have Mr. Snagsby by Mervyn Peake

This is Jo also by Mervyn Peake, a slightly different one than I posted before.

And here's my tribute to poor, dead Gridley:



Gridley by Mervyn Peake



Gridley by Kyd of course

This is Miss Flite from the 1959 movie



Miss Flite in 1985 miniseries and finally



another Mill Flite from the 2005 mini-series

Kim wrote: "Is Esther the housekeeper and Ada's maid? I find it strange that Esther is given a maid and Ada isn't unless Esther is considered her maid in the first place. Although I haven't noticed Esther help..."

Esther is a companion to Ada. Unlike Rosa Dartle, Esther is loving and harmless. Charley is Esther’s maid, or, as we have been told, a gift from Mr Jarndyce. I think it fair to say that the Jarndyce household is a much happier and functional one than the Steerforth household. ;-)

Kim wrote: "

A model of parental deportment

Chapter 23

Phiz

Text Illustrated:

"Engaged!" cried Mr. Turveydrop, reclining on the sofa and shutting out the sight with his hand. "An arrow launched at my brai..."

Kim

Thanks as ever for the illustrations. When I see Turveydrop senior’s foot on the footstool it is suggestive how he has his son and Caddy under his foot.

And there is Esther, with her face undetectable to the reader.

Kim wrote: "

Chapter 24

Mr. Chadband 'Improving' a Tough Subject

Phiz

Text Illustrated:

"Peace, my friends," says Chadband, rising and wiping the oily exudations from his reverend visage. "Peace be with u..."

Yes. Esther and Woodcourt as the true practitioners of Christianity. Chadband “makes my flesh creep.” Dickens says it so well.

Kim wrote: "And here's my tribute to poor, dead Gridley:



Gridley by Mervyn Peake



Gridley by Kyd of course"

The Mervyn Peake illustrations have a very haunting quality to them. They demand an emotional response from the viewer.

Kim wrote: "

This is Miss Flite from the 1959 movie



Miss Flite in 1985 miniseries and finally



another Mill Flite from the 2005 mini-series"

Kim

Thanks for all the research to uncover the ways Miss Flite has been portrayed in the movie and on TV. I’ve always imagined her as very thin and drawn, but always with a prominent hat.

Kim wrote: "As for the Turveydrops, the way Prince worships his father would annoy me much more than the way Mr. Turveydrop acts. I wonder if the three of them, Mr. Turveydrop, Prince and Caddy actually do bel..."

Kim, you picked exactly the passage that got me wondering, too, whether Esther might not just have come back from a venturesome expedition to the North Pole and everyone was so glad to have her back safe and sound that they had been waiting for her return at the doorpost, chomping their respective bits. There must be lots of tears in that household when Esther goes into the garden to get some, let's say, horseradish and returns triumphantly, with her eyes and her heart welling up at the thought of seeing all those people she has not clapped eyes on for five minutes. All that joy and sentiment must be bad for the floor boards unless Charley is constantly mopping up the tears they shed.

Finally, Kim, we seem to be on the same side with respect to a Dickens character. Is not that remarkable?

As to Richard, I imagine that his inability to devote himself to one set purpose for a longer time may have developed very early in his life because all major decisions concerning his upbringing would have had to be referred to the Lord Chancellor and his Merry Men, and I can imagine that it must have taken quite some time to settle these questions. Young Richard must have noticed this and been acquainted very early with the art of procrastination. Apart from that the promise of a vague fortune on the horizon must have cast his shadow upon him very early, too.

Being in Mr. Jarndyce's household has just put him nearer to the case.

Kim wrote: "Is Esther the housekeeper and Ada's maid? I find it strange that Esther is given a maid and Ada isn't unless Esther is considered her maid in the first place. Although I haven't noticed Esther help..."

I think Ada already had one, and that it would have been self-evident to Dickens and his readers. Esther was meant to be a companion, someone paid to keep Ada company. Like Miss Murdstone to Dora in David Copperfield (but then hopefully a better and nicer one!) ... I do think it's weird(ish) that Esther gets a maid. Perhaps it's meant to imply something ;-)

Also, the part where Esther came home was very soppy indeed. I do think it is made that way as a contrast though. There is Mr. Turveydrop being all about himself and his own 'little' wants and 'little' needs, not thinking about his son's happiness at all. And Mrs. Jellyby being all cold and disinterested in anything that concerns her own household and kids, because it's not Africa, while her father is all but killing himself in front of his kids. Those two really don't have anyone at home interested in where they are or how they spend their day, no matter how good they are to the people at home - and then there's Esther, who 'thinks' she's not all that good, being received so warmly by everyone at home. Yes, it is soppy, and yes, I doubt Esther's sincerity in how lowly she thinks of herself too. I think deep inside she has inherited her family's pride, but where it made her aunt heartless, Esther prides herself in her friendliness. But the way she is recieved does give a great contrast to how Caddy and Prince were received. The way she, even as a housekeeper and companion, so paid for her being there, is received is so different from how those people who 'belong to the family' are in their respective homes.

Tristram wrote: "As to Richard, I imagine that his inability to devote himself to one set purpose for a longer time may have developed very early in his life because all major decisions concerning his upbringing wo..."

Indeed, I think at the start of his appearance he already made some remarks about the suit and was instantaneously rebuked for it. I usually am not a fan of 'women are to be married off', but it might have been Ada's saving grace - wether she'd win the suit and get a sum of money of her own or not, she'd marry and have to follow her husband anyway. Where Richard was brought up with 'one day you will have to provide for your family, and you might very well be rich and have the means to do so splendidly, if the suit is concluded that is. So hope it will be concluded soon, you don't know if you can provide for your family until then.' For Richard, there was much more at stake early on. If he had been with John Jarndyce from the start, I think he would have done a lot better already, because then he'd probably been taught to look to what he liked to do in life without a link to the suit.

Also, I both love and fear that picture of Jo by Peake. He's the kind of kid I'd want to take into my home and feed way too much and give proper clothes and a bed and some reading lessons and a chance of a life (to find out I'd be robbed in the night probably xD)

Tristram wrote: "Finally, Kim, we seem to be on the same side with respect to a Dickens character. Is not that remarkable?"

It is remarkable. But the way you described that Esther in the garden scene was perfect. I wonder if Little Nell had a sister we didn't know about. :-)

Jantine wrote: "to find out I'd be robbed in the night probably xD)
..."

One of the things we talk about in our house is health care for all Americans and how some people are so against it. I don't know why, but that's not the point of my story. There is a 16 year old girl from the valley that has stage four cancer and stage zero health care. Because of this people have put containers in local businesses collecting money for her health care bills. Someone goes around at the end of the week getting the money from the containers. Today when the person came into the store my son works in to empty the container they realized it wasn't there. My son didn't notice it was gone, but sometime this week someone took the container with the money in it. I do hope that whoever did it really, really needed the money.

I hope so too. Imagine taking a container of money that was meant for such a goal :-(

Kim wrote: "I do hope that whoever did it really, really needed the money."

My hopes as to a person taking a container with money intended for a child suffering from cancer tend to go into quite different directions.

Jantine wrote: "Tristram wrote: "As to Richard, I imagine that his inability to devote himself to one set purpose for a longer time may have developed very early in his life because all major decisions concerning ..."

I actually wonder how Richard was brought up before he came to John Jarndyce. He would not have been an inmate of an orphanage, would he? With whom was he staying then, and who taught him?

Tristram wrote: "I actually wonder how Richard was brought up before he came to John Jarndyce. He would not have been an inmate of an orphanage, would he? With whom was he staying then, and who taught him? ..."

This has always been something I've wondered about, as well. We know about Esther's life prior to coming to Bleak House, but we know nothing of Ada and Richard, except that they were strangers to one another before John Jarndyce (who was also previously unknown to them) took them in. Perhaps they, too, were at a boarding school year round? But at whose expense?