In Bleak House Dickens introduced one of the first detectives in English Literature: Inspector Bucket. Hired by lawyer Tulkinghorn to inquire into Lady Dedlock's secret past, Bucket later investigates Tulkinghorn's murder. Dickens based Bucket on real life detective Charles F. Field, a member of London's new police force. Dickens wrote several stories featuring Field (sometimes under the name of Wield) in his weekly journal Household Words, including On Duty with Inspector Field (June 1851).
Dickens sparked controversy in Bleak House when he has rag and bone dealer Krook die by spontaneous human combustion, a phenomenon where the human body catches fire as a result of heat generated by internal chemical action. Although scientists have denied the existence of this phenomenon, supposed cases of spontaneous human combustion are still reported today.
The Court of Chancery was founded during the reign of Richard II and in Dickens' time was a model of inefficiency. Properties tied up 'in Chancery' were not financially accessible to possible beneficiaries. The court was presided over by the Lord Chancellor, disputants in Chancery cases used solicitors to state their case to hired barristers who presented them in court. In Bleak House Richard Carstone hires Vholes as his solicitor in the Jarndyce and Jarndyce Chancery case.
St. Albans
Dickens located John Jarndyce's Bleak House near the old Roman town of St. Albans in Hertfordshire, about 20 miles north of London.
| Bleak House - Published in monthly parts Mar 1852 -
Sep 1853 Read it online | Buy it at Amazon.com | Video 
Dickens' ninth novel, illustrated by Phiz, was intended to illustrate the evils caused by long, drawn-out suits in the Courts of Chancery. Dickens had observed the inner workings of the courts as a reporter in his youth and observed that "The one great principle of the English law is to make business for itself". Bleak House is often considered Dickens' finest work although not his most popular. Mini Plot: The case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, in the High Court of Chancery, has been going on for a long time. The current Jarndyce, John, owner of Bleak House, has little hope of gaining anything from it. On her aunt's death
As the story unfolds it is revealed that Esther is the illegitimate daughter of Captain Hawdon and Lady Dedlock. When the Dedlock's lawyer, Tulkinghorn learns of this, and tries to profit by the information, he is murdered by Lady Dedlock's former maid. Lady Dedlock flees and later dies at the gates of the cemetery where Hawdon lies buried. John Jarndyce has fallen in love with Esther and asked her to marry him. She consents out of respect for Jarndyce but during the engagement she falls in love with Allan Woodcourt. When Jarndyce learns of her feelings for Allan he releases her from the engagement and she marries Woodcourt. The chancery case comes to a close with court costs eating up all of the estate. Carstone, who has married Ada, dies in despair. |
Bleak House (2005) DVD
Gillian Anderson, Anna Maxwell Martin, Denis Lawson
Dickens Redressed
Alexander Welsh
The Art of Bleak House and Hard Times
 March 1852 Son Edward Bulwer Lytton (Plorn) Dickens born Summer 1852 Dickens' amateur acting troupe performing Edward Bulwer-Lytton's Not so Bad as We Seem throughout England for the benefit of the Guild of Literature and Art. February 1853 Becomes involved in a controversy concerning spontaneous combustion, from which Krook dies in the novel. George Henry Lewes argued that the phenomenon was a scientific impossibility, Dickens maintained (in error) that it could happen. June 1853 Seriously ill with a recurrence of a childhood kidney complaint. Bedridden for six days, he then went to Boulogne to fully recover. August 1853 Celebrates finishing the novel with a banquet in Boulogne. In attendance were his publishers Bradbury and Evans, friends Mark Lemon, and Wilkie Collins. September 1853 |
