Dickens - Bleak House

Bleak House is an immense novel: a sweeping critique of Victorian society; a murder mystery and detective story; a sentimental ‘happy ending’ for an illegitimate and unwanted child. Uniquely, the story unfolds through two discrete narrators – a radical and experimental form which creates challenging, often darkly ironic effects. This discussion will explore the motif of mystery that is central to this text, Dickens’s portrayal of contemporary London, and the significance of Esther Summerson.