Parents in Bleak House

As I caught up on the reading this week, the biggest issue I was having was with the representations of parents/parenting in the novel. Stemming from last week’s discussion of Skimpole, I kept thinking about how fathers and mothers are depicted in Bleak House. Dickens’ tone towards fathers seems off balance when compared to the tone taken towards mothers. Skimpole is a terrible father, but it’s like we excuse that because he’s such a terrible person in general. We have much better representations of the father figure through Jarndyce, Snagsby, Necket, etc. Jarndyce is so giving towards others and really looks out for struggling people. I was struck how Snagsby looked out for Jo as much as possible, without raising suspicion from his wife. On the other hand, the mothers in this novel are just terrible. You have Esther’s aunt to begin with. But the worst mother is Caddy’s mom, Mrs. Jellby. The hypocrisy she represents is too much to overlook. She is such a humanitarian and yet, look at the home she keeps and the children she neglects. I think Caddy’s coming of age story is so important. She isn’t just looking to marry to get out of her present situation. She sees marriage as a way to balance out all the negativity and disappointment she experienced at home. Throughout all her plans, she stills keeps her siblings and father in mind. I think Caddy represents an important figure for Dickens in that out of the worst conditions one could still maintain a sense of humanity and compassion.

So I wanted to explore this idea further and I came across an article that dealt with the issue of parenting in Bleak House. I read Carolyn Dever’s “Broken Mirror, Broken Words,” which might be a useful read for those thinking of their term paper. In this essay, Dever explains, “Throughout the text, in fact, orphanage and anomie remain the status quo. The centrality of such characters as Jo and Esther, alienated from any domestic structure but virtuous nonetheless, sets the stage for the systematic dismantling of family pathologies in favor of virtue born of resistance” (43). I love that reading of the characters. Few of the characters, including Caddy, really resist or try to change their situation for the better. Through their struggle, we can see virtue in them that is blatantly lacking in so many of the other characters. I haven’t finished the novel yet, but this is an idea I will keep pursuing…