Chapter 11
A deeply cynical commentary on the life and untimely death of a poor and
wretched person. Young Jo, the lone witness whose testimony might have at least
shed a faint life upon the character of the poor nameless fellow was summarily
denied an opportunity to speak. Nameless he remains, and is unceremoniously buried
in a leftover corner, soon to be forgotten.
The discovery of a corpse attracts a collection of onlookers. The “usual suspects” have been summoned: first a doctor, whose only contribution is to confirm death (he must get home to his supper); a policeman simply stands at the doorway; the “feeble minded” beadle, whose sole desire is that his participation receive good publicity; the coroner, who wishes to wrap things up as quickly as possible but wastes everyone’s time hearing the prattle of Mrs. Pepper, who has nothing whatever of use to say. The beadle is satisfied: the public chroniclers have given his participation favorable mention in their report — which will, of course contain nothing at all about the identity or personality of the deceased.
Meanwhile, I wonder what Tulkinghorn has been up to. What might he have “picked up” in passing; and what has he said to the coroner that may have influenced the proceedings?
Chapter 12
All through this chapter, Dickens paints a series of very unflattering pictures
of the English upper classes and the political movements of his time. Lady
Dedlock is constantly bored with her endless round of entertainment. Sir
Liecester,on the other hand, "is generally in a complacent state, and
rarely bored. When he has nothing else to do, he can always contemplate his own
greatness." In common with the rest of their “fashionable” cohort,
they are serenely confident of their own superiority.
The various political actors of the day — Boodle, Doodle, Noodle, etc. — while constantly
bickering, are revealed to be, like tweedle dum and tweedle dee, equally
inconsequential and impossible to distinguish from one another.
Meanwhile, the mystery surrounding the deceased copyist deepens: Lady Dedlock
seems to be remarkably interested in any information Tulkinghorn has to offer
about the man. Whatever secrets she holds may be shared with Tulkinghorn — but definitely
not with her aging husband, who is blissfully unaware of what is going on
around him while he stubbornly insists on continuing a petty squabble with his
neighbor Boythorn. He is captive to the person he imagines himself to be.
Chapter 13
Young Richard seems to be sure that he is in love with Ada, even if he cannot
make his mind up about anything else. It’s hard to develop any confidence in
his character; he decided on a medical career on the spur of the moment, with
little thought for the implications of such a decision. He’s the sort of
character that rarely turns out well in Dickens stories.
I’m a bit surprised that Esther (who is a great deal wiser than she pretends to
be) has not yet figured out how to rid herself of Guppy; does she perhaps,
unknown to herself, find his attention a bit flattering?
Dickens leaves us with a small “teaser” at the end of the chapter, introducing
a mysterious “dark” surgeon — somewhat like is often done in a TV series: “Watch
for our next episode ….”
Which reminds me again how cinematic Dickens’ writing becomes at times — the
scene setting, pacing, facial expressions like directorial close-ups. And
unlike a film-maker, he manages to pull it off without the benefit of a musical
score!
Chapter 14
Dickens is again having a lot of fun with his characters: Having been left in
charge of Peepy, Caddy’s approach to hygiene consists in "wiping the
dirt into corners of his face and hands and making his hair very wet and then
violently frizzling it with her fingers." His drollery carries on in
his description of Peepy’s motley attire. But the pathetic state of affairs that lies
behind the humor emerges as Caddy sums up her unfortunate father’s household as
"nothing but bills, dirt, waste, noise, tumbles downstairs, confusion
and wretchedness. His scrambling home, from week’s-end to week’s-end, is like
one great washing-day — only nothing’s washed."
Dickens’ imagination gets a further workout in presenting the outrageous Mr. Turveydrop, whose sole claim to fame is his perfect deportment. "He was pinched in, and swelled out, and got up, and strapped down as much as he could possibly bear." Esther observes that "As he bowed to me in that tight state, I almost believe I saw creases come into the whites of his eyes." His deportment has enabled him to live his whole life while doing nothing whatever, being supported first by his wife and afterward by his son. I could not help thinking of G. B. Shaw’s Alfred Doolittle, who sees his daughter’s improving fortunes as a chance to sponge off her. Or even of Dicklens’ own feckless father, who exhibited similar behavior. In seeking to wed the junior Turveydrop, does poor Caddy, ever a drudge for her mother, risk a continuing life of toil to support a freeloading father-in-law?
Chapter 15
In the “Bell Yard” scene, Dickens is at the top of his game — in his favorite social
commentary mode, or perhaps better characterized as his social condemnation
mode. All sorts of injustice and neglect are at issue here:
The collection agent is a social outcast due to his profession; he may be
refused lodging by many landlords and is barely tolerated as a neighbor.
When the collection agent dies, the eldest of his orphaned children, age 13 has
no choice but to seek work as washerwoman to support the three of them; during the day, the small children are locked in at home
alone.
The children’s landlord feels compelled to forgive them
during the day, the small children are locked in at home alone; their rent and must absorb the financial
loss.
Another lodger, Gridley has lost his family’s entire estate in legal costs in
Chancery over a petty dispute of little consequence.
Meanwhile, the cunningly incompetent Skimpole happily skips through life
unconcerned about his debts and the self-styled “philanthropists” trumpet their
favorite causes while completely ignoring the economic devastation that
prevails in their own community.
Chapter 16
Once again, Dickens succeeds in rendering the word “fashionable” a pejorative
term, denoting a pretentious life of idleness and frivolity (I’m reminded of
the term “wretched excess”, a phrase that I believe was coined by Noel Coward).
Although Sir Liecester’s gout is of course an affliction, it remains on the
other hand a badge of honor, an integral part of his 700 year old family legacy.
While not mentioned explicitly, we are also left to conclude that the gout is
largely the result of an excessively rich diet and lack of exercise — another
aspect of the Dedlocks’ “fashionable” lifestyle.
The remainder of the chapter is, in stark contrast, given over to a study of Jo
the crossing sweep, his degraded abode and his lowly status, on a par with the
oxen, the sheep and the dogs that haunt the filthy streets. There can be no
doubt about the identity of a lady who, pretending to be a servant, seeks out
Jo and carefully questions him to discover what he may know of the nameless
deceased law-writer, where and how he lived and where his body lies.
Chapter 17
As we might have expected, Richard finds the rigors of
study for a medical career quite beyond his capacity. Whether he will
find the law any less daunting remains unlikely. The maxim of Captain
Swosser, quoted by Mrs. Badger, strikes me as very much to the point: "when
you make pitch hot, you cannot make it too hot; and if you only have to
swab a plank, you should swab it as if Davy Jones were after you."
She has precisely put her finger upon what it is that’s likely to be
Richard’s downfall, namely his lack of commitment to the job at hand,
whatever that endeavor might be.
Esther has always been a person who
lives very much in the present; perhaps because her past is a mystery to
her and she has thus far no clear expectations for a future life. She
devotes herself to serving and helping others, is grateful for the
support she has been given and seeks to be happy with her lot. But in
this chapter, I am beginning to sense a subtle change. Jarndyce tells
her a little bit about her origin and she is clever enough to fill in
some of the blanks. She is intensely aware of how her unfortunate
background places her at a social disadvantage, hence her troubled
reaction to Mrs. Woodcourt’s strident assertion of her son’s birthright.
There may be trouble brewing from this quarter.
Chapter 18
There’s quite a bit of inconsequential chit-chat in this chapter — including the
ongoing row between neighbors and the reappearance of Skimpole. Personally, I’m
finding his presence downright annoying by now and would be happy if Dickens
would find a way to do away with him.
But then, the tension escalates very quickly, when Esther and Lady Dedlock
first set eyed on each other, first in church and later by happenstance while
taking shelter from the rain at a keeper’s lodge. The air fairly crackles with
bound-up emotion. It’s clear that we’ve reached a critical juncture in the
story.
And what role is Lady Dedlock’s tempestuous French maid about to play? One more
little mystery ….
Chapter 19
In stark contract with the drama of the previous chapter, the events here come
across as disjointed, almost haphazard — perhaps in keeping with it being the
“long vacation”, when all of the usual movers and shakers in Chancery court are
away for the summer; court is not in session and everywhere business is at a
low ebb — in tavern, court, shop and household. One might conclude that Dickens
introduces Chadband primarily as a target for ridicule, a preposterous example
of both gluttony and blather, since it’s unclear why the Snagsbys invited him and
his wife to dinner.
Meanwhile, poor Jo has been grabbed by the local cop who is deeply suspicious
of Jo being in possession of a bit of money and orders Jo to “move on”,
supposedly to some other unspecified neighborhood. Snagsby is careful to
intercede on the boy’s behalf while pretending to have no real connection to
his situation; in fact, several of the characters in the scene seem to be at
sixes and sevens. Guppy’s motivation for interrupting may have been simply an
opportunity to show off his cross-examining skills. But he learns more than
expected when he elicits from Mrs. Chadband the fact that she had, some years
back been placed in charge of Esther. Esther’s past appears to be closing in on
her from all sides.
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