How Does Charles Dickens Use Secrets In Bleak House

Secrets play a large part in any good book, and Charles Dickens has mastered the art of secrets. His plot builds secrets layered on each other, wrapped and twisted so that they all connect. He shows the destructive power that secrets can have, the way they can split people apart, destroy relationships, and the repercussions on the people keeping them. Dickens uses secrets to heighten the mystery in Bleak House. A second prominent theme throughout the book is the refutation of the class system and social structure present in England when Dickens was writing. The secrets in the book, like Esther’s illegitimate birth, serve to connect the upper classes to the lower. He shows how the people are all connected in some way, and uses this to

We see Mr. Tulkinghorn, the king of secrets. He is scheming and manipulative and utilizes the secrets he learns to control and blackmail his clients. Because of this, he is not well-liked and has many enemies. Someone murders Tulkinghorn, and we see how his death freed many people from fear and subjection. Another example is Mr. and Mrs. Snagsby, the law writer and his wife. Mr. Snagsby gets involved with Mr. Tulkinghorn, and the street sweeper Jo. As he struggles with feelings of guilt because of the situations he’s in, Mrs. Snagsby begins to suspect something is wrong. She assumes that Jo is the child of Mr. Snagsby, and proceeds to become miserable and bitter as she spies on Mr. Snagsby. A final example of the destructive power of secrets is Esther and Ada. Several times throughout the book they swear to each other that they will never keep secrets from each other. As the book goes on, the secrets begin to build up, the identity of Esther’s parents, Ada’s marriage to Richard, and Esther’s engagement to Mr. Jarndyce. We see that as they begin to keep secrets from one another, it compound and more and more secrets come to light. This hurts both girls and they grow farther and farther apart throughout the