Throughout Bleak House, there is a large emphasis on the physical appearance of characters. As in many Victorian novels, looks are an essential part of every character. For minor characters, appearances are representative of personalities, and in descriptions of major characters, appearance is a common theme used by both the third-person narrator and by Esther. For Esther, her appearance is partly a symbol of her connection to Lady Dedlock and thus spurs on certain plot developments. However, Esther also spends a lot of time describing the appearances of the people closest to her. Furthermore, in the few descriptions of Esther that Dickens provides through other characters, it can be inferred that Esther’s appearance is a major concern of hers, …show more content…
Woodcourt as a mouthpiece, Dickens conveys that beauty is independent of physical appearance and is strengthened by hardship, even though looks can be damaged by such adversity. Through many Victorian novels and even through much of Bleak House, looks are strongly correlated to personality. For characters such as Mr. Vholes, Dickens’ descriptions of their appearances may as well be descriptions of their personalities. Dickens depicts Mr. Vholes as “dressed in black, black-gloved, and buttoned to the chin, there was nothing so remarkable in him as a lifeless manner, and a slow fixed way he had of looking at Richard” (606). This description of Mr. Vholes is intended to invoke thoughts of a vampire, an analogy that is supported later in the novel. Upon seeing the draining effect Mr. Vholes has on Richard, Esther remarks that Richard is “wasting away beneath the eyes of [Mr. Vholes], and there were something of the Vampire in him” (924). In this case, Dickens simply expresses the personality of Mr. Vholes through his physical appearance. However, by causing Esther to lose her looks through the narrative, Dickens forces the reader to reconsider the association between physical appearance and character. At the close of the novel, Mr. Woodcourt completes Dickens’ argument by telling Esther that she is even more beautiful than before her illness. When Esther praises Mr. Woodcourt for loving her despite losing her looks, he responds by asking her “don’t you know that you are prettier than you ever were?” (989). This interaction supports Dickens’ claim that Esther’s beauty goes beyond her physical appearance. Though Esther has lost her old face to smallpox, she becomes more beautiful than ever in Mr. Woodcourt’s eyes because of the sacrifice she made to receive her scarring. As Esther lost her looks by nursing Charley through the same illness, her beauty is elevated in Mr. Woodcourt’s eyes despite any loss of physical appearance. Overall, this conversation
...es these primitive standards, she becomes melancholy because she does not attune into the gender roles of women, which particularly focus on marriage, maternity, and domesticity. Like other nineteen year old women, Esther has many goals and ambitions in her life. Nevertheless, Esther is disparaged by society’s blunt roles created for women. Although she experiences a tremendous psychological journey, she is able to liberate herself from society’s suffocating constraints. Esther is an excellent inspiration for women who are also currently battling with society’s degrading stereotypes. She is a persistent woman who perseveres to accomplish more than being a stay at home mother. Thus, Esther is a voice for women who are trying to abolish the airless conformism that is prevalent in 1950’s society.
The character of Esther is widely criticized for her perfection as a character, both receiving positive acclaims and negative feedback. Esther’s reserved, quiet character illustrates the role of women during the Victorian period and what little impact on society women played. Critics of Bleak House generally praise the narration and Dickens’s use of Esther’s character, which gives direction to the novel.
In the novel, Esther Greenwood, the main character, is a young woman, from a small town, who wins a writing competition, and is sent to New York for a month to work for a magazine. Esther struggles throughout the story to discover who she truly is. She is very pessimistic about life and has many insecurities about how people perceive her. Esther is never genuinely happy about anything that goes on through the course of the novel. When she first arrives at her hotel in New York, the first thing she thinks people will assume about her is, “Look what can happen in this country, they’d say. A girl lives in some out-of-the-way town for nineteen years, so poor she can’t afford a
Esther is cared for by two other woman, inferring she is a person of goodwill and people care for her. Ahsauerus is viewed as a man who is wrong, and immoral based on his clothing, posture, and facial expression. The relationship between the two leaves the viewer sympathizing for Esther as she is seen in a fragile state. Gentileschi is able to capture the agony of Esther by using different techniques and elements of art and constructs a painting that shows a
The first person that illustrated the theme of the book was Esther’s grandmother Reisa. Reisa showed this by always keeping her pride and her dignity even the toughest of times, which helped her and her family move on. For instance, even when they were forced to live on these camps she would always try to look her best. She always wore a silk dress and did her cuticles. In addition, she also illustrates theme by caring for her families even in the toughest of time by keeping them together and raising their spirits. For instance, when Esther lost the rubbles her mother gave she said, “She is only twelve years old, she helps keep house like a little old woman, she studies like a Talmudic scholar, she carries bricks back and forth. No. Enough is already too much. Esther, there is nothing more you can do that I will permit you to do. Just do well at school, that’s all I ask. The way things are you will need every drop of education you can get. For the rest, you leave the rubles to me.” That is how Reisa illustrated the theme of the book by maintaining her appearance and by caring for her family.
Blanche Ingram’s stunning beauty contrasts Jane’s simple physical appearance as they are described physically opposite. Throughout the book many characters describe Jane as plain and simple. When one of Ms Reeds maids, Ms Abbot describes Jane she states, "If she were a nice, pretty child, one might compassionate her forlornness; but one really cannot
In the excerpt from Bleak House, written by Dickens, not only are the social workers there to help the poor satirized, but the man undermines Mrs. Pardiggle attempts to help him change. In the text, the man and or parent of the house undermines Mrs. Pardiggle attempts to help him change his lifestyle to which he continues to despise her solutions and work ethic. In addition to the man undermining the social worker Mrs.Pardiggle, Dickens satires the social worker who comes to check on the poor by having her give advice to the family although the advice she is giving is irrelevant. As a social worker, her job is to check in on families that have a record or struggle to keep life maintainable. Therefore, she suggests solutions to help improve their lifestyle while not realizing that the solutions she offers are inapplicable which causes the man to undermine her attempts along with her being
The beauty of a woman is usually classified into two categories: superficial, or physical, beauty and inner, or intellectual, beauty. In the Charlotte Bronte's Jane Erye, the protagonist rejects her own physical beauty in favor of her intelligence and morality. This choice allows her to win the hand of the man she desires. Jane values her knowledge and thinking before any of her physical appearances because of her desire as a child to read, the lessons she is taught and the reinforcements of the idea appearing in her adulthood. During the course of the novel she lives at five homes. In each of these places, the idea of inner beauty conquering exterior appearance becomes a lesson, and in her last home she gains her reward, a man who loves her solely for her mind. She reads against her cousins wishes as a child at Gateshead, learns to value her intelligence as a child at the Lowood Institution, her mind and humility win the heart of Mr. Rochester at Thornfield Manor, she earns St. John's marriage proposal at Marsh's End, and in the end she wins her prize of Mr. Rochester's hand in marriage at Ferndean Manor.
Here, Dickens focuses on the word “suffering”, to reinforce the idea that being wealthy, which is related to being better than other, a materialistic view of society is not what gives happiness, but the surroundings and
This use of language encourages readers to feel sympathy for Esther and her situation, as readers do towards Ophelia in
So it is not surprising to find that the Victorians also placed great faith in bodily appearance. To the Victorians, a face and figure could reveal the inner thoughts and emotions of the individual as reliably as clothing indicated his occupation. There is abundant evidence of the pervasiveness of this belief in the literature of the period. According to Reed, "Victorian literature abounds with expressions of faith in physiognomy" (336). He quotes a passage from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre to prove the point: "Jane Eyre, for example, trusts her initial perception of Rochester, whose brow 'showed a solid enough mass of intellectual organs, but an abrupt deficiency where the suave sign of benevolence should have risen'" (146; ch. 14, Reed 336).
The beginning of the novel introduces the reader to Esther O'Malley Robertson as the last of a family of extreme women. She is sitting in her home, remembering a story that her grandmother told her a long time ago. Esther is the first character that the reader is introduced to, but we do not really understand who she is until the end of the story. Esther's main struggle is dealing with her home on Loughbreeze Beach being torn down, and trying to figure out the mysteries of her family's past.
In her search for identity, Esther often compares herself to others. One sign of depression is the feeling the need to compare yourself to others. Throughout the story, Esther questions other’s morals and characteristics and tries to apply them to herself. One example of this is at the beginning of the novel. She wonders if she is more like her friend Betsy, or her friend, Doreen. She describes Betsy as a good girl, and Doreen as more of the bad girl type. Although Betsy is a cheerful and optimistic person, Esther concludes that she can relate more to Betsy. She cannot understand why though, because she feels as if she is not a happy, nor optimistic person.
In the novel ‘Great Expectations’ there are three women who Dickens portrays differently to his contemporary’s, writers such as Austen and Bronté, and to the typical 19th century woman. These three women go by the name of Mrs Joe (Pips sister), Miss Havisham, and Estella. Mrs Joe who is Pips sister and Mr Joe’s wife is very controlling and aggressive towards Pip and Mr Joe. ‘In knowing her to have a hard and heavy hand’. This shows Dickens has given Mrs Joe very masculine qualities, which is very unusual for a 19th century woman. Mr Joe has a very contrasting appearance and personality to Mrs Joe. ‘Joe was a fair man, with curls of flaxen hair on each side of his smooth face, and with eyes of such a very undecided blue that they seemed to have somehow got mixed with their own whites.’ In many ways Dickens has swapped the stereo type appearances and personalities of 19th century men and women. Dickens portrays Miss Havisham to be rich but lonely women. ‘I should acquit myself under that lady’s roof’. This shows Miss Havisham owns her own property which is Satis House. This woul...
Charles Dickens uses literary devices as a way to communicate and form a closer relationship with his readers. He has placed many metaphors throughout the book to show how they can elevate a reading by using metaphors for descriptions, to entitle a chapter, and to compare two things. In the first chapter of the book Charles Dickens describes the queens of England and France in a belittling way. He believed that they had “the plain and the fair faces,” and that they had no special qualities to make them the important figures that they were (Dickens 10). In this context, he metaphorically described how he felt about the queens.