Bleak House

Well then. We've arrived at the final quarter of the book, and Dickens appears poised to really start having things happen. This section is full of sad things--Jo's death (sniff) and Mr. George's arrest for the murder of Mr. Tulkinghorn. I have to admit I love the whole lead-up to Tulkinghorn's death. I figured out fairly quickly what was about to happen, but Dickens was on a roll:

"Not only does the stillness attend it as it flows where houses cluster thick, where may bridges are reflected in it,where wharves and shipping make it black and awful, where it winds away from these disfigurements through marshes whose grim beacons stand like skeletons washed ashore."

But while I'm 99% convinced Lady Dedlock committed this murder, there's 1% of me that isn't so sure. I don't for a minute think Mr. George did it. Certainly he was no friend of Tulkinghorn, but overall he's too honorable. Yet Lady Dedlock letting her maid go so that she wouldn't be tainted by an upcoming scandal, and knowing the Tulkinghorn plans to tell Sir Leicester--yes, that's plenty of motive, but at the same time, I got the impression she let Rosa go because she knew her hidden life was about to be revealed and shock all good society. She doesn't seem surprised that Tulkinghorn is going to reveal the secret.

So...did she murder him on a moment's whim? Did she perhaps see who murdered him (because it seems like Tulkinghorn would definitely have more than a few people who'd like to see him dead)?

And wasn't his death a pointed contrast to poor Jo's? Jo had so very little in his life, but at least he died a safe death in a place where people tried to care for him and wanted him to live. Unlike Tulkinghorn, who was no friend of Jo's, and who was shot in the back.

I knew that Bucket was coming back to haunt us. What a creep, sitting there at the birthday party, pretending all is well, when he's just biding his time before arresting Mr. George.

That said, the birthday party was a much-needed bit of levity in this section. Poor Mrs. Bagnet, with that hideous meal! She knows they're trying and they think they're doing well, but no question she'd rather do it herself.

Next week, chapters 50-53 (and I peeked and see that Esther returns). This week's Gorey: Roman looking down at the corpse of Mr. Tulkinghorn.

Comments

[Miss T]

I know, you're shocked that I'm commenting first thing on Monday morning. :o)

The birthday scene was wonderfully suspenseful, because I knew Bucket couldn't be up to anything good -- the way he checked out the backyard was ominous. The bad cooking of crappy poultry made me just as crazy as it did Mrs. B. I don't know if I would have had her restraint!

[V]

Jo -- Dead! Tulkinghorn -- Dead! Mr. George -- Arrested! Lots o' action. But it does strike me how long, for all the praise BH gets as the forefather of detective stories to get to the body that is the subject of its detective fiction. It also is striking to me that the last chapter could have come out of an episode of "Columbo." Even the wife talk!

I too enjoyed the birthday party levity, especially with the big focus on Jo and the opportunity for moralizing.

[Heideland]

Crappity. Reconstructing the comment I thought I already posted.

Not sad about Tulkinghorn. Glad someone offed him, though I suspect that sneaky French former ladies maid more than Mr. George. I disliked his agenda against Lady D. and I still don't understand where that's coming from. She should be relieved when she finds out but I bet she won't be. Sigh.

This was the quote I highlighted for this section; it makes me shudder. "Interposed between her and the fading light of day in the now quiet street, his shadow falls upon her, and he darkens all before her. Even so does he darken her life." Brrrr.

[Amy]

I know, right, Miss T! That was a much-needed bit of hilarity in this increasingly bleak part of the book.

V, ha, I never thought of the Columbo connection :-) but you're totally right. It's so fun to connect Dickens with pop culture!

Heidi, interesting about the French maid. I hadn't thought about that, but it sure makes a lot of sense, especially if she were to try and pin it on Lady D.