Bleak house
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Bleak House is the ninth novel by Charles Dickens, published in 20 monthly parts between March 1852 and September 1853. The plot concerns a long-running legal dispute which has far-reaching consequences for all involved. Dickens' assault on the flaws of the British judiciary system is based in part on his own experiences as a law clerk. His harsh characterization of the slow, arcane Chancery law process gave voice to widespread frustration with the system, and is often thought of as helping to set the stage for its eventual reform in the 1870s. In fact, Dickens was writing just as Chancery was reforming itself, with the Six Clerks and Masters mentioned in Chapter One being abolished in 1842 and 1852 respectively: the need for further reform was being widely. This raises the interesting point as to when Bleak House is actually set. Technically it must be before 1842: at least some of his readers at the time would have been aware of this, but does this fit with other themes in the book?
