Bleak House · Chapter
Covering a Multitude of Sins explained
Esther and Ada receive a visit from Mrs.
What happens
Esther and Ada receive a visit from Mrs. Pardiggle, a forceful charitable lady who brings her five discontented sons and drags them on a visit to a poor brickmaker's family. Later, Mr. Jarndyce discusses Richard's future with Esther, coining the term 'wiglomeration' for the legal process, and affectionately gives her many nicknames.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Inequality
Mrs. Pardiggle's intrusive charity highlights the vast gulf between the comfortable middle class and the desperate poor, as seen in the brickmaker's family.
Appearance vs. Reality
Mrs. Pardiggle's self-righteous philanthropy masks the misery of her own children and the resentment of those she 'helps'.
Bureaucracy and Dehumanization
Mr. Jarndyce's term 'wiglomeration' captures the absurd, costly, and dehumanizing legal machinery surrounding Richard's future.
Characters to notice
- Esther Summerson
Narrates the chapter; receives Mrs. Pardiggle's visit, suffers the children's pinches, and later discusses Richard's future with Mr. Jarndyce, who gives her many pet names.
- Ada Clare
Present with Esther during Mrs. Pardiggle's visit; shares Esther's discomfort and observations.
- Mr. Jarndyce
Discusses Richard's career with Esther, coins the term 'wiglomeration' for legal entanglements, and affectionately bestows nicknames on Esther.
- Richard Carstone
Mentioned as the young ward whose future profession is under discussion; subject of Mr. Jarndyce's concerns about legal 'wiglomeration'.
- Mrs. Pardiggle
Visits with her five sons; a forceful, loud charitable lady who drags her children and Esther to a brickmaker's hovel, displaying aggressive benevolence.
Key passages
“I am a School lady, I am a”
Mrs. Pardiggle lists her many charitable roles, emphasizing her relentless public activity.
Mrs. Pardiggle's self-promotion contrasts with the actual suffering she inflicts.
“These are the Great Seal's impressions, my dear, all over England—the children know them!”
Mr. Jarndyce says the decay and injustice of Chancery are visible everywhere, even to children.
Mr. Jarndyce links the physical decay of Bleak House to the moral decay of the legal system.
“Little old woman, and whither so high? To sweep the cobwebs out of the sky.”
Mr. Jarndyce playfully calls Esther a little old woman who will sweep away troubles.
This marks the beginning of Mr. Jarndyce's affectionate nicknames for Esther.
“More wiglomeration, said he. It's the only name I know for the thing.”
Mr. Jarndyce invents the word 'wiglomeration' to describe the pointless legal fuss over Richard's career.
Highlights the absurdity and expense of legal processes in Chancery.
“I never underwent so much, both in body and mind, in the course of a walk with young people as from these unnaturally constrained children when they paid me the compliment of being natural.”
Esther reflects that the Pardiggle children, when they act naturally, are cruel and miserable.
Shows the damaging effect of Mrs. Pardiggle's forced philanthropy on her own children.