Bleak House · Chapter
The Appointed Time explained
In this chapter, the oppressive atmosphere of Lincoln's Inn and the surrounding court is vividly depicted.
What happens
In this chapter, the oppressive atmosphere of Lincoln's Inn and the surrounding court is vividly depicted. Mr. Weevle (Tony Jobling) is deeply uneasy, pacing between his room and the street. Mr. Snagsby, also unsettled, stops to talk with him, and they discuss the strange greasy smell in the air and the lingering memory of the deceased Nemo. Later, Mr. Guppy joins Weevle in his room, and they plan to retrieve some documents from Mr. Krook. When Weevle goes to fetch Krook, he finds the old man missing, the room filled with a suffocating vapor and a greasy coating, and a crumbled black mass on the floor—hinting at Krook's death by spontaneous combustion.
Themes in this chapter
Environment and Atmosphere
The chapter is saturated with oppressive, sickening atmosphere: the greasy air, the stagnant oil, the smouldering vapour, and the pervasive sense of decay and death.
Secrets and Identity
Mr. Snagsby is burdened by a secret he shares but is not a sharer in; Weevle and Guppy conspire to retrieve hidden documents from Krook, and Krook's mysterious death conceals further secrets.
Corruption of the Legal System
The chapter opens with a description of Lincoln's Inn as a 'troublous valley of the shadow of the law,' where clerks toil to entangle real estate in sheepskin, and the law itself seems to put up prices and create misery.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Weevle
Tony Jobling, Krook's lodger, is extremely ill at ease, pacing constantly and disturbed by the oppressive atmosphere and the memory of Nemo.
- Mr. Snagsby
The stationer is also uneasy, haunted by the secret he shares, and stops to talk with Weevle about the strange smell and the deceased.
- Mr. Guppy
Visits Weevle in his room to plan retrieving documents from Krook; he is horrified by the greasy substance on the windowsill and later by Krook's disappearance.
- Mr. Krook
The rag and bottle shop owner is absent from his shop; his cap and coat are found on a chair, and a crumbled black mass on the floor suggests his death by spontaneous combustion.
- Little Swills
Mentioned as performing at the Harmonic Meeting at the Sol's Arms, providing entertainment in the court.
- Mrs. Piper
One of the neighborhood women gossiping about Krook, his lodger, and the Harmonic Meeting, illustrating the local community's chatter.
Key passages
“It is night in Lincoln's Inn—perplexed and troublous valley of the shadow of the law, where suitors generally find but little day—and fat candles are snuffed out in offices, and clerks have rattled down the crazy wooden stairs and dispersed.”
Night falls on Lincoln's Inn, a confusing and troubled place overshadowed by the law, where those seeking justice rarely find clarity; the candles are extinguished and the clerks have clattered down the rickety stairs and gone home.
This opening sets the gloomy, oppressive tone of the legal district.
“A thick, yellow liquor defiles them, which is offensive to the touch and sight and more offensive to the smell. A stagnant, sickening oil with some natural repulsion in it that makes them both shudder.”
A thick, yellow liquid stains his fingers, disgusting to touch, see, and especially to smell—a stagnant, nauseating oil that instinctively repels them and makes both men shudder.
Guppy discovers the greasy substance on the windowsill, foreshadowing Krook's gruesome death.
“The cat has retreated close to it and stands snarling, not at them, at something on the ground before the fire.”
The cat has backed away near the door and is snarling, not at the men, but at something lying on the floor in front of the fire.
The cat's behavior hints at the horror of Krook's remains on the floor.
