# Bleak House — Character guide

> Key figures in Bleak House by Charles Dickens.

- [Esther Summerson](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/esther_summerson.md): The orphaned narrator and housekeeper at Bleak House, seeking her true identity.
- [Lady Dedlock](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/lady_dedlock.md): A proud, beautiful aristocrat with a hidden past that threatens her position.
- [Sir Leicester Dedlock](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/sir_leicester_dedlock.md): The baronet of Chesney Wold, devoted to his wife and family honor.
- [Mr. Tulkinghorn](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_tulkinghorn.md): The Dedlock family solicitor, secretive and manipulative in his investigations.
- [Mr. Bucket](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_bucket.md): A shrewd detective who unravels the novel's central mystery.
- [Richard Carstone](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/richard_carstone.md): A young ward of Jarndyce, consumed by the Chancery suit and his own ambition.
- [Ada Clare](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/ada_clare.md): A beautiful and gentle ward of Jarndyce, who marries Richard Carstone.
- [Mr. Jarndyce](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_jarndyce.md): The benevolent guardian of Esther, Ada, and Richard at Bleak House.
- [Harold Skimpole](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/harold_skimpole.md): A charming but irresponsible friend of Jarndyce who lives on others' generosity.
- [Mr. Guppy](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_guppy.md): A law clerk at Kenge and Carboy who becomes infatuated with Esther.
- [Jo](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/jo.md): A homeless crossing-sweeper boy who knows too much about a secret.
- [Mr. Snagsby](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_snagsby.md): A mild-mannered law stationer who gets drawn into the mystery.
- [Mr. George](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_george.md): A former soldier who runs a shooting gallery and has a hidden past.
- [Caddy Jellyby](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/caddy_jellyby.md): The overworked daughter of Mrs. Jellyby who finds happiness with Prince Turveydrop.
- [Mr. Woodcourt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_woodcourt.md): A kind young surgeon who loves Esther and serves the poor.
- [Mr. Vholes](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_vholes.md): A pale, relentless lawyer who represents Richard in the Chancery suit.
- [Miss Flite](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/miss_flite.md): A half-mad old woman obsessed with the Chancery suit and her birds.
- [Mr. Krook](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_krook.md): A rag-and-bottle merchant who hoards documents and dies mysteriously.
- [Hortense](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/hortense.md): Lady Dedlock's fiery French maid with a vengeful streak.
- [Mrs. Jellyby](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mrs_jellyby.md): A philanthropist who neglects her family for African missions.
- [Boythorn](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/boythorn.md): A boisterous, generous friend of Jarndyce with a loud voice.
- [Mrs. Rouncewell](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mrs_rouncewell.md): The housekeeper at Chesney Wold, loyal to the Dedlock family.
- [Mr. Smallweed](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_smallweed.md): A vicious, money-lending old man in a wheelchair.
- [Judy Smallweed](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/judy_smallweed.md): The sharp-tongued granddaughter of Grandfather Smallweed.
- [Mrs. Bagnet](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mrs_bagnet.md): The practical, musical wife of Matthew Bagnet and friend to George.
- [Matthew Bagnet](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/matthew_bagnet.md): A retired soldier and friend of George, who runs a small business.
- [Phil Squod](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/phil_squod.md): George's loyal, disfigured assistant at the shooting gallery.
- [Mr. Chadband](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_chadband.md): A hypocritical, oily preacher who lectures the poor.
- [Mrs. Snagsby](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mrs_snagsby.md): Mr. Snagsby's suspicious and jealous wife.
- [Prince Turveydrop](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/prince_turveydrop.md): A hardworking dancing master who marries Caddy Jellyby.
- [Old Mr. Turveydrop](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/old_mr_turveydrop.md): A vain, idle man who lives off his son's labor, a model of 'deportment'.
- [Mr. Weevle](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_weeve.md): A young man who lodges above Krook's shop and assists Guppy.
- [Kenge](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/kenge.md): A verbose lawyer from the firm handling the Jarndyce case.
- [Gridley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/gridley.md): A man driven mad by the Chancery suit, known as 'the man from Shropshire'.
- [Mrs. Pardiggle](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mrs_pardiggle.md): An aggressive philanthropist who forces charity on the poor.
- [Mr. Bayham Badger](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_bayham_badger.md): A physician in Chelsea who employs Allan Woodcourt.
- [Peepy](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/peepy.md): The youngest Jellyby child, often neglected and getting into scrapes.
- [Rosa](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/rosa.md): A young maid at Chesney Wold, devoted to Lady Dedlock.
- [Charley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/charley.md): Esther's loyal maid, a young girl who cares for her siblings.
- [Miss Volumnia](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/miss_volumnia.md): Sir Leicester's flirtatious, aging cousin who visits Chesney Wold.
- [Miss Jellyby](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/miss_jellyby.md): Caddy's younger sister, who eventually runs away with a lover.
- [Mrs. Chadband](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mrs_chadband.md): The wife of Mr. Chadband, formerly Miss Barbary's servant.
- [Mrs. Smallweed](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mrs_smallweed.md): The bedridden wife of Grandfather Smallweed, rarely seen.
- [Coavinses](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/coavinses.md): A debt collector who arrests Skimpole; his children later appear.
- [Mrs. Blinder](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mrs_blinder.md): A kind landlady who helps the poor in Tom-all-Alone's.
- [Mrs. Bucket](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mrs_bucket.md): The wife of Inspector Bucket, who assists him in his investigations.
- [Mr. Quale](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_qual_e.md): An enthusiastic but ineffectual philanthropist friend of Mrs. Jellyby.
- [Watt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/watt.md): Mrs. Rouncewell's grandson, a young ironmaster who loves Rosa.
- [Mr. Rouncewell](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_rouncewell.md): Mrs. Rouncewell's son, a successful ironmaster and reformer.
- [Guster](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/guster.md): The Snagsbys' epileptic maidservant, prone to fits.
- [Jenny](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/jenny.md): A poor brickmaker's wife who befriends Esther and Lady Dedlock.
- [Mrs. Woodcourt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mrs_woodcourt.md): Allan Woodcourt's proud mother, who values her Welsh ancestry.
- [Captain Hawdon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/captain_hawdon.md): A former soldier who dies in poverty, later revealed as Esther's father.
- [Miss Barbary](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/miss_barbary.md): Esther's stern aunt who raised her in secrecy.
- [Mrs. Rachael](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mrs_rachael.md): Miss Barbary's servant, later Mrs. Chadband.
- [Little Swills](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/little_swills.md): A comic singer at the Sol's Arms tavern.
- [Lady Jane](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/lady_jane.md): Krook's ill-tempered cat, often associated with his death.
- [Mr. Sladdery](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_sladdery.md): A fashionable society tailor who gossips about his clients.
- [Mr. Pardiggle](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_pardiggle.md): The henpecked husband of Mrs. Pardiggle.
- [Mr. Gusher](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_gusher.md): An enthusiastic philanthropist who works with Mrs. Jellyby.
- [Miss Donny](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/miss_donny.md): The head of the boarding school where Esther was educated.
- [Professor Dingo](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/professor_dingo.md): A scientist who marries Mrs. Bayham Badger after her first husband's death.
- [Mrs. Skimpole](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mrs_skimpole.md): Harold Skimpole's long-suffering wife, rarely mentioned.
- [Miss Dedlock](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/miss_dedlock.md): Sir Leicester's spinster cousin, a gossip at Chesney Wold.
- [Joshua Smallweed](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/joshua_smallweed.md): A relative of the Smallweed family, a moneylender.
- [Lignum Vitae](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/lignum_vitae.md): A woodworker who makes George's walking sticks.
- [Mr. Bogsby](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_bogsby.md): The proprietor of the Sol's Arms tavern.
- [Mr. Grubble](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_grubble.md): The landlord of the Dedlock Arms in the village.
- [Mr. Tangle](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_tangle.md): A barrister who argues before the Lord Chancellor in the Jarndyce case.
- [Old Tom Jarndyce](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/old_tom_jarndyce.md): The previous owner of Bleak House who died by suicide over the suit.
- [Captain Swosser](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/captain_swosser.md): Mrs. Bayham Badger's first husband, a naval captain.
- [Mrs. Piper](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mrs_piper.md): A neighbor in the court who gossips about the Krook affair.
- [Alexander Piper](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/alexander_piper.md): A young boy in the neighborhood, often mentioned with his mother.
- [Mr. Sangsby](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mr_sangsby.md): A minor character, possibly a misprint for Snagsby.
- [Mercury](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/mercury.md): The Dedlocks' footman, known for his speed and silence.
- [Peffer](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/peffer.md): A former partner of Snagsby in the law-stationery business.
- [Fitz-Jarndyce](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters/fitz_jarndyce.md): A distant relative of the Jarndyce family, a claimant in the suit.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bleak_house_se/characters