A girl named Esther Summerston has to grow up without parents, and is raised only by godmother, Miss Barbery, a very cold and stern lady. To all questions about her mother, this woman answers Esther only that her birth was a real shame for everyone and the girl should forever forget about the one who brought her into the world.

At the age of 14, Esther also loses her godmother; immediately after the burial of Miss Barbery, a certain Mr. Kenge appears and invites the young girl to go to educational institution, where she will not lack anything and will be properly prepared to become a real lady in the future. Esther willingly agrees to go to the boarding school, where she meets a truly kind and warm-hearted teacher and friendly friends. In this institution, a growing girl spends six unclouded years; subsequently, she often remembers this period of her life with warmth.

Upon completion of her education, Mr. John Jarndyce, whom Esther considers her guardian, arranges for the girl to be a companion to his relative Ada Claire. She has to go to the Jarndyce estate, known as Bleak House, and her companion on this journey is a handsome young man, Richard Carston, who is related to her future employer.

Bleak House has a dark and sad story, however in last years Esther's guardian managed to give it a more modern and decent look, and the girl willingly begins to manage the house, the guardian wholeheartedly approves of her diligence and agility. Soon she gets used to life on the estate and meets many neighbors, including a noble family named Dedlock.

At the same time, young William Guppy, who recently began working in the law office of Mr. Kenge, who had previously taken part in Esther’s fate, meets this girl on the estate and is immediately captivated by the attractive and at the same time very modest Miss Summerston. Having visited the Dedlocks a little later on business for his company, Guppy notices that the arrogant aristocrat Lady Dedlock reminds him of someone.

Arriving at Bleak House, William confesses his feelings to Esther, but the girl flatly refuses to even listen young man. Then Guppy hints to her that she is similar in appearance to Milady Dedlock, and promises to definitely find out the whole truth regarding this similarity.

The investigation of Esther's admirer leads to the discovery of letters from a certain man who died in the most wretched room and was buried in a common grave intended for the poorest and most destitute people. After reading the letters, William understands that the late Captain Howden had a past love affair with Lady Dedlock, which resulted in the birth of a girl.

Guppy tries to talk about his discoveries with Esther's mother, but the aristocrat acts extremely coldly and demonstrates that she does not understand what this man is talking about. But after William leaves her, Lady Dedlock admits to herself that her daughter did not actually die immediately after birth; the woman is no longer able to contain the emotions that gripped her.

The daughter of a deceased judge appears in Bleak House for some time. Esther takes care of the orphaned girl, looks after her when the child falls ill with smallpox, as a result of which she also becomes a victim of this serious illness. All the inhabitants of the estate try to prevent the girl from seeing her face, which is very spoiled by smallpox, and Lady Dedlock secretly meets with Esther and tells her that she is her own mother. When Captain Howden left her in his youth, the woman was led to believe that her child was stillborn. But in reality, the girl ended up being raised by her older sister. The wife of an aristocrat begs her daughter not to tell anyone the truth in order to maintain her usual way of life and high position in society.

Young doctor Allen Woodcourt, who comes from a poor family, falls in love with Esther; it was very difficult for his mother to give him a medical education. This man is very attractive to the girl, but in the English capital he has no opportunity to earn a decent living, and Dr. Woodcourt, at the first opportunity, goes to China as a ship's doctor.

Richard Carston starts working at law firm, but his affairs are not going well in the best possible way. Having invested all his savings in the investigation of an old case related to the Jarndyce family, he loses not only his funds, but also his health. Carston enters into a secret marriage with his cousin Ada and almost immediately passes away before seeing their child.

Meanwhile, a certain cunning and clever lawyer Tulkinghorn, a greedy and unprincipled man, begins to suspect Lady Dedlock of keeping unseemly secrets and begins his own investigation. He steals letters from the late Captain Howden from William Guppy, from which everything becomes clear to him. Having told the whole story in the presence of the owners of the house, although it was supposedly about a completely different woman, the lawyer seeks a meeting with Milady alone. The lawyer, pursuing his own interests, persuades Lady Dedlock to continue to hide the truth for the sake of her husband’s peace of mind, although the lady is already ready to leave and leave the world forever.

Lawyer Tulkinghorn changes his intentions; he threatens Lady Dedlock to tell her husband about everything very soon. The next morning, the man's corpse is discovered, and Milady becomes the prime suspect. But in the end, the evidence points to a maid of French origin who served in the house, and the girl ends up under arrest.

Lady Dedlock's husband, Sir Leicester, who is unable to bear the shame that has befallen his family, is crushed by a severe blow. His wife runs away from home, the police are trying to find the woman along with Esther and the doctor Woodcourt, who returned from the expedition. It is Dr. Allen who finds the already deceased Lady Dedlock near the cemetery.

Esther painfully experiences the death of her newly acquired mother, but then the girl gradually comes to her senses. Mr. Jarndyce, having learned about the mutual love between Woodcourt and his ward, decides to act nobly and give way to the doctor. He also sets up a small estate for the future newlyweds in the county of Yorkshire, where Allen will treat the poor. The widowed Ada then settles on the same estate with her little son, to whom she gives the name Richard in honor of her late father. Sir John takes custody of Ada and her son; they move to Bleak House with him, but often visit the Woodcourt family. Mr. Jarndyce will always remain the closest friend of Dr. Allen and his wife Esther.

Esther Summerston spent her childhood in Windsor, in the house of her godmother, Miss Barbery. The girl feels lonely and often says, turning to her best friend, the rosy-cheeked doll: “You know very well, doll, that I’m a fool, so be kind, don’t be angry with me.” Esther strives to find out the secret of her origin and begs her godmother to tell her at least something about her mother. One day Miss Barbery cannot stand it and sternly says: “Your mother has covered herself with shame, and you have brought shame upon her. Forget about her...” One day, returning from school, Esther finds an important, unfamiliar gentleman in the house. Having looked at the girl, he says something like “Ah!”, then “Yes!” and leaves...

Esther is fourteen years old when her godmother suddenly dies. What could be worse than being orphaned twice! After the funeral, the same gentleman named Kenge appears and, on behalf of a certain Mr. Jarndyce, aware of the sad situation of the young lady, offers to place her in a first-class educational institution, where she will not need anything and will prepare for “fulfilling her duty in the public field.” The girl gratefully accepts the offer and a week later, abundantly supplied with everything she needs, she leaves for the city of Reading, to Miss Donnie’s boarding house. There are only twelve girls studying there, and the future teacher Esther, with her kind character and desire to help, wins their affection and love. So goes six happy years her life.

After completing her studies, John Jarndyce (guardian, as Esther calls him) assigns the girl as a companion to his cousin Ada Clare. Together with Ada's young relative, Mr. Richard Carston, they travel to the guardian's estate known as Bleak House. The house once belonged to Mr. Jarndyce's great-uncle, the unfortunate Sir Tom, and was called "The Spires." Perhaps the most famous case of the so-called Chancery Court, “Jarndyce v. Jarndyce,” was associated with this house. The Court of Chancery was created during the era of Richard II, who reigned from 1377–1399, to control the Court of Common Law and correct its errors. But the British hopes for the emergence of a “Court of Justice” were not destined to come true: red tape and abuses by officials led to processes lasting for decades, plaintiffs, witnesses, and lawyers dying, thousands of papers accumulating, and no end to the litigation in sight. Such was the dispute over the Jarndyce inheritance - a long-term trial, during which the owner of the Bleak House, mired in court cases, forgets about everything, and his home deteriorates under the influence of wind and rain. “It seemed as if the house had taken a bullet in the forehead, just like its desperate owner.” Now, thanks to the efforts of John Jarndyce, the house looks transformed, and with the advent of young people it comes to life even more. The smart and sensible Esther is given the keys to the rooms and storage rooms. She copes excellently with difficult household chores - it’s not for nothing that Sir John affectionately calls her Bustle! Life in the house flows smoothly, visits alternate with trips to London theaters and shops, receiving guests gives way to long walks...

Their neighbors turn out to be Sir Leicester Dedlock and his wife, a good two decades younger than him. As experts joke, my lady has “the impeccable appearance of the most well-groomed mare in the entire stable.” The secular chronicle notes her every step, every event in her life. Sir Leicester is not so popular, but does not suffer from this, for he is proud of his aristocratic family and cares only about the purity of his good name. Neighbors sometimes meet in church, on walks, and Esther for a long time cannot forget the emotional excitement that gripped her at the first glance at Lady Dedlock.

The young employee of Kendge's office, William Guppy, experiences a similar excitement: when he sees Esther, Ada and Richard in London on the way to Sir John's estate, he falls in love with the pretty, gentle Esther at first sight. While in those parts on company business, Guppy visits the Dedlock estate and, amazed, stops at one of the family portraits. The face of Lady Dedlock, seen for the first time, seems strangely familiar to the clerk. Soon Guppy arrives at Bleak House and confesses his love to Esther, but receives a decisive rebuff. Then he hints at the amazing similarity between Hester and my lady. “Give me your hand,” William persuades the girl, “and I can’t think of anything to protect your interests and make you happy!” I can’t find out anything about you!” He kept his word. Letters from an unknown gentleman who died from an excessive dose of opium in a dirty, squalid closet and was buried in a common grave in a cemetery for the poor fall into his hands. From these letters, Guppy learns about the connection between Captain Hawdon (that was the name of this gentleman) and Lady Dedlock, about the birth of their daughter. William immediately shares his discovery with Lady Dedlock, causing her extreme embarrassment. But, without giving in to panic, she aristocratically coldly rejects the clerk’s arguments and only after he leaves exclaims: “Oh, my child, my daughter! That means she didn’t die in the first hours of her life!”

Esther becomes seriously ill with smallpox. This happened after the orphaned daughter of a court official, Charlie, appears on their estate, who becomes both a grateful pupil and a devoted maid for Esther. Esther nurses a sick girl and becomes infected herself. Household members hide mirrors for a long time so as not to upset Troublemaker with the sight of her dull face. Lady Dedlock, waiting for Esther to recover, secretly meets with her in the park and admits that she is her unhappy mother. In those early days, when Captain Hawdon abandoned her, she - so she was led to believe - gave birth to a stillborn child. Could she have imagined that the girl would come to life in the arms of her older sister and would be raised in complete secrecy from her mother... Lady Dedlock sincerely repents and begs for forgiveness, but most of all - for silence, in order to preserve the usual life of a rich and noble person and peace spouse. Esther, shocked by the discovery, agrees to any conditions.

No one has any idea what happened - not only Sir John, burdened with worries, but also the young doctor Allen Woodcourt, who is in love with Esther. Smart and reserved, he makes a favorable impression on the girl. He lost his father early, and his mother invested all her meager funds in his education. But, not having enough connections and money in London, Allen cannot earn it by treating the poor. It is not surprising that at the first opportunity, Dr. Woodcourt agrees to the position of ship’s doctor and goes to India and China for a long time. Before leaving, he visits Bleak House and excitedly says goodbye to its inhabitants.

Richard is also trying to change his life: he chooses the legal field. Having started working in Kenge's office, he, to Guppy's displeasure, boasts that he figured out the Jarndyce case. Despite Esther's advice not to enter into a tedious litigation with the Court of Chancery, Richard files an appeal in the hope of winning an inheritance from Sir John for himself and his cousin Ada, to whom he is engaged. He “gambles everything he can scrape together,” spends his beloved’s small savings on duties and taxes, but legal red tape is robbing him of his health. Having secretly married Ada, Richard falls ill and dies in the arms of his young wife, never seeing his unborn son.

And clouds are gathering around Lady Dedlock. A few careless words lead lawyer Tulkinghorn, a regular at their house, to the trail of her secret. This respectable gentleman, whose services are generously paid in high society, masterfully masters the ability to live and makes it his duty to do without any convictions. Tulkinghorn suspects that Lady Dedlock, disguised as a French maid, visited the house and grave of her lover, Captain Hawdon. He steals letters from Guppy - this is how he learns the details love story. In the presence of the Dedlocks and their guests, Tulkinghorn tells this story, which supposedly happened to some unknown person. Milady understands that the time has come to find out what he is trying to achieve. In response to her words that she wants to disappear from her home forever, the lawyer convinces her to continue to keep the secret for the sake of the peace of mind of Sir Leicester, who “even the fall of the moon from the sky would not be as stunned” as the revelation of his wife.

Esther decides to reveal her secret to her guardian. He greets her confused story with such understanding and tenderness that the girl is filled with “fiery gratitude” and a desire to work hard and selflessly. It is not difficult to guess that when Sir John makes her an offer to become the real mistress of Bleak House, Esther agrees.

A terrible event distracts her from the pleasant upcoming chores and pulls her out of Bleak House for a long time. It so happened that Tulkinghorn broke the agreement with Lady Dedlock and threatened to soon reveal the shameful truth to Sir Leicester. After a difficult conversation with Milady, the lawyer goes home, and the next morning he is found dead. Suspicion falls on Lady Dedlock. Police Inspector Bucket conducts an investigation and informs Sir Leicester of the results: all the evidence collected points against the French maid. She's under arrest.

Sir Leicester cannot bear the thought that his wife has been “thrown down from the heights that she adorned,” and he himself falls, struck down by the blow. Milady, feeling hunted, runs away from home without taking any jewelry or money. She left a farewell letter saying that she was innocent and wanted to disappear. Inspector Bucket sets out to find this troubled soul and turns to Esther for help. They travel a long way in the footsteps of Lady Dedlock. The paralyzed husband, disregarding the threat to the honor of the family, forgives the fugitive and eagerly awaits her return. Dr. Allen Woodcourt, who recently returned from China, joins the search. During the separation, he fell in love with Esther even more, but alas... At the grate of the memorial cemetery for the poor, he discovers the lifeless body of her mother.

Esther experiences what happened for a long time, painfully, but gradually life takes its toll. Her guardian, having learned of Allen's deep feelings, nobly makes way for him. Bleak House is empty: John Jarndyce, who is also the guardian, has taken care of arranging for Esther and Allen an equally glorious smaller estate in Yorkshire, where Allen gets a position as a doctor for the poor. He also called this estate “Bleak House”. There was also a place in it for Ada and her son, named Richard after his father. With the first available money, they build a room for the guardian (“the grumbling room”) and invite him to stay. Sir John becomes a loving guardian to now Ada and her little Richard. They return to the “elder” Bleak House, and often come to stay with the Woodcourts: for Esther and her husband, Sir John has always remained the most best friend. Thus seven happy years pass, and the words of the wise guardian come true: “Both houses are dear to you, but the elder Bleak House claims primacy.”

London house of Charles Dickens

House in London where Charles Dickens lived

The Charles Dickens Museum is located in Holborn, London. It is located in the only house that has survived to this day, where the writer Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine once lived. They moved here in April 1837, a year after their marriage, and lived here until December 1839. The family had three children, and a little later two more daughters were born. In total, the Dickens had ten children. As the family grew, the Dickens moved to larger apartments.

Right here in the very early XIX century, Dickens created Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby.

The museum contains exhibits telling both about Dickens's era in general, and about his writing career, about the works and heroes of the writer, about his personal and family life. In 1923, Dickens's house on Doughty Street was under threat of demolition, but was bought by the Dickens Society, which had already existed for over twenty years. The building was renovated and the Charles Dickens House Museum opened here in 1925.

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Catherine Dickens - writer's wife

They married in the spring of 1836. The honeymoon of 20-year-old Catherine and 24-year-old Charles lasted only a week: obligations to publishers awaited him in London.

During the first years of their marriage, Mary, Catherine's younger sister, lived with the Dickens couple. Dickens adored her, lively, cheerful, spontaneous. She reminded Charles of his sister Fanny, with whom his most cherished childhood memories were associated. Her innocence made the writer experience a sense of guilt inherent in Victorian men... But he did his best to curb his natural passion. It is unlikely that Catherine liked such coexistence, but she was not in the habit of making a scene for her husband. One day the three of them returned from the theater and Mary suddenly lost consciousness. From that moment on, Charles did not let go of the girl from his embrace, and she last words were intended only for him. She died of a heart attack. He ordered the words “Young” to be engraved on the gravestone. Beautiful. Good." And he asked his loved ones to bury him in Mary’s grave.

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The Dickens Society, which had existed for more than 20 years by that time, managed to buy this building, where the Charles Dickens Museum was organized. For a long time, only specialists and students of literary faculties knew about him. However, interest in the writer’s work in Lately began to grow strongly, and on the eve of its 200th anniversary, a lot was invested in the renovation and restoration of the museum large sums. The updated and restored museum opened just a month after work began - December 10, 2012.

The restorers tried to recreate the authentic atmosphere of Dickens's house. Here, all the furnishings and many things are genuine and once belonged to the writer. According to museum staff, specialists did everything to make the visitor feel that the writer had only left for a short time and would now return.

They tried to recreate the Charles Dickens Museum as a typical English home of a middle-income family of the 19th century, although Dickens himself was always afraid of poverty. There is a restored kitchen with all the attributes, a bedroom with a luxurious four-poster bed, a cozy living room, and a dining room with plates on the table.

Portrait of young Charles

Portrait of Charles Dickens by Samuel Drummond These Victorian plates feature portraits of Dickens and his friends. On the second floor there is his studio where he created, his wardrobe, his desk and chair, a shaving kit, some manuscripts and first editions of his books are carefully preserved. There are also paintings, portraits of the writer, personal belongings, and letters.

"The Shadow" by Dickens on the wall of the hall, as it were, invites you to examine the office, dining room, bedrooms, living room, kitchen.

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Writer's office

Catherine Dickens's room

Catherine Dickens's room interior

Catherine and Charles

Bust of Catherine

Portrait of Katherine with sewing

Under the portrait in the window lies the same sewing done by her hands... But the frame was not sharp... She was three years younger than him, pretty, with blue eyes and heavy eyelids, fresh, plump, kind and devoted. He loved and appreciated her family. Although Catherine did not arouse in him the same passion as Maria Beadnell, she seemed to be ideal for him. Dickens intended to make a big statement. He knew that he had to work long and hard, and he liked to do everything quickly. He wanted to have a wife and children. He had passionate nature and, having chosen a life partner, he sincerely became attached to her. They became one. She was “his better half,” “wifey,” “Mrs. D.” - in the first years of their marriage, he called Katherine just that and spoke about her with unbridled delight. He was definitely proud of her, and also that he had managed to get such a worthy companion as his wife.

Salon-studio where Dickens read his works

The needs of Dickens' family members exceeded his income. His disorderly, purely bohemian nature did not allow him to bring any kind of order into his affairs. Not only did he overwork his rich and fertile brain by over-working his creative mind, but being an extraordinarily brilliant reader, he endeavored to earn handsome fees by lecturing and reading excerpts from his novels. The impression from this purely acting reading was always colossal. Apparently, Dickens was one of the greatest reading virtuosos. But on his trips he fell into the hands of some dubious entrepreneurs and, while earning money, at the same time brought himself to exhaustion.

Second floor - studio and personal office

On the second floor there is his studio where he created, his wardrobe, his desk and chair, a shaving kit, some manuscripts and first editions of his books are carefully preserved. There are also paintings, portraits of the writer, personal belongings, and letters.

Victorian painting

Dickens chair

Famous portrait in the red chair

Dickens' personal desk and manuscript pages...

Dickens and his immortal heroes

The museum houses a portrait of the writer known as Dickens's Dream, painted by R.W. R.W. Buss, illustrator of Dickens's The Pickwick Papers. This unfinished portrait shows the writer in his study, surrounded by the many characters he created.

Mary's young sister-in-law's bedroom

It was in this apartment that Dickens suffered his first serious grief. There, his wife’s younger sister, seventeen-year-old Mary Gogard, died almost suddenly. It is difficult to imagine that the novelist, who just a year and a half before had married for love, felt passion for the young girl, almost a child, who lived in his house, but there is no doubt that he was united with her by more than brotherly affection. Her death struck him so much that he abandoned all his literary works and left London for several years. He kept the memory of Mary throughout his life. Her image stood before him when he created Nellie in the “Antiquities Shop”; in Italy he saw her in his dreams, in America he thought about her with the noise of Niagara. She seemed to him the ideal of feminine charm, innocent purity, a delicate, half-blooming flower, cut down too early by the cold hand of death.

Bust and original documents

Charles's formal suit

Original lamp in Mary's room

four poster bed...

Translator from English...)))

The museum guide was issued for a limited time only. English language, so we are very grateful to Olga for her invaluable help...)))

Office for papers with documents...

Medical devices...

Dickens's favorite chair...

Exhibition room of quotes and sayings...

The Museum organized an exhibition "Dickens and London", dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great English writer. Interesting installations are located under the roof and in the side rooms of the building.

Bust of Dickens' father

London in Dickens's time

Portraits of Dickens' children and their clothes

Katherine was a very persistent woman, she never complained to her husband, did not shift family concerns onto him, but she postpartum depression and the headaches increasingly irritated Charles, who did not want to acknowledge the validity of his wife’s suffering. The domestic idyll born of his imagination did not correspond to reality. The desire to become a respectable family man went against his nature. I had to suppress a lot in myself, which only aggravated the feeling of dissatisfaction.

With children, Charles also showed the duality characteristic of his nature. He was gentle and helpful, entertained and encouraged, delved into all the problems, and then suddenly grew cold. Especially when they reached the age when his own serene childhood ended. He felt a constant need to take care, first of all, that his children would never experience the humiliations that befell him. But at the same time, this concern burdened him too much and prevented him from continuing to be a passionate and tender father.
After 7 years of marriage, Dickens increasingly began to flirt with women. Catherine's first open rebellion on this matter struck him to the core. Fat, with faded eyes, barely recovering from yet another birth, she sobbed muffledly and demanded that he immediately stop his visits to the “other woman.” The scandal erupted over Dickens's friendship in Genoa with the Englishwoman Augusta de la Roi.
A complete break with Catherine occurred after Charles began to show signs of attention to her younger sister Georgia.
The writer published a letter in his weekly “Home Reading”, which was called “angry”. Until now, the public had not suspected anything about the events in personal life writer, now he told everything himself. The main theses of this message are as follows: Katherine herself is to blame for their breakup with his wife; it was she who turned out to be unadapted to family life with him, to the role of wife and mother. Georgina was the one who kept him from breaking up. She raised the children, since Katherine, according to her husband, was a useless mother (“Daughters turned into stones in her presence”). Dickens did not lie - his feelings towards women were always particularly intense, either negative or positive.
All their actions that they performed from the moment he rewarded them with a negative “image” only confirmed in his mind that he was right. It was like that with my mother, and now with Katherine. Much of the letter was dedicated to Georgina and her innocence. He also admitted to the existence of a woman for whom he “feels strongly.” With his public confession, which became extreme in its form and content after a long habit of keeping his spiritual secrets, it was as if he had won another “battle with life.” I won the right to break with the past. Almost all of the friends turned away from the writer, siding with Katherine. He did not forgive them for this until the end of his life. Then he composed another letter to refute the storm of gossip and rumors that had arisen. But most newspapers and magazines refused to publish it.

Charles Dickens

BREAK HOUSE

Preface

Once, in my presence, one of the Chancery judges kindly explained to a society of about one hundred and fifty people, whom no one suspected of dementia, that although prejudice against the Chancery Court is very widespread (here the judge seemed to glance sideways in my direction), this court almost flawless in fact. True, he admitted that the Court of Chancery had some minor mistakes - one or two throughout its activity, but they were not as great as they say, and if they happened, it was only because of the “stinginess of society” : for this evil society, until very recently, resolutely refused to increase the number of judges in the Court of Chancery, established - if I am not mistaken - by Richard the Second, and, however, it does not matter which king.

These words seemed to me a joke, and if it had not been so ponderous, I would have decided to include it in this book and put it in the mouth of Sloppy Kenge or Mr. Vholes, since it was probably either one or the other who invented it. They might even include a suitable quote from Shakespeare's sonnet:

The dyer cannot hide his craft,
So damn busy for me
It became an indelible seal.
Oh, help me wash away my curse!

But it is useful for a stingy society to know what exactly happened and is still happening in the judicial world, so I declare that everything written on these pages about the Chancery Court is the true truth and does not sin against the truth. In presenting the Gridley case, I have only recounted, without changing anything of substance, the story of one true incident, published by an impartial person, who, by the nature of his occupation, had the opportunity of observing this monstrous abuse from the very beginning to the end. There is currently a lawsuit going on in court that started almost twenty years ago; in which sometimes from thirty to forty lawyers appeared at the same time; which had already cost seventy thousand pounds in court fees; which is a friendly suit, and which (as I am assured) is no nearer the end now than the day it began. Another famous litigation is being heard in the Court of Chancery, still unresolved, and it began at the end of the last century and absorbed in the form of court fees not seventy thousand pounds, but more than twice as much. If further evidence were needed that litigation like Jarndyce v. Jarndyce exists, I could provide it in abundance in these pages to the shame of... a stingy society.

There is one more circumstance that I want to briefly mention. Ever since the day Mr. Crook died, certain persons have denied that so-called spontaneous combustion is possible; after Crook's demise was described, my good friend, Mr. Lewis (who quickly became convinced that he was deeply mistaken in believing that experts had already stopped studying this phenomenon), published several witty letters to me, in which he argued that spontaneous combustion could not exist. I should note that I do not mislead my readers either intentionally or through negligence and, before writing about spontaneous combustion, I tried to study this issue. About thirty cases of spontaneous combustion are known, and the most famous of them, which happened to Countess Cornelia de Baidi Cesenate, was carefully studied and described by the Verona prebendary Giuseppe Bianchini, a famous writer who published an article about this case in 1731 in Verona and later, in the second edition, in Rome. The circumstances surrounding the death of the Countess are beyond reasonable doubt and are very similar to the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Crook. The second most famous incident of this kind is one that took place at Reims six years earlier and was described by Dr. Le Ca, one of the most famous surgeons in France. This time, a woman died whose husband, through a misunderstanding, was accused of her murder, but was acquitted after he filed a well-reasoned appeal to a higher authority, since witness testimony irrefutably proved that death was caused by spontaneous combustion. I do not think it necessary to add to these significant facts and those general references to the authority of specialists which are given in Chapter XXXIII, the opinions and studies of famous medical professors, French, English and Scottish, published at a later time; I will only note that I will not refuse to recognize these facts until there is a thorough “spontaneous combustion” of the evidence on which judgments about incidents with people are based.

In Bleak House, I deliberately emphasized the romantic side of everyday life.

In the Chancery Court

London. The autumn session of the court - the Michaelmas Session - has recently begun, and the Lord Chancellor is seated at Lincoln's Inn Hall. Unbearable November weather. The streets were as slushy as if the waters of a flood had just subsided from the face of the earth, and if a megalosaurus forty feet long appeared on Holborn Hill, trailing like an elephant-like lizard, no one would be surprised. The smoke spreads as soon as it rises from the chimneys, it is like a fine black drizzle, and it seems that the soot flakes are large snow flakes, wearing mourning for the dead sun. The dogs are so covered in mud that you can’t even see them. The horses are hardly better - they are splashed up to their eyecups. Pedestrians, completely infected with irritability, poke each other with umbrellas and lose their balance at intersections, where, since dawn (if only it was dawn that day), tens of thousands of other pedestrians have tripped and slipped, adding new contributions to the already accumulated - layer on layer - dirt, which in these places tenaciously sticks to the pavement, growing like compound interest.

Fog is everywhere. Fog in the upper Thames, where it floats over green islets and meadows; the fog in the lower reaches of the Thames, where it, having lost its purity, swirls between the forest of masts and the coastal refuse of a large (and dirty) city. Fog on the Essex Moors, fog on the Kentish Highlands. Fog creeps into the galleys of the coal brigs; fog lies on the yards and floats through the rigging of large ships; fog settles on the sides of barges and boats. The fog blinds the eyes and clogs the throats of the elderly Greenwich pensioners wheezing by the fireplaces in the nursing home; the fog has penetrated the chibouk and the head of the pipe, which the angry skipper, holed up in his cramped cabin, smokes after dinner; the fog cruelly pinches the fingers and toes of his little cabin boy, trembling on the deck. On the bridges some people, leaning over the railings, look into the foggy underworld and, themselves shrouded in fog, feel as if hot-air balloon that hangs among the clouds.

Bleak House is the ninth novel by Charles Dickens (1853), which opens the period of artistic maturity of the writer. This book provides a cross-section of all layers of British society victorian era, from the highest aristocracy to the world of city gateways, and secret connections between them are revealed. The beginnings and endings of many chapters are marked by bursts of high Carlylean rhetoric. The picture of judicial proceedings in the Chancery Court, performed by Dickens in the tone of a nightmarish grotesque, aroused the admiration of such authors as F. Kafka, A. Bely, V. V. Nabokov. The latter devoted a lecture from a series about the analysis of the novel to greatest novels XIX century. Esther Summerson spent her childhood in Windsor, in the house of her godmother, Miss Barbary. The girl feels lonely and wants to find out the secret of her origin. One day Miss Barbery can’t stand it and says sternly: “Your mother has covered herself with shame, and you have brought shame on her. Forget about her...” A few years later, the godmother suddenly dies and Hester learns from the attorney lawyer Kenge, representing a certain Mr. John Jarndyce (John Jarndyce), that she is an illegitimate child; he declares in accordance with the law: “Miss Barbery was your only relative (illegal, of course; according to the law, I must note, you have no relatives).” After the funeral, Kenge, aware of her lonely situation, offers her study at a boarding house in Reading, where she will not need anything and will prepare to “fulfill her duty in the public field.” The girl gratefully accepts the offer. “The six happiest years of her life” pass there. After completing her studies, John Jarndyce (who became her guardian) assigns the girl as a companion to his cousin Ada Claire. Together with Ada's young relative Richard Carston, they go to an estate called Bleak House. The house once belonged to Mr. Jarndyce's great-uncle, Sir Tom, who shot himself after being unable to withstand the stress of litigation for the inheritance "Jarndyce against Jarndyce". Red tape and abuses by officials led to the process lasting for several decades; the original plaintiffs, witnesses, and lawyers had already died, and dozens of bags of documents related to the case had accumulated. “It seemed as if the house had taken a bullet in the forehead, just like its desperate owner.” But thanks to the efforts of John Jarndyce, the house looks better, and with the arrival of young people it comes to life. The smart and sensible Esther is given the keys to the rooms and storage rooms. She copes well with household chores - it’s not for nothing that John affectionately calls her Troublemaker. Their neighbors turn out to be Baronet Sir Leicester Dedlock (pompous and stupid) and his wife Honoria Dedlock (beautiful and arrogantly cold), who is 20 years younger than him. The secular chronicle notes her every step, every event in her life. Sir Leicester is extremely proud of his aristocratic family and cares only about the purity of his good name. A young employee of Kenja's office, William Guppy, falls in love with Esther at first sight. While on company business at the Dedlock estate, he is struck by her resemblance to Lady Dedlock. Soon Guppy arrives at Bleak House and confesses his love to Esther, but receives a decisive refusal. Then he hints at the amazing similarity between Hester and the lady. “Honour me with your hand, and I can’t think of anything to protect your interests and make you happy! I can’t find out anything about you!” He kept his word. Letters from an unknown gentleman who died from an excessive dose of opium in a dirty, squalid closet and was buried in a common grave in a cemetery for the poor fall into his hands. From these letters, Guppy learns about the connection between Captain Hawdon (this man) and Lady Dedlock, about the birth of their daughter. William immediately shares his discovery with Lady Dedlock, which causes her extreme confusion.