![]() Thus there is a sort of suspense in the method itself as well as in the plot. Sustained use of present-tense narration is so unusual that, as we read, we hardly know what to expect from moment to moment. ![]() Second, there is a corresponding alternation between present tense and past tense. First, throughout the novel, there is an alternation in the point of view from which the story is being told. Correctness and relative formality of expression were part and parcel of a society that was both stratified into classes and strongly influenced by classical education.īleak House has two oddities of technique - that is, the manner in which the story is presented. Correctness, in language as in manners, was a central concern for the typical middle-class person. It may be hard for us to believe that people ever really spoke that way. Their grammar (unless Dickens is making fun of some idiosyncrasy of expression) is flawless they command a sophisticated vocabulary and tend to favor the formal word or phrase their sentences can become quite involved without becoming unclear. In short, a writer in Dickens' era had great respect for his audience and a strong rapport with it - an exciting situation to be in!Įven in casual conversation, the characters in Bleak House (except for those at or near the very bottom of the social ladder, like Jo) speak rather elaborately. In a great many households and throughout the educational system, the promotion of these skills had the power of moral force. Nineteenth-century society considered skill in writing and reading necessary for anyone who aspired to be genteel - or even civilized. They wanted guidance on the issues of the times and they also wanted to "progress" personally by becoming more knowledgeable (about sundry matters) and more skilled in language. Despite their strong streak of puritanism and the limitations inherent in their middle-class outlook, Dickens' readers, far from demanding that the author write down to their level, were generally eager to have a book that helped them up to a higher level. ![]() When we read Dickens (or any nineteenth-century writer), we need to remember this fortunate, productive relationship between the author and the reading public. In Bleak House, Dickens turns a "classical allusion" into a joke - but only because his readers, far more literate than today's readers, would recognize the allusion and therefore appreciate the twist. He also knew that his readers were responsive to playfulness in words and hence would not insist that he keep coming bluntly to the point and "get on with things" and so he was free to play one of his favorite roles: the entertainer - here a verbal entertainer, as elsewhere a mimic or theatrical entertainer (Dickens was an active public reader, actor, and practical joker as well as an author). In other words, Dickens was not forced to use only a very limited vocabulary or to forego subtleties of tone and emphasis nor did he feel obliged to keep all his sentences short and simply constructed when emotion or the complexity of an idea cried out for longer or more complicated ones. Such a receptive and well prepared, or at least cooperative, audience freed Dickens to pitch his writing at a level that satisfied his artistic conscience. Dickens wrote for an audience that loved to read and was unafraid to tackle a work of serious literature. Television and film are the preferred pastimes, and what people do read is more likely to be journalism (or the captions under pictures) than the prose of a literary artist like Dickens. Many people today are no longer well-practiced readers. In order to see Bleak House in the right perspective, it is necessary to pursue this point. Naturally today's reader may find Dickens' manner rather unfamiliar and in some ways a bit difficult. Prose style, like almost everything else, has changed. Such a receptive and well prepared, or at least cooperative, audience freed Dickens to pitch his writing at a level that satisfied his artistic conscience.īleak House was written about a century and a half ago. In order to see Bleak House in the right perspective, it is necessary to pursue this point. ![]() Bleak House was written about a century and a half ago.
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