Summary: Reproductive Urges by Anita Levy

            Chapter 1 Literacy, Sexuality, and Eighteenth-Century Englishness

The chapter starts out by criticizing the politics of what exactly the British saw as good art. Supposedly the writers up until the Victorian age had all been part of the aristocracy, and finally part of the lower class was starting to step up and change the way the visual arts could be enjoyed forever. The novel became extremely important because it gave a way for the middle class as well as some of the lower class to feel connected to their country, and not only that but it became a way to educate them as well. One of the issues with this however is that in order for everyone to understand a piece of work that is supposed to be spread out through a large array of people is that the language needs to be organized. In order for the language to be organized it must have syntax, definitions, and a clear meaning for everyone to understand, but as we all know defining a word can be extremely hard. Especially when it comes to translations what is someone who is knows French is reading an English novel and can’t translate or completely messes up the meaning. Translation isn’t even for other languages what if the common dialect is different from the proper use of the language. Just because someone can read does not make them a good reader that can understand the meaning behind what they are reading. Not everyone can tell a good apple from a bad one. Jane Austen is used as a good example in the way of showing readers what is appropriate and what is not appropriate in the terms of social behavior in regards to reproduction. Nineteenth century literature stays well within the middle of the classes as far as good reading and a good example of social norms and education. As long as the reader is able to interpret well enough then everything is in the clear.    

Inspector Bucket

Following up on some of our in class activities I want to look at one of my favorite characters of the book and talk about his strengths and weaknesses. This character just so happens to be Inspector Bucket!

 I think that as a character he is very interesting. My first impression of him was that I did not like him at all. As a man of the law he helps to represent a face of the flawed system. He can be seen as an enemy of Jo and of Lady Dedlock. Eventually it is easy to see that he is just really doing his job. By the end of the book he ends up being very useful. Originally however, he is hired by Mr. Tulkinghorn to investigate Lady Dedlock, and does a superb job with it. Another thing that got under my skin with him is how he treated Jo. Even though Jo was dirt poor he was still a sympathetic character, and knowing that Inspector Bucket is one of the characters that mistreated Jo made me somewhat upset with him. It is easy to see that

 Inspector Bucket takes his job very seriously, and in the end I cannot judge him for that.

                In the end what changed my mind about him was in the last few chapters when he took over the case of Mr. Tulkinghorn. It is brilliant how he finds out that it was Madame Hortense and not George. As a character he may be a little blunt and a little too dedicated to his job, but according to Victorian society that is not a bad thing. Dealing with the scoundles of London at the time I’m sure that he was accustomed to rats and thieves which is why he treated everyone the way he did. Today however, most people like a straight forward person. In the end however, after he learns the truth about Lady Dedlock he begins to soften and does a wonderful job helping Esther find her lost mother even though the search turned out to be a fatal one. Inspector Bucket is very straightforward and extremely dedicated to his job. He is even married to a fellow inspector which is actually quite cute. Essentially he is a very constant character that brings out a lot of emotion within the book.  

The Angel in the House

The mothers in Bleak House aren’t very good role models. It’s kind of surprising how obvious Dickens’s theme of family structure is. Not only is this book about class, but it is about the home and family unit as well. He makes it clear that women are the center of the family structure. The obvious example is Mrs. Jellyby; she is so obsessed with Africa that her home is in shambles. Without her guidance her home is in ruins. Another example is Esther; she is so organized that she keeps the house in peace. Esther knows that her duty as house keeper comes first, and because of this she is able to maintain a proper household.  The next idea to point out is the amount of orphans in this book. I believe that it is show three levels of the family unit. First there is the functional unit; this would be considered the residence of bleak house itself. Despite the fact that they really are not all related it is still a fully functional household where everything is taken care of. The next step would then be the Jellyby household; everyone had a roof over their heads, but they still are not in the best situation ever. Then finally there is Jo who has no family whatsoever. I believe that the biggest statement being made here is that having a mother is always better than having no mother at all.

                Could this also be a statement saying that Victorian women should know their place? Disregarding Jo, it is easy to see that Dickens does not fully appreciate women such as Mrs. Jellyby, having their own business outside of the home. To quote an article that I read about this subject Joan Manheimer argues in her essay called “Murderous Mothers” that “The woman in the house was caught in a dialectical dance with the demons at the door” (531). I personally believe that Charles Dickens is making an argument that women can have a right to stand up for themselves and think for themselves, but no matter how much they like it or not the home cannot function without them. Esther goes about and does as she pleases but she is still always there to manage the house affairs and to support her loved ones whenever she needs to, and the same goes for Caddy. She helps maintain the family business, but she still knows her place as a wife and mother and is there for her family when need be. Dickens’ is making it quite obvious that women really do need to be the angel in the house.

Cultural Clash of the Victorian Novel

I must admit that I had a lot of trouble reading/listening to this novel. At first, when I started reading it I had to look back all the time in order to figure out what was going on, and then when I reverted to listening to it I had to make sure I paid special attention to the reader. Not only was the reader male, (which made all of the female characters quite interesting) but he was also quite dull. I have to admit however, that not only did the sheer length of the novel make it hard to read, but the fact that it was written in such a different time period make it hard to follow as well. Considering that we live in and fast paced world it is extremely hard for modern readers to take the time that they need with a Victorian novel such as this one; myself included, but once I actually figured out what Charles Dickens was up too I was able to make some headway. Essentially what I am trying to say is that back in the day this book was published a few chapters at a time in the newspaper, and that readers with their completely different way of communicating were able to sit back and enjoy the ride at a slow pace.

                The descriptions in Bleak House are lush and spacious. Today readers want books to be short and to the point which then makes it hard to enjoy books such as Bleak House. Once I got broken in to the style though, it was nice to actually take the time to enjoy it. Traditional to Dickens’s style, he made his own little world, and made quite a list of characters. These characters are extremely hard to follow, but they are all elaborately done, and make the story what it is. Bleak House is a story that got published much like today’s soap operas, and its web of characters functions the same as well. The web of characters is a big one, but each story is important and each character is related to the other in some way or form. When having trouble reading a book from the Victorian era it is important to understand that the world has changed and that your mindset must change as well in order to comprehend it in the way you are supposed to. So take your time enjoy the ride and let Dickens take you into a whole new world.