Summaries and Critical Commentary

Abstract

Bleak House has a very complicated plot and the novel often switches from one apparently unrelated part to another. As the story proceeds, however, the connections between the different parts become clearer, and they are all seen to be related to each other. Some readers may find it initially helpful to think of the novel as consisting of two main stories - the Chancery plot of Esther, Ada, Richard and Mr Jarndyce, and the Dedlock plot of Chesney Wold, consisting of Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock, and the activities of their lawyer Mr Tulkinghorn - but even these two major narrative threads are eventually seen to be part of the same story, as the following summary indicates.