Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Bleak House, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Social Mobility, Class, and Lineage
Law vs. Justice
Passion, Obsession, and Madness
Philanthropy, Social Responsibility, and Kindness
Haunting, Guilt, and Destiny
Identity and Appearance
Summary
Analysis
It is quiet down at Chesney Wold, and Lady Dedlock is buried in the family crypt. Sir Leicester is an invalid now and goes about the grounds with George by his side. Sir Leicester still maintains his dispute with Mr. Boythorn, but Mr. Boythorn pursues his claims on the land more out of a sense of sympathy for Sir Leicester, whom he does not wish to patronize, rather than out of a genuine desire to win the battle. Phil lives in the groundskeeper’s cottage, and Mrs. Rouncewell is very happy to have her son back. The Bagnets also come to visit often.
Sir Leicester has insisted upon Lady Dedlock being buried as a Dedlock despite her shame, highlighting that he truly loved her. Mr. Boythorn does not want Sir Leicester to think that he pities him and, therefore, kindly treats him as an equal and continues the dispute as if it were a playful game. George has remembered all his friends in his new position.
Themes
Volumnia has been written into the will so that, in the event of Sir Leicester’s death, she will be taken care of. In general, though, the cousins do not haunt Chesney Wold anymore. It is no longer a lively or a fashionable house and nothing much goes on within its walls, where Sir Leicester quietly lives out the rest of his days.
Volumnia no longer worries about her old age because she is provided for, and her efforts to ingratiate herself with Sir Leicester have been successful. The Dedlock era is over, and this signifies the social change that was taking place throughout the 19th century, as social mobility and the new middle class replaced the nobility.
Themes
