Bleak House

Bleak House

by

Charles Dickens

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Mr. Quale Character Analysis

Mr. Quale is a philanthropist and friend of Mrs. Jellyby’s. Mrs. Jellyby wants him to marry Caddy, her eldest daughter, but Caddy despises Mr. Quale and hates all philanthropy in general because she blames it for her mother’s neglect of the family. Mr. Quale represents philanthropists who, Dickens suggests, make a great show of being charitable and invested in social causes but who accomplish nothing. Mr. Quale is known in his philanthropic circle for having no specific cause of his own but for talking very enthusiastically about everybody else’s causes.

Mr. Quale Quotes in Bleak House

The Bleak House quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Quale or refer to Mr. Quale. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Social Mobility, Class, and Lineage Theme Icon
).
Chapter 30 Quotes

One other singularity was, that nobody with a mission—except Mr Quale, whose mission, as I think I have formerly said, was to be in ecstasies with everybody’s mission—cared at all for anybody’s mission. Mrs Pardiggle being as clear that the only one infallible course was her course of pouncing upon the poor, and applying benevolence to them like a strait-waistcoat; as Miss Wisk was that the only practical thing for the world was the emancipation of Woman from the thraldom of her Tyrant, Man. Mrs Jellyby, all the while, sat smiling at the limited vision that could see anything but Borrioboola-Gha.

Related Characters: Esther Summerson (speaker), Ada Clare, Mrs. Jellyby, Mrs. Pardiggle, Mr. Quale, Caddy Jellyby, Prince Turveydrop
Page Number: 362
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mr. Quale Quotes in Bleak House

The Bleak House quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Quale or refer to Mr. Quale. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Social Mobility, Class, and Lineage Theme Icon
).
Chapter 30 Quotes

One other singularity was, that nobody with a mission—except Mr Quale, whose mission, as I think I have formerly said, was to be in ecstasies with everybody’s mission—cared at all for anybody’s mission. Mrs Pardiggle being as clear that the only one infallible course was her course of pouncing upon the poor, and applying benevolence to them like a strait-waistcoat; as Miss Wisk was that the only practical thing for the world was the emancipation of Woman from the thraldom of her Tyrant, Man. Mrs Jellyby, all the while, sat smiling at the limited vision that could see anything but Borrioboola-Gha.

Related Characters: Esther Summerson (speaker), Ada Clare, Mrs. Jellyby, Mrs. Pardiggle, Mr. Quale, Caddy Jellyby, Prince Turveydrop
Page Number: 362
Explanation and Analysis: