Tone
Bleak House
by Charles Dickens

Bleak House: Tone 1 key example

Definition of Tone

The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical, and so on. For instance... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical... read full definition
Tone
Explanation and Analysis:

Because Bleak House has two narrators, there are two distinct tones in the novel. Narrator one, a third person omniscient voice, mostly written in the present tense, has a somber and at times bitter tonal quality. However, they are also witty, at times irreverent, and highly observant of social nuance. Dickens uses this narrator to decry the injustices of the court system and of the limits that English social norms and institutions place on people. This narrator is primarily interested in politics, and in the larger messages of the book.