Emotions? // Taylor Vice

             Throughout Bleak House, several unfortunate things have happened to Esther. She is stalked by Mr. Guppy, blinded, and she finds out who her long lost mother is. In each of these events, she seems to react in ways that a normal person with emotions would. "I told her that my heart overflowed with love for her; that it was natural love, which nothing in the past had changed, or could change." (Dickens XXXVI 35-37). It is hard to think that a person who had gone as long as Esther had without knowing her mother that anyone would be immediately forgiving and not ask many questions. It gives me a thought that Esther could perhaps be putting on a facade.

            Also, the buildup to Esther finding out who were mother was was very anticlimactic. It started to become obvious to the reader that Lady Dedlock was Esther's mother. When Lady Dedlock revealed to Esther that she was her mother, it was done in such a simple and, in my opinion, boring way. Then the way that Esther reacted was just not the way you would expect for someone to react in that sort of situation, and it was honestly just sort of a let down for what could have been a really interesting part of the story. Overall, I just do not quite understand Esther's character. It is as if she does not have any real emotions. 



I commented on Braylan Stringfellow's and Raygan Boster's posts.

Comments

  1. Ian BlairNovember 8, 2021 at 8:33 PM

    I personally have to agree with your take on the Lady Dedlock reveal. She had been seen disguised earlier in the plot, and it was ultimately obvious that she was following Esther's footsteps toward some goal. Regardless, Esther's reaction has certain aspects that just seems underwhelming, and overall OOC (out of character) for how one would picture Esther to actually react to that situation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Emmett BryantNovember 8, 2021 at 8:34 PM

    When I read where you wrote, "The buildup to Esther finding out who were mother was was very anticlimactic," I nearly shouted in agreement. I was waiting the entire time for Dickens to bring daughter and mother together in a seemingly astonishing fashion and yet he made it so boring and simple. Alas, reason number fifteen why Dickens is not in my top three favorite authors. -Emmett Bryant

    ReplyDelete
  3. Emily OttsNovember 8, 2021 at 9:04 PM

    Esther seems to not be a very dramatic person, and that is probably why she reacts in such a manner. She simply lets things happen, trying not to take too much action, as shown by her trying to keep herself out of her writings.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A House Divided//Emily Otts

The words Jesus spoke in Matthew 12 remind me so much of this play: "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand." (Matthew 12:25) King Lear, at the end of the day, is about a family being divided multiple ways. These divisions arise over greed and hatred for one another and cause the whole family to be ruined because of it. King Lear first divides the kingdom after his daughter Cordelia does not proclaim her love to him, so he banishes her. Later, his daughters go against him for not doing as they asked, believing he is unfit and unworthy to be king, secretly plotting against him. But all of this comes to a head in Act 5. After capturing King Lear and Cordelia, Edmund plans to have them killed. You would believe the sisters would be able to work together because their plan is working, but an even greater division has risen between them. Both of them wish to have Edmund for themselves, and they plot against each o...
Read more

The Plague in Everyone// Emily Otts

     In part 4 of the Plague , Tarrou tells Rieux about how he has had the plague forever. Except, this is not the same plague as the one ravaging the town. Tarrou speaks of how his father was a lawyer who believed in the death penalty, how he saw so many people support it and be comfortable about it, and how he had to witness the executions of prisoners. He explains how this sort of mindset is a plague itself, one Tarrou had been fighting for a long time. " That's why everybody in the world looks so tired; everyone is more or less sick of plague. But that is also why some of us, those who want to get the plague out of their systems, feel such desperate weariness, a weariness from which nothing remains to set us free except death" (Camus, part 4, chapter 6). Tarrou wants to desperately not submit to such awful ways of thinking.      Tarrou does not realize it, but the plague he is talking about is sin. Everyone has it, some people give in to it and let...
Read more

The Thirst for Knowledge

     With Book Seven of Milton's Paradise Lost, Raphael is continuing his exposition on Satan's apostasy. The plan is to expose Adam and Eve to the wretched fate of those who cross God's will. The more he shed's light on the subject, however, the more Adam is inclined to ask for more information. He wants to know everything about the subject, as well as God and His creation.      However, while the taste of such knowledge leaves Adam yearning for more, there are boundaries. It is like a toddler eating a cookie... and eventually begging her mother for the rest of the jar. Is it a coincidence that the one thing Adam and Eve are not to touch is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? Most readers know how the story ends: these toddlers are never going to be content with a few cookies. They're going in for the jar.   There is a statement in the Bible that is constantly being repeated throughout the Old Testament: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of ...
Read more