The Rhetoric of Dickens | by Emory Cooper

    CHAPTER XXXVI OF BLEAK HOUSE IS...it's beautiful. When one reads of the reunion between Lady Dedlock and Esther, the mother and her daughter, surely one cannot help but be moved in one's spirit. And this is the reason why: because Charles Dickens knew how to use rhetoric in his writing. In my mind, this passage stands as a principal testimony to Dickens' mastery of the English language in literature.

    In my analysis of this passionate event of Chesney Wold, I found that Dickens employs three key rhetorical techniques. First, This masterful author uses repetition to enforce the emotional impact of the narrative. On page 449, line 23, and again on page 452, line 6, Lady Dedlock cries out, "my child, my child!" On lines 18 and 19 of page 449, Esther writes that "I looked..but I could not see...could not hear..could not draw my breath." On lines 6 through 8 of page 452, Lady Dedlock speaks: "For the last time! These kisses for the last time! These arms...for the last time!"

    Second, Dickens employs similar and contrasting word choices and placement, as well as allegory, in his sentence structure. (rhetorical tactics for which Winston Churchill's speeches have been made famous) A prime example of such structure exists in one of Lady Dedlock's paragraphs, on lines 21-26 of page 451. "I am resolved. I have long outbidden folly with folly, pride with pride scorn with scorn, insolence with insolence, and have outlived many vanities with many more. I will outlive this danger, and outdie it, if I can. It has closed around me, almost as awfully as if these woods of Chesney Wold had closed around the house: but my course through it is the same. I have but one; I can have but one."

    Finally, the third method Dickens uses to generate passion is one of my favorites: he eludes to Bible verses! Lady Dedlock's "O my child, my child" reminds me of 2 Samuel 18:33, where David cries, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!" And on lines 9 and 10 of page 450, my Lady exclaims, "wretched and dishonouring creature that I am!" This seems to reference Romans 7:24: "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"


I commented on Lily's and Emily Otts' posts.

Comments

  1. Abigale BellNovember 9, 2021 at 9:05 AM

    Charles Dickens truly is a great writer. I agree that his use of rhetoric creates a certain atmosphere in the story. You make reference to Dickens' use of allegory and Scripture also. I can stand with you in saying that this story is made more beautiful and more meaningful by the use of allegory and Scripture.

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  2. Ashlyn ScismNovember 9, 2021 at 10:51 AM

    The way you analyze Dickens’ writing was very well done. He is a master of the English language and apparently also of rhetoric. The way he writes is so intentional and it invokes very specific emotions.

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