Bleak House Episodes 6-7

[winterspel]

Episodes 1-3 can be found here. Episodes 4 & 5 can be found here.




From the BBC website: List of Characters | Character/Actor Information

Episode 6: Summary

• The episode begins with General George (who is really only a Sargeant) being brought before Tulkinghorn and Smallweed - Tulkinghorn wants to purchase a writing sample from George of Captain Hawden, but George spurns him on the grounds that any correspondence would be private and personal. So Tulkinghorn responds by threatening to call in George's debts and leave him and his dependents penniless.
  

• Meanwhile, back at Chesney Wold, Sir Leicester notes a fast, modern carriage approaching, who ends up being the son of their housekeeper, Mrs. Rouncewell. Sir Leicester speaks of him with all the snobbery his class affords because Mr. Rouncewell is quite well-to-do, but he is a "self-made" man: he owns several factories, and does quite well. Sir Leicester takes great offense to Mr. Rouncewell's proposal - Mr. Rouncewell's son wishes to marry Rosa (Lady Dedlock's personal maid for whom she fired Hortense), but Mr. Rouncewell would like Rosa to leave service in the Chesney Wold household and be educated and brought out at Mr. Rouncewell's expense. Later, Lady Dedlock asks her maid, Rosa, if she is in love with Mr. Rouncewell's son, and she clearly does not want to lose her, as she is very fond of the girl and indeed seems to be affectionate with her the way one might be with a daughter.
  

• "They put me in a hard place. A very hard place," George tells his friend and associate Phil. Tulkinghorn and Smallweed conspire to convince George by ill means to give up his letters, but George will not, for honor, and feels the danger keenly. He cares less for being left penniless himself, but he's more worried about leaving Phil destitute since he promised Phil that he would take care of him, and Phil would have no livelihood if not for George.
  
  
• When Guppy goes to see Krook to investigate further the mystery of Esther's birth, Guppy finds more proof that his "Angel," Miss Summerson, may be related to a Miss Barbary, who is now Lady Dedlock (Lady Dedlock is also a possible heir in the Jarndyce & Jardyce case, and so Esther could be an heir as well). Krook reveals that his lodger, Nemo, was really called Captain Hawden, and that he has letters written in a lady's hand to Captain Hawden - love letters. Of course, Krook won't give the letters up and Guppy goes back to his law offices to brood over the mystery.

• Eventually he goes to Lady Dedlock who is visiting in London and tells her about the his discoveries, and about the letters. She gives her assent when he offers to retrieve the letters from Krook, and is visibly shaken to discover that her daughter lives. :) I am so glad that I can finally talk about this thing that each episode has been hinting at almost from the beginning, what with Nemo's lingering gaze at Esther in the first episode, and then later Lady Dedlock's strange sense of recognition when they first see each other in the chapel. Of course, it would be quite obvious according to the conventions of storytelling that this should be the case, and the best part is that Lady Dedlock loves her daughter dearly, and feels her absence. Clearly, she though the girl to be dead. Her attentions to Rosa are very much those of a mother - she wants very much to mother someone, so she chooses a lovely village girl to play the part and fill that void that she must feel quite keenly. And now she knows that her daughter is out there in the world, and thanks to Guppy, she even knows who it is.
  

• Mr. Woodcourt's mother comes to call at Bleak House and stays for dinner. She doesn't seem best pleased with the sight of Esther - one can only assume that Mr. Woodcourt mentioned her to his mother, and his mother wanted to learn something of the girl who might have captured her son's affections. At dinner, Mrs. Woodcourt makes some very pointed remarks about birth which clearly wound Esther keenly, as she feels the stain on her own birth quite deeply. Basically Mrs. Woodcourt strives to tell Esther not to try for her son when her birth is so low that their match could not be considered. Esther when asked very directly about her family relations, handles it with great aplomb, but it's obvious that it hurts her not to know anything of her parentage.

• Poor Jo, the crossing sweeper boy is very ill, and when Mr. Jarndyce, Ada and Esther find out, they rush to London and bring him back to Bleak House to care for him until he can be taken to a hospital (when feverish Jo first sees Esther, he thinks that she is the Lady who gave him money and reacts badly, because he had so much trouble from it). The vile Mr. Skimpole argues against the poor boy being kept at Bleak House because he's squeamish about the illness. His lack of compassion is astonishing and makes me hate him even more, Yes, I hate Skimpole with a passion by this point because not only does he continue to make an ass of himself, but he's incredibly unfeeling towards others. Small wonder when Jo disappears from Bleak House in the middle of the night.
  

Episode 7: Summary

• As the episode opens, we discover that Jo was removed from Bleak House based on information provided by Mr. Skimpole to Tulkinghorn. In the previous episode Tulkinghorn had wanted Jo safely out of the way because he knew information that might hurt Sir Leicester's interests. The tragic consequence of Jo's presence at Bleak House is that Esther has contracted smallpox - Mr. Jarndyce quarantines Esther to protect the rest of the household, but Charley volunteers to care for Esther. They are all deeply affected by the horrible news, Mr. Jarndyce and Ada being hit the worst. Mr. Skimpole is of course, unkind and unfeeling in his comments, as per usual:Skimpole: The deuce of it is that if she does...live - which is unlikely - she'll be so horridly disfigured that any person of a sensitive disposition such as myself...will find it too distressing a sight to bear.
  Ada: She will still be Esther. Mr. Skimpole. And her true friends will love her just as much as they ever did.
  Lady Dedlock find out from her housekeeper that Esther is very ill with smallpox, and she's obviously very upset to think that she's only just discovered that her daughter is alive, and now she hears that she's dangerously ill, and may die.

• The next scene with Krook is rather painful to watch - Krook can't read, but he gets rip-roaringly drunk, and discovers that he can read, which is of course very bizarre. Guppy, Snagsby and Miss Flite converge upon Krook's house complaining of a strange soot in the air and a bad burned smell. Guppy goes inside and finds only a giant greasy burned smear on the floor that they later determine was Krook - a case of spontaneous combustion. (I know! This was just too bizarre!) I guess he just drank himself to death until all the alcohol ignited internally...I guess.
  
  
• Poor Ada has further bad news of Richard to impart to Mr. Jarndyce as she and Mr. Jarndyce are worrying for Esther. Mr. Jarndyce admits that he thinks perhaps he was too hard on them in keeping them apart because he recognizes that Richard's love for Ada is perhaps his most redeeming feature, and that he should have encouraged it. Ada tells Mr. Jarndyce that Richard wants to pursue his interest in the Jarndyce & Jarndyce case with greater energy, and in doing so he wishes to choose another law firm than the Kenge & Carboys firm that handles Ada and Mr. Jarndyce's interests. Mr. Jarndyce is very sorry to hear of this, of course, but he tells Ada that he's not angry, and that while he's very sorry that Richard feels this way, he wants to make sure that Richard knows he will always be welcome at Bleak House.
  
  
• At the inquest, we find out that Krook was Mr. Smallweed's brother-in-law, so he's taking over the remains of Krook's "estate." Which means that Guppy won't be able to get his hands on Lady Dedlock's letters to Captain Hawden yet.
  
  
• After a difficult two-week illness, Esther finally comes out of the worst of the smallpox - and she insists that Charley bring her a mirror, which Charley tearfully does. Esther is so brave when she sees the horrible disfigurement that the smallpox has left behind:Esther: Well, I never thought my face would be my fortune, and now I'm quite sure of it.
  Mr. Jarndyce and Ada are, of course, thrilled and relieved that Esther has weathered the worst of her illness, when even the doctors didn't think she would survive. I think Esther is quite taken aback by how deeply her illness and their fear for her affected both Ada and Mr. Jarndyce.

• When poor Guppy goes to admit failure to Lady Dedlock - that he has not yet managed to get the letters for her - Mr. Tulkinghorn walks in on them as the audience was ending. I admit, I was very skeeeered for Guppy. I felt like crying out "run away, run away!" It's dangerous to attract Tulkinghorn's attention, and clearly Tulkinghorn now has taken an interest in Guppy because he's determined to ferret out any of Lady Dedlock's business. Guppy is wisely quite nervous to be in the presence of the famous and formidable Tulkinghorn.
  
  
• Ada tells Clare that the young woman from the village whose baby died in the first episode, had a visit from a veiled lady who asked after Esther's health and wanted the handkerchief that Esther had placed over the baby's face when the child died. Apparently the woman was quite struck by how anxious the lady was to have the handkerchief as a keepsake.

• Miss Flite comes to visit Esther and tells her news of Mr. Woodcourt, who was a great hero after a terrible shipwreck, and Esther allows herself to have a tiny glimmer of hope where Mr. Woodcourt is concerned.

• Tulkinghorn joins forces with Smallweed to learn more about Captain Hawden from George, and they bring George in and give him an ultimatum to turn over Hawden's letters or be ruined. Tulkinghorn reminds him that his friend Phil will be worst affected by George's ruination, and of course George's kind heart can't bear to think of his friend being hurt and troubled by the affair.Tulkinghorn: But how will it rest with your conscience, Sargeant?
  George: [stares at Tulkinghorn grimly] If I show the letter, no harm will come to anyone from it?
  Tulkinghorn: I offer no guarantees...but if you don't show it...I think you understand the consequences.
  George: Then I have no choice.
  Tulkinghorn: You have the document with you.
  George: No. But I will bring it.
  Tulkinghorn: Make sure that you do.
  George: But take care, Mr. Tulkinghorn. You hold the lives of others very cheap, I think. If I were you, I should be fearful of my own.
  Tulkinghorn: Do you threaten me, sir? I have been threatened before and those who made the threat had reason to regret it. I think I have little to fear from such as you.
  
  

Tulkinghorn and Smallweed are the evil duo indeed. I feel so sorry for George who is in such a very hard place - he doesn't want to betray his friend Hawden, yet neither does he want to let down his friend Phil. It makes me feel so sad for all these people who would be persecuted by evil men in power.

All caps by lilycup