A case filed in the court may not be resolved immediately; some verdicts come out in months while some others may take many years. One such case filed in England’s Court of Chancery drags on through decades. The Bleak House is about this lawsuit, filed by Jarndyce and Jarndyce.
Esther Summerson is one of the most prominent characters in the novel. In fact, half the novel is narrated from her perspective. Esther was orphaned right after she was born; she is raised by Miss Barbary, whom she knows as her godmother. Miss Barbary was in fact, her mother’s sister. When she dies a sudden death, Esther is left in the care of John Jarndyce, a philanthropist. He also arranges for Esther to receive a sound education.
Esther stays at the Bleak House, Jarndyce’s house near St. Albans. Over the course of Esther’s stay at Bleak House, she learns more about her family, and learns the identity of her mother.
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