Within ‘Bleak house’, Dickens employs a religious lexis, subtly drawing the reader’s attention to themes of law and justice. ‘Never can there come fog too thick.’ Placing specific emphasis on the word ‘never’, this sermon-like way of communicating with the reader gives a solemn air to the sentence. Understanding this lexis, further draws our attention to how fog can hide crime, allow people to act invisibly leaving everything unseen, thus portraying a symbol of injustice. Dickens delves deeper into his biblical lexis by describing how the ‘High Court of Chancery, most pestilent of hoary sinners’ stands amidst the darkness of the fog, implying that the dark streets of London are not the most dangerous areas; the court, where justice should reign, is worse, alerting the reader of the Lord Chancellor’s ill intentions.
Dickens’ craft in creating intense and convincing scenes in his novels is reflected in ‘Bleak House’ where the initial chapter is located in the financial core of London. Through the application of a financial lexis, the reader is instinctively drawn towards the main location where Dickens describes the masses of mud to be ‘accumulating’ at ‘compound interest’ almost like money in a bank. Furthermore, this centres the reader’s thoughts on the Chancellor and indirectly focuses on the unethical, unprincipled ways of today’s society.
The fog described in the second paragraph is another focal point in ‘Bleak House’, where Dickens personifies it to an extent that it ‘cruelly pinches the toes’. A negative connotation of the fog is portrayed, where it seems to be almost a wicked character that can be visualised by the reader. Dickens also personifies gas which ‘seems to know, for it has a haggard and unwilling look’. Gas is not usually associated with anything, but used in this context, Dickens has given even gas an evil role in the novel, characterizing it to have a sense of authority and human features, allowing the reader the illustrate a wider mental picture of the scene.
Through the absence of determiners in ‘Bleak House’, Dickens draws the reader’s attention to the busier side of London as opposed to the creepy engulfing fog. ‘Foot passengers, jostling’, ‘Horses’, ‘Dogs’ all present a portrayal of something quite out-of-control and hectic, indicating to the reader an illustration of the streets of London as well a feeling of the restless atmosphere.
By presenting a comprehensive non-conversational opening description, Dickens has set the scene and tone leaving the plot a mystery. Words such as ‘compound’ and ‘deposit’ hint a subtle theme of greed and corruption that may run throughout the novel. By repeatedly stressing and emphasising the fog, Dickens succeeds in engulfing the text with it. ‘Fog everywhere’, ‘Fog up the river’, ‘Fog on the marshes’, Dickens completely and absolutely surrounds the reader as well as the people in London, with the threatening, menacing fog. Extensive description is employed by using different verbs such as ‘creeping’, ‘lying’, ‘drooping’, inventing various actions for one thing, ultimately creating an immense more imaginable visual image.
Dickens allows the reader to interact with the text through the use of the phonological feature onomatopoeia, allowing the reader to form a personal picture of the scene. ‘Slipping and sliding’, emphasises the cold, bitter weather, and the reader is vividly able to imagine themselves slipping and sliding. Alliteration is also used aiding the reader to grasp the concept with as much emphasis as possible whilst also portraying a visual picture. ‘Much mud’ is alliterated to produce an impact on the reader, highlighting the masses of mud Dickens is trying to convey in his scene.
Superlatives are employed in ‘Bleak House’ indicating a definite difference to the text virtually drawing it to a close. ‘The raw afternoon is rawest, and the dense fog is densest’. Through the use of superlatives here, Dickens has almost slowed down the rhythm he had built up, encouraging the reader to read it at a slower tempo, taking in each and every word thus allowing more time to create that vital mental image.
‘Bleak House’ has many linguistic features warped into its text, some of which contribute to the visual side of the mental picture, some on the phonological side allowing the reader to hear their own individual versions of the different sounds, and some which allow the reader to empathise with the writer. I feel the devices could contribute into making a potentially positive novel, however Dickens being Dickens utilises his expert use of authorial techniques allowing himself to subtly yet successfully criticise the social injustice and crime of his time. It is through the use of profound imagery that he is able to make such negative ideas most prominent in the minds of the readers, portraying an overall ‘bleak’ image.
