The Letter
Mr. Jarndyce was out of line writing a letter of proposal to Ester. I know this sounds crazy but as her guardian he took advantage of their relationship by asking for her hand. First of all Ester is always talking about how grateful she is for every thing he has done for her and he never lets her repay him. See what she says when he mentions writing a letter to her, "Dear guardian, how could I object to your writing any thing for me to read?"(Dickens, 542). Ester still feels like Jarndyce is above her see how the word me is italicized as if she is surprised that someone of Jarndyce's stature would even write her a letter. It seems that she prepares herself to say yes even though she is not sure of it because of his status and to somehow repay him for everything he has done for her. See how she convinces herself to be happy with her decision, "When you are mistress of Bleak House, you are to be as cheerful as a bird"(Dickens, 545). The second reason she decided to except Jarndyce's proposal was because of her scars. She was afraid that part of the reason he proposed was because no other man would ever want her looking the way she did. She feels like Mr. Jarndyce is the only man that will love her and the only man she can truly trust in (which is another reason the letter is out of line). See what she thinks to herself after reading the letter, "That his generosity rose above my disfigurement, and my inheritance of shame. that the more I stood in need of such fidelity, the more firmly I might trust him to the last"(Dickens, 544). I know I have discredited a character that is very liked in the book and I think is only saving grace in his proposal is that there is no hint of him wanting a sexual relation ship, yet I do think it is selfish of him to ask her to give up her young life to finish out the end of his life and then she'll be left widowed and never having a chance for love. Ester does not see it this way at the time because of her disfigurement and her "shameful" that is why she brushes the flowers over Ada's lips and burns them because they symbolize a love she can never have and Ada has with Richard. Little does Ester know at the time that Mr. Woodcourt does love her and will not care about her scares.
I think to a modern audience your interpretation of the letter is very correct. It was the same reaction I had when I first read it and I would have felt very uneasy if Jarndyce and Esther had ended up together. At the same time though, I think we have to look at it from the perspective of a Victorian audience. Women had almost no way to support themselves that was looked upon favorably by society. Jarndyce’s would most likely of been seen as an extension of his guardian duties. He would be responsible for marrying her off, or seeing her taken care of finically. Since she wasn’t actually related to him, it would have been hard to do the latter. I believe that his letter to her was the simplest way he could take care of Esther without worrying about her getting hurt.
ReplyDeleteGood point readinglizard! Obviously now knowing the ending, we see that his intentions were to take care of her and know that she'd be well off, even after his death. BUT, before we knew any of that, it was just so weird! The entire novel showed their relationship as father/daughter, or boss/worker. It was like he had to ruin a perfectly trusting relationship by making her an offer she couldn't refuse, even if she did have feelings for Allen. I do think that this was written perfectly, because she would have accepted it like she did and Jarndyce did take back the proposal, knowing she'd be happier with Woodcourt. But, once again, for a while there it was out of line and it seemed too weird for it to be real.
ReplyDeleteJarndyce did say that Esther could refuse the proposal and nothing about their relationship would change. Interestingly, even Esther's acceptance didn't seem to change the relationship, which makes me believe that neither one of them REALLY wanted to change anything.
ReplyDeleteI wondered about both of their motivations with the engagement. I am not sure either of them really understood the relationship or feelings for one another.
Part of me suspects the proposal was just to please the public, or to thwart uninvited gossip. At some point, I'm sure the tongues would start wagging, and rumors would spread. Most people probably wouldn't let it be. Without Richard and Ada in the house, Esther would be a single woman living with a single man she wasn't related to. Mrs. Woodcourt's prediction about Esther seems kind of like a suggestion. At the very least, it proves that people were beginning to speculate about Esther and Jarndyce.
I wonder if it pleases Esther or at least satisfies her to know that Woodcourt doesn't love her for just her looks. It's not as if Dickens describes her as beautiful (like Ada), but it seems pretty clear that Woodcourt loves her for her character.
ReplyDelete