Bleak House character list below for the supposed inspiration of individual characters). Although not a character, the "Jarndyce and Jarndyce" case is a vital part of the novel. It is believed to have been inspired by a number of real-life Chancery cases involving wills, including those of Charles Day and William Jennens, and of Charlotte Smith's father-in-law Richard Smith. Much criticism of "Bleak House" focuses on its unique narrative structure: it is told both by a third-person omniscient narrator and a first-person narrator (Esther Summerson). The omniscient narrator speaks in the present tense and is a dispassionate observer. Esther Summerson tells her
Bleak House "The Western Canon", considers "Bleak House" to be Dickens's greatest novel. Daniel Burt, in his book "The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time", ranks "Bleak House" number 12. Horror and supernatural fiction author Stephen King named it among his top 10 favourite books. The house named Bleak House in Broadstairs, is not the original. Dickens stayed with his family at this house (then called Fort House), for at least one month every summer from 1839 until 1851. However, there is no evidence that it formed the basis of the fictional Bleak House, particularly as it