Charles Dickens' Realism and Bleak House

Realism deals with society, how it functions and operate and we see that Dickens deals with that, too. He tends to include all different classes and interested in the interactions of those characters. He's concerned about society and he links all different kinds of members of society together.

His realism is polemic as he argues for something and against certain people.

Another important thing about his realism is that, his novel is quite cinematic and he makes one feel like they’re sitting there besides Dickens.  The portrayal of London is not romanticized at all, it's a dirty, disgusting place. He includes mug, as well. London is graphically described as being a displeasant, unpleasant place— with all these mug, smoke, fog.

The fog becomes a metaphor for the kind of legal system. The law is supposed to clear things up, but the fog is in the law system as well. It’s a symbol of how the legal system operates.

Contrast is important for realism, and we see contrasting characters in Bleak House. For example, we see Lady Dedlock who’s arrogant, concerned with the way she looks and fashion, and very vain, while we also see Esther, who doesn't want to be vain, doesn't want to think about herself and rather too hard on herself. Esther is establishing herself as a kind, gentle, trusty, loving person, unlike Lady Dedlock. Even her surname, “Summerson” suggest that she's a summary girl, open, transparent,bright and all the things we associate with summer. Meanwhile “Dedlock” suggest that the case is deadlock, and these people, Lord Dedlock and Lady Dedlock are morally, ethically dead.

Dickens's realism is a moral realism that is fused with Christian morality. To be true-hearted, to be open-hearted , to do some good, to think of other people and behave in a good way, to have empathy, to be modest, to be a person connected with their society in a good way; that's a part of his polemic.

Dickens ethics are to be industrious, to work hard, to be productive, to be contented, to be happy with your lot, and not to be over greedy or ambitious. And of course, Lady Dedlock is not contented, she's bored.

It's a story to a certain extent between good and evil. And he targets the hypocrisy of Esther's godmother, the social inequality in the social position of the aristocracy through the Dedlocks, the law, the lack of feelings of the lawyers, the way they're just interested in making money, the hardness of people's hearts, etc.

It's not like a realism that just observes things from distance, it's a moral view.

And in that morality, it is polemic. Dickens is arguing for certain values, and he's arguing against those sections of society that don't have them, and against religious hypocrisy, as well.

Dickens is interested in plot, and his characters are not really psychologically complex. They seem to fall down these two kind of roads of the self-important, the self-survey, the bad people, and the good people. His realism is a social, moral, polemic realism. It's about society, it's not about psychological complexity.