... and stifling oppression. Dicken's owed a great deal of his social spirit to the work of Thomas Carlyle. His influence certainly touches elements of Bleak House. Whereas the Chartist is described by Carlyle as one to who "the four-and-twenty letters of the Alphabet are still Roman enigmas to him-, Bleak House notes how it must be strange for a figure like Jo "to see people ... read and not to have the least idea of all that language -to be every scrap ... England [from which Chesney Wold's parasite - Volumnia fears there is a general conspiracy] to obtain her rouge pot and pearl necklac...

• Word Count: 3779
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography