As I was reading Bleak House I struggled to define the genre that it would fit into. Clearly, we could define Bleak House as historical fiction, but that's pretty basic and doesn't give much information to readers. There are so many subgenres within historical fiction that could define Bleak House, I think it could be interesting to detail a few of them. The first that comes to mind is realistic fiction, but there are instances of science fiction/horror as in the haunting of Chesney Wold, and romance within Ada and Richard's relationship, and Esther's relationship with Jarndyce and Allen Woodcourt. There's mystery and intrigue when the reader realizes that Esther's mother is Lady Dedlock, and of course the mystery of what the Jarndyce v. Jarndyce case is about. The story can be considered a tragedy when looking at Jo's character, and of course there are characters who provide slight comic relief like Mrs. Jellyby and Mr. Skimpole. The novel could fit into a type of didactic genre which seeks to find what roles women should have in society, what should be done about homeless children living in the streets, and the effects of litigation on family structures.

Genre isn't terribly important to a novel, but it certainly helps the reader to understand the writing style or narrative arc if they can familiarize themselves with the facets of a particular genre. And most writing styles somehow find themselves in a particular genre, but I'm finding it difficult to categorize Bleak House. I can't help but wonder if Dickens was aware of this while he was writing. I know he published Bleak House in sections, its possible he just wrote whatever he felt would keep the readers interested between publications, but surely he had some grander idea of what he wanted the story to look like, what kind of story he wanted to tell. Whether or not he knew in advance the story he wanted to tell, Dickens ignored the common use of genre in his writing. Dickens was revolutionary in his non-use of genre, I think.

Any other thoughts?

In the first couple chapters of Bleak House, Esther is really just thrown around due to circumstances. She appears to have no agency, or at least doesn't exercise it. Perhaps this is because of how she was raised and doesn't have a high enough opinion of herself to make her own choices, but I find it surprising that she is moved around like cattle without any consultation. For being the result of an undesired pregnancy, she does seem to luck out some with her circumstances, but her godmother made sure to leave her with the knowledge that her birth was a mistake and that she would have that shame for the rest of her life which is not an easy knowledge to carry around. It'll be interesting to see how things turn out for Esther and if she can start making choices for herself regarding her life, occupation, and living situation.