Sunday, March 25, 2012
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.
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I like what you're suggesting about agency and definitely think it's worth further exploration. It's almost as if Esther believes that she's not entitled to any agency when it comes to her own desires and needs, because her aunt did such a good job teaching her that her existence was a sinful mistake. She's claims agency when it comes to taking care of other people (like spending so much time nursing Caddy back to health), but she's almost entirely passive about her own desires and whether or not she's entitled to have them when it comes to questions of love or her future prospects.
ReplyDeleteEsther definitely doesn’t seem to have as much agency as Lucy did in Villette. In the beginning of Bleak House, I think you’re right about Esther bouncing around. However, at the same time when she was given a choice of where to go, it was to a comfortable place where she would be taken care of. I think she was smart for following the plans others had made for her rather than going out on her own. I feel that because she takes more agency throughout the novel Esther knows when it would be advantageous to employ her agency and when she should just follow.
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