Bleak House Allusions

Literary and Philosophical References

• Shakespeare, Othello (2)
• Shakespeare, Hamlet (2)
• Thomas Moore, "The Young May Moon" (6)
• "Goosey Goosey Gander" nursery rhyme (7)
• Leigh Hunt, A Jar of Honey (8)
• Shakespeare, Macbeth (8)
• Old Mother Hubbard nursery rhymes (8)
• John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress (12)
• Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream (12)
• Sir William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (16)
• Alexander Pope, "Epistle to Lord Bathurst" (17)
• Milton, "Comus" (18)
• Robert Southey, "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (20)
• Chaucer, "Nun's Priest's Tale" (28)
• John Parry, "The Peasant Boy" (31)
• Lawrence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey (37)
• Cervantes, Don Quixote (49)
• Charles Perrault, "Bluebeard" (53)
• Plutarch, "Life of Julius Caesar" (61)
• Shakespeare, Twelfth Night (65)

Biblical References

• Book of Job (2)
• Revelations (3)
• Mark (9)
• Book of Common Prayer (10)
• Matthew (12)
• Genesis (12)
• Numbers (17)
• Psalms (25)

Historical References

• Wat Tyler's peasant revolt (2)
• Lady Jane Grey (5)
• Lord Wittington, Lord Mayor of London (6)
• Tooting Orphanage Farm scandal, where cholera killed 150 in one year (10)
• Police Act of 1829, which created the Metropolitan Police Force (11)
• Prince Charles Stuart, claimant to the English throne (21)
• George IV, The Prince Regent (23)
• Guy Fawkes Day (26)
• The belief that humans could spontaneously combust, as affirmed by a bunch of doctors (33)
• Daniel Dancer and John Elwes, famous misers (39)