Study Guide
Bleak House Chapter 46
By Charles Dickens
Advertisement - Guide continues below
Chapter 46
Stop Him!
- (Back to the third-person narrator and his righteous indignation.)
- Woodcourt is back trying to doctor the miserable poor people in Tom-all-Alone's. This is why he doesn't have any money, remember?
- Walking around, he sees a woman on a stoop with a huge wound on her face. Of course it turns out to be... Jenny! Dickens's world is full of crazy coincidences.
- Woodcourt is super nice to her – he has an ability to talk to the poor as if they were actual people. Oh yeah, crazy.
- She's nursing yet another beating from her husband but seems OK.
- When he's done with her, Woodcourt sees a boy creeping around the corner. Jenny runs after him, yelling, "Stop him!" – and Woodcourt does, thinking maybe he just robbed her.
- But no. This boy is none other than... Jo.
- OK, the surprises are not even all that surprising anymore.
- Woodcourt recognizes him from the inquest, but Jenny knows Jo ran away from Bleak House after being taken in by Esther when he was sick.
- Woodcourt hears this and is half nauseous, half ready to cry. Jo is patient zero of that horrible disease that disfigured Esther's face.
- Jo is horrified and sorry that he infected Esther.
- Still angry, Woodcourt asks Jo why he left that night.
- Turns out Jo didn't run away at all – he was taken away by... well, we don't know yet, since he just whispers the name to Woodcourt.
- The guy took him to a hospital and gave him some money to stay far away after he was released (which, considering he is still really sick, shows what hospitals were like back then – pretty much just places for poor people to go to die).
- He stayed away as long as he could, but now he's run out of money, so he's back at Tom-all-Alone's to die.
Bleak House Chapter 46 Study Group
Ask questions, get answers, and discuss with others.
Tired of ads?
Join today and never see them again.
More on Bleak House
Navigation
- Introduction
-
Summary
- Preface
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Chapter 34
- Chapter 35
- Chapter 36
- Chapter 37
- Chapter 38
- Chapter 39
- Chapter 40
- Chapter 41
- Chapter 42
- Chapter 43
- Chapter 44
- Chapter 45
- Chapter 46
- Chapter 47
- Chapter 48
- Chapter 49
- Chapter 50
- Chapter 51
- Chapter 52
- Chapter 53
- Chapter 54
- Chapter 55
- Chapter 56
- Chapter 57
- Chapter 58
- Chapter 59
- Chapter 60
- Chapter 61
- Chapter 62
- Chapter 63
- Chapter 64
- Chapter 65
- Chapter 66
- Chapter 67
- Themes
- Characters
- Analysis
- Quotes
- Premium